(Linda Tucci, Senior News Writer, TechTarget) When asked to name the toughest ongoing challenge in business continuity (BC) planning, the majority of midsized organizations say it is inadequate funding. Given that financial hurdle, one strategy for implementing a business continuity program is using savings from your disaster recovery preparations to help BC pay for itself. Here are five elements that can save your organization money:

1. Server consolidation: Fewer systems mean that you will have less to recover in an emergency. "If you can consolidate your systems into a more fault-tolerant configuration, you have reduced your risk footprint dramatically," said Jim Copenhaver, a certified business continuity professional at Key Results Management Inc. in Atlanta. Consolidation saves on operational overhead, including personnel, redundant software licenses and patch management. HVAC, power consumption and network capacity costs also shrink.

2. A technical refresh: Older systems and tape drives incur maintenance costs that never decline. "By performing a technical refresh you can usually eliminate maintenance costs for three years. New equipment is less prone to catastrophic failure and reduces the chance of extended unplanned downtime," Copenhaver said. A good business case will show upper management that a capital expenditure spread out over three years will be revenue-neutral or even represent a savings.