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Disaster recovery manager vs business continuity manager

The differences between disaster recovery managers and business continuity managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a disaster recovery manager and a business continuity manager. Additionally, a business continuity manager has an average salary of $81,325, which is higher than the $77,230 average annual salary of a disaster recovery manager.

The top three skills for a disaster recovery manager include infrastructure, business continuity and project management. The most important skills for a business continuity manager are crisis management, business continuity, and business impact analysis.

Disaster recovery manager vs business continuity manager overview

Disaster Recovery ManagerBusiness Continuity Manager
Yearly salary$77,230$81,325
Hourly rate$37.13$39.10
Growth rate16%-
Number of jobs3,00271,473
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

What does a disaster recovery manager do?

A disaster recovery manager oversees the procedures put into developing and implementing recovery and continuity plans against various kinds of disasters or security breaches that could affect company data, hardware, and software. They are primarily in charge of managing disaster recovery teams, setting objectives and guidelines, performing tests and risk assessments, and developing regular reports. Moreover, a disaster recovery manager can also be responsible for liaising with external parties and training new members of the workforce while implementing company standards and policies.

What does a business continuity manager do?

Business continuity managers are management professionals who create crisis management plans to keep an organization functioning after experiencing disruptive events. These managers are required to design and implement business continuity plans for all business offices to ensure that they always remain in a state of readiness. They must enhance integrated risk management principles while coordinating all activities for disaster recovery and business continuity exercises worldwide. Business continuity managers must also partner with other businesses to develop business recovery strategies.

Disaster recovery manager vs business continuity manager salary

Disaster recovery managers and business continuity managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Disaster Recovery ManagerBusiness Continuity Manager
Average salary$77,230$81,325
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $125,000Between $55,000 And $118,000
Highest paying City-Albany, NY
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Education

Differences between disaster recovery manager and business continuity manager education

There are a few differences between a disaster recovery manager and a business continuity manager in terms of educational background:

Disaster Recovery ManagerBusiness Continuity Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Disaster recovery manager vs business continuity manager demographics

Here are the differences between disaster recovery managers' and business continuity managers' demographics:

Disaster Recovery ManagerBusiness Continuity Manager
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 64.9% Female, 35.1%Male, 72.5% Female, 27.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between disaster recovery manager and business continuity manager duties and responsibilities

Disaster recovery manager example responsibilities.

  • Work include managing sub-contractors, FEMA compliance, scheduling, and equipment logistics post disaster during clean-up activities.
  • Develop corporate BCM policy, roadmaps, and documentation templates.
  • Work with FEMA and local leaders to secure accesses to the affected areas quickly after the disaster end.
  • Administer infrastructure equipment and projects relate to data center networks.
  • Liaise with application and infrastructure support teams globally to understand and communicate business unit requirements.
  • Participate in annual DISA audit of enterprise information systems contingency plans for continuity of mission essential system resiliency.
  • Show more

Business continuity manager example responsibilities.

  • Construct and manage SharePoint site for program area.
  • Collaborate with other teams and leadership to accomplish target ROI levels and customer SLAs.
  • Establish and manage team responsible for build out, simplification and support services of business enterprise process model.
  • Lead emergency operation procedures for mobility business continuity plans during regional/national disaster events, and declare emergencies to support business customers.
  • Spearhead improvements to daily functions to establish BCP backups.
  • Develop process driven KPIs that influence call center metrics and the company's customer experience scorecard.
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Disaster recovery manager vs business continuity manager skills

Common disaster recovery manager skills
  • Infrastructure, 10%
  • Business Continuity, 9%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Business Impact Analysis, 5%
  • Impact Analysis, 5%
  • Continuous Improvement, 4%
Common business continuity manager skills
  • Crisis Management, 10%
  • Business Continuity, 9%
  • Business Impact Analysis, 9%
  • Risk Management, 7%
  • Business Continuity Management, 7%
  • Impact Analysis, 7%

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