Business Impact Calculator

RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is the maximum acceptable time to restore a business function after a disruption. RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time, determining how frequently you need backups. MTD (Maximum Tolerable Downtime) is the longest period a business can survive without a particular function before suffering unacceptable consequences. These metrics guide your recovery strategies and resource allocation.

Criticality tiers are determined by analyzing multiple impact categories including financial loss, operational disruption, legal and compliance exposure, reputational damage, and health and safety risks. The calculator weights these factors based on how quickly impacts escalate over time, from one hour to one week of downtime. Functions that show high impact across multiple categories and escalate rapidly are classified as Critical or High priority.

The calculator evaluates five key impact categories: Financial Impact (revenue loss, penalties, recovery costs), Operational Impact (productivity loss, supply chain disruption), Legal and Compliance Impact (regulatory violations, contractual breaches), Reputational Impact (customer trust, brand damage, media exposure), and Health and Safety Impact (employee and public safety risks). Each category is rated from None to Catastrophic across different time periods.

The calculator allows you to specify both internal dependencies (other business functions your process relies on) and external dependencies (third-party vendors, utilities, or services). Understanding dependencies helps identify cascade effects where one failed function can impact multiple others. This information is critical for prioritizing recovery sequence and ensuring dependent functions are restored in the correct order.

Yes, the calculator provides a comprehensive PDF export feature that generates a professional Business Impact Analysis report. The PDF includes all function details, impact assessments across time periods, radar and bar charts visualizing impact distribution, recovery objectives, dependencies, and criticality tier assignments. This report can be used for management presentations, compliance audits, or insurance documentation.

You should review and update your BIA at least annually or whenever significant changes occur to your business operations, systems, or organizational structure. Major triggers for updates include new product or service launches, system migrations, organizational restructuring, regulatory changes, or lessons learned from actual incidents or exercises. Regular updates ensure your recovery priorities remain aligned with current business needs.