Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Policy (RES-POL-002)

1. Objective

This policy establishes comprehensive requirements for ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities that maintain video streaming platform availability and protect critical business operations during disruptive events. The policy prioritizes continuous availability of live streaming and creator monetization features with a focus on near-zero downtime, recognizing that platform uptime is a core component of the company’s value proposition to creators and a direct driver of revenue generation.

2. Scope

This policy applies comprehensively to all critical business processes, information systems, and infrastructure supporting video streaming services across all geographic regions and operational environments. The scope encompasses natural disasters, cyber attacks, technology failures, pandemic events, and other disruptions that could impact platform availability or business operations across all company locations and service delivery points.

3. Policy

3.1 Business Continuity Framework

The Company shall maintain comprehensive business continuity capabilities:

  • Business impact analysis identifying critical processes and dependencies
  • Recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for all critical services
  • Multi-region active-active architecture for core platform services
  • Automated failover and recovery procedures
  • Regular testing and validation of continuity capabilities
  • Integration with incident response and crisis management

3.2 Platform Availability Requirements

Video streaming platform must maintain exceptional availability:

Core Services ([Percentage, e.g., 99.99]% availability target):

  • Video streaming and content delivery (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 2] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 30] seconds)
  • User authentication and authorization (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 1] minute, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 15] seconds)
  • Content recommendation engine (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 5] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 1] minute)
  • Mobile and web application APIs (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 2] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 30] seconds)

Supporting Services ([Percentage, e.g., 99.9]% availability target):

  • Content moderation systems (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 15] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 5] minutes)
  • User analytics and reporting (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 30] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 15] minutes)
  • Administrative and management interfaces (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 1] hour, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 15] minutes)
  • Content upload and processing (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 30] minutes, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 10] minutes)

Business Support Services ([Percentage, e.g., 99.5]% availability target):

  • Customer support systems (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 2] hours, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 30] minutes)
  • Financial and billing systems (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 4] hours, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 1] hour)
  • Human resources and administrative systems (RTO: <[Number, e.g., 8] hours, RPO: <[Number, e.g., 2] hours)

3.3 Multi-Region Active-Active Strategy

The platform must implement active-active architecture:

  • Global content delivery with regional redundancy
  • Database replication across multiple geographic regions
  • Load balancing and traffic distribution across regions
  • Automated health monitoring and failover mechanisms
  • Data synchronization with conflict resolution procedures
  • Regional compliance and data sovereignty requirements

3.4 Disaster Recovery Planning

Comprehensive disaster recovery capabilities must include:

  • Detailed recovery procedures for all critical systems
  • Alternative processing sites and cloud regions
  • Backup and restoration procedures with automated testing
  • Emergency communication systems and procedures
  • Recovery team roles and responsibilities
  • Vendor and supplier contingency arrangements

3.5 Data Protection and Backup

Critical data must be protected through comprehensive backup strategies:

  • Real-time replication for user data and content metadata
  • Automated incremental backups for all critical systems
  • Geographic distribution of backup data
  • Regular backup integrity testing and restoration validation
  • Secure backup storage with encryption and access controls
  • Long-term archival for compliance and legal requirements

3.6 Platform-Specific Continuity Requirements

Special considerations for video streaming operations:

Content Delivery Continuity:

  • Multi-CDN strategy with automatic failover
  • Content pre-positioning and caching strategies
  • Edge server redundancy and load balancing
  • Content encoding redundancy for different quality levels

User Experience Continuity:

  • Graceful degradation of non-essential features
  • Offline viewing capabilities for mobile applications
  • Content recommendation fallback mechanisms
  • Progressive download and adaptive streaming

Creator and Content Continuity:

  • Content upload redundancy and queuing systems
  • Creator dashboard and analytics backup procedures
  • Revenue and monetization system continuity
  • Content moderation workflow continuity

3.7 Testing and Validation

Business continuity capabilities must be regularly tested:

  • Quarterly disaster recovery testing with full system simulation
  • Monthly automated failover testing for critical services
  • Annual business continuity exercises involving all stakeholders
  • Regular backup restoration testing and validation
  • Performance testing under simulated disaster conditions
  • Third-party vendor continuity testing and validation

4. Standards Compliance

Policy Section Standard/Framework Control Reference
3.1 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.17.1.1
3.1 PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 12.3
3.2 SOC 2 Type II CC7.2
3.2 PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 9.5.1
3.4 NIST Cybersecurity Framework RC.RP-1
3.4 PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 12.3.1
3.5 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.12.3.1
3.5 PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 3.2.1
3.7 SOC 2 Type II CC7.3
3.7 PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 12.3.2

5. Definitions

Business Continuity: The capability of an organization to continue delivering products or services at acceptable levels following a disruptive incident.

Disaster Recovery: The process of restoring IT systems and data following a disaster or disruption.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The maximum acceptable time to restore a system or process after a disruption.

Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time.

Active-Active Architecture: A system design where multiple instances operate simultaneously to provide redundancy and load distribution.

Failover: The automatic switching to a backup system when the primary system fails.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA): The process of identifying critical business functions and their dependencies.

6. Responsibilities

Role Responsibility
Business Continuity Manager Develop and maintain business continuity plans, coordinate testing activities, and manage continuity program governance.
[IT/Infrastructure Department/Team Name] Implement technical disaster recovery capabilities, maintain backup systems, and execute recovery procedures.
Operations Team Monitor system health, execute failover procedures, and coordinate recovery activities during disasters.
Business Process Owners Define business requirements, participate in continuity planning, and validate recovery procedures for their processes.
Executive Leadership Provide strategic direction, approve continuity investments, and make critical decisions during major disruptions.
Crisis Management Team Coordinate overall response to major disruptions, manage stakeholder communications, and oversee recovery operations.

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