Recovery Time Objective (RTO) Explained
Where RPO is about how much data you might lose, Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is about how long you can afford to be down. It is the target time to get a system back to working order after an incident.
RTO drives decisions about standby systems, automation and how much you invest in being able to recover quickly.
Why RTO Costs Money
A very short RTO usually means keeping a second system warm and ready, which costs more to run. A longer RTO is cheaper but means a longer outage.
Setting a Realistic Target
We work out what an hour, a day or a week of downtime would actually cost you, then design recovery to hit a target that is worth paying for.
- Identify which systems are business-critical.
- Estimate the cost of downtime per hour.
- Choose a recovery approach that fits that cost.
| RTO target | Approach | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Days | Restore from backup manually | Low |
| Hours | Scripted, tested restore | Medium |
| Minutes | Hot standby with failover | High |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should RPO and RTO always match?
No. They answer different questions and are often set differently — you might accept an hour of lost data but need to be back online within minutes.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.