Draft Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan with Strategic Recommendations for a Newly Proposed Government Agency: A Case Study

Mile Mirchevski^1, and Jana Mirchevska²

¹Former Assoc. Prof at International Balkan University in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

²Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FCSE) – Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Cite this paper:
Mile Mirchevski and Jana Mirchevska. Draft Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan with Strategic Recommendations for a Newly Proposed Government Agency: A Case Study. International Journal of Business and Risk Management. 2025; 6(1):19-29. doi: 10.12691/ijbrm-6-1-2

Abstract

This paper presents a practical draft plan for Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) for a newly proposed government agency in the Republic of North Macedonia. The case study evaluates continuity options and provides managerial and technical recommendations aligned with the agency’s mandate to handle sensitive public-sector data. The framework integrates Risk assessment, Business Impact Analysis (BIA), and implementation guidance consistent with international best practices and local administrative requirements. Essential information systems, critical functions, and disruption scenarios are identified to ensure service continuity and data protection. Alternative data-center strategies-on-premises, cloud-based, hybrid, and commercial co-location-are compared, and operational procedures for recovery and resilience are defined. Key components include organizational roles, business processes, training and testing cycles, and IT infrastructure recommendations for primary and backup sites. Based on technical, economic, and national ICT conditions, the preferred approach is agency-owned equipment in professionally operated co-location facilities, with continuity operations managed internally. Findings indicate that instituting BC/DR early in the agency lifecycle enhances resilience, reduces downtime risk, and supports trustworthy public services. The work adapts established templates to the Macedonian context and offers actionable guidance for IT managers, infrastructure planners, and engineers engaged in public-sector digital transformation and resilience initiatives in Southeast Europe.

Keywords:
Business Continuity (BC) Disaster Recovery (DR) Business Impact Analysis (BIA) RTO/RPO Co-location Cloud Infrastructure Public Sector Resilience

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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