What does the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) quantify?

The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) quantifies the acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. Specifically, it defines the maximum age of the data that must be recovered from a backup to resume normal operations after a disruptive event, such as a system failure or a cyberattack. For instance, if an organization has an RPO of four hours, this means that, in the event of a data loss incident, the organization can tolerate losing up to four hours' worth of data. RPO is a crucial metric in establishing effective backup strategies and maintaining business continuity, as it helps organizations determine how frequently they should back up their data to minimize potential losses.

Understanding RPO is essential for planning and preparing for disaster recovery and ensures that businesses can recover to a state that is acceptable to them and their stakeholders.