Business continuity and disaster recovery can mean either life or death for a company. In the event of a disaster, inadequate planning and/or technology deployment can compromise a return to operations and bring financial downfall. With this in mind, we note that operational continuity and recovery objectives continue to increase in priority for commercial and government entities alike. Recovery objectives once measured in days or hours are now measured in seconds or minutes. This IDC white paper highlights the challenges and best practices for implementing continuity and recovery solutions, and details how Riverbed WAN optimization solutions enable firms to meet their recovery requirements.