Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the maximum acceptable amount of time for restoring a network or application and regaining access to data after an unplanned disruption. Loss of revenue and the extent to which a disrupted process impacts business continuity can both have an impact on RTO.
Depending on the nature of the business and the process or system involved, this amount of time can vary greatly. For example, the RTO for a payroll system might be as long as two weeks, while the RTO for a sensitive financial process might be effectively zero, requiring that service be restored almost instantly.
Also see: Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
