A large part of business continuity management is concerned with developing recovery strategies and plans that would come into play in the event of a disaster or major incident. Indeed, for many business continuity managers, this is their raison d’être.

However, a point that is often overlooked is that prevention is usually better than cure. Clearly not all disasters can be prevented, and there is still a need for recovery strategies and plans. But by managing our risks we can lessen the probability of a disaster occurring in the first place, or reduce the impact of an incident to "non-disaster" proportions.

Business continuity management is about risk management and contingency planning, not just one or the other. A sound business continuity programme will address both of these key issues. And an effective risk management programme will go a long way towards making your business more resilient and lessening the possibility of having to invoke your recovery plans.

So why have a disaster if you don’t have to?