BCP RTO/RPO Calculator
A BCP RTO/RPO calculator puts a cost on your recovery objectives. Recovery time objective is how long you can be down; recovery point objective is how much data you can afford to lose. Multiply each by what it costs, revenue per hour of downtime and the effort to re-enter lost data, and you get the number that justifies backup and disaster-recovery spend.
Last reviewed by the Radiatus Cloud team
Max tolerable downtime duration.
Max tolerable data loss duration.
Cost to manually recreate lost data.
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RTO and RPO defined
These two objectives shape every backup and disaster-recovery decision. RTO, the recovery time objective, is the maximum acceptable time to restore service after an outage. RPO, the recovery point objective, is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss, measured as time: an RPO of one hour means you can lose up to an hour's worth of data, which in turn means you must back up at least hourly.
How the cost is built
Downtime cost is revenue per hour multiplied by the RTO in hours: if you make 2,000 dollars an hour and your RTO is four hours, an outage that uses the full window costs 8,000 dollars in lost revenue. Data-loss cost is the RPO in hours multiplied by the cost to re-enter or reconstruct an hour of data. The total is what a worst-case incident at your current objectives would cost, and it is the figure to weigh against the price of tighter objectives.
Using it to set objectives
Tighter objectives cost more: an RPO of minutes needs continuous replication, not nightly backups; an RTO of an hour needs a warm standby, not a restore-from-tape process. Run the calculator at your current objectives, then at tighter ones, and compare the reduction in incident cost against the ongoing cost of the infrastructure that achieves it. The point where they cross is a defensible objective.
What it does not include
It models revenue and data re-entry only. Reputation damage, regulatory penalties, contractual SLA credits and staff overtime during recovery are real and not captured here; add them from the incident impact and breach cost tools. Revenue per hour should be your actual figure, and for a business with uneven load, use the peak-hour rate for a worst-case view.
Related tools
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- Compliance Calendar — Enter your frameworks and a start date to lay out a year of recurring compliance obligations (SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, NIST CSF) with dates and an .ics download.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between RTO and RPO?
RTO is how long you can be down before service must be restored. RPO is how much data, measured in time, you can afford to lose. RTO drives recovery speed (standby systems); RPO drives backup frequency (how often you copy data).
How does RPO decide my backup schedule?
Your backup interval must be no longer than your RPO. An RPO of one hour requires backups at least hourly; an RPO of minutes requires continuous replication. Anything less frequent means you could lose more data than the objective allows.
What costs does the calculator include?
Lost revenue during downtime (revenue per hour times RTO) and the cost of re-entering lost data (re-entry cost per hour times RPO). It does not include reputation, fines, SLA credits or overtime, which you should add separately.
How do I use it to justify DR spend?
Calculate the incident cost at your current objectives, then at tighter ones. Compare the reduction in cost against the price of the infrastructure needed to hit the tighter objective. Where the savings exceed the ongoing cost, the investment pays off.
What revenue-per-hour figure should I use?
Your actual average revenue per operating hour, or the peak-hour rate for a worst-case estimate. A business with uneven traffic should model the peak, since outages during busy periods cost the most.
Privacy & Security
Calculated locally.
About This Tool
This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server, ensuring complete privacy. Simply use the interface above to get started — no registration or login required.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Results are for educational and utility purposes.
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