What is the relationship between business continuity planning (BCP) and IT?

• A. BCP is optional and not linked to IT.
• B. BCP focuses only on hardware repairs.
• C. BCP is primarily a marketing plan for resilience.
• D. BCP is a plan to sustain critical business functions during and after a disruption; IT supports via resilient systems, backups, and recovery strategies.

Answer: (D)

The relationship being tested is that business continuity planning aims to keep or quickly resume essential business operations during and after a disruption, and IT provides the technical means to make that possible. IT supports BCP with resilient systems, backups, and recovery strategies that align with predefined targets like recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives, ensuring critical functions can continue or be restored quickly. BCP looks beyond technology to include people, processes, facilities, suppliers, and communications, but IT is the enabler that delivers the practical means—redundant networks and systems, data backups, disaster recovery plans, and tested procedures—to sustain those functions. This isn’t optional, nor is it just hardware repairs or a marketing effort; it’s a coordinated approach where IT capabilities underpin the organization’s ability to endure and recover from disruptions.