A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is the strategic and comprehensive plan that outlines the procedures for an organization to maintain its critical business functions during and after a disruptive event. The primary objective of a BCP is to ensure the continuous delivery of products or services at acceptable predefined levels, thereby minimizing financial losses and operational impact. It addresses the business as a whole, focusing on the processes, people, and resources required to keep the business operational, which directly aligns with the question's focus on protecting "critical business processes" and preventing "loss of capital."

A. Disaster recovery plan: This plan is a component of a BCP and is primarily focused on the technical recovery of IT systems, data, and infrastructure at an alternate location after a disaster.

B. Contingency plan: This is a broad, overarching term. While a BCP is a type of contingency plan, the term BCP is more specific and accurately describes the plan's focus on business processes.

D. Crisis communication plan: This plan is a component of the overall BCP/DRP effort, specifically detailing how to communicate with employees, customers, suppliers, and the public during a crisis.

1. NIST Special Publication 800-34 Rev. 1

Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems. Section 2.3

"Relationship among Contingency Plan Components

" states

"The BCP focuses on sustaining an organization’s mission/business processes during and after a disruption... A DRP is a key component of a BCP that contains detailed procedures to facilitate recovery of capabilities at an alternate site."

2. ISO 22301:2019

Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements. Section 3.4 defines business continuity as the "capability of an organization to continue the delivery of products and services at acceptable predefined levels following a disruptive incident." This definition directly supports the purpose described in the question.

3. Carnegie Mellon University

Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Defining and Differentiating BCP

COOP

and DRP (CMU/SEI-2008-TN-003). Page 2 states

"A BCP is a plan to continue operations if a place of business is affected by different levels of disaster... The scope of a BCP can be wide and can encompass the whole organization." This highlights the BCP's focus on the entire business process

not just IT.