RPO and RTO

RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective) describe different business-continuity targets. RPO expresses the maximum acceptable amount of data loss after disruption, usually as the time between the incident and the latest recoverable state. RTO expresses how long a process can remain unavailable before an acceptable service level must be restored. Both should be set per process rather than per product because payroll, production and email may require different targets. Backup frequency influences RPO, while restoration capacity and dependencies influence RTO, but a completed backup proves neither. Organisations should map dependencies, define acceptance criteria and run timed recovery exercises. Test evidence, observed results and documented exceptions provide a firmer basis than vendor features or an untested continuity plan.