[member="Kierel"]
The First Order is the sixth or seventh iteration of an 'Imperial' faction on Chaos. You have the Imperial Remnant, Galactic Imperium, Atrisian Empire, New Order, Imperial Remnant (again but different) plus a few others that didn't get anywhere. This is not including the Sith Empire and One Sith, of course, which always draw some Imperial-esque characters.
For reference, Cyrus has been in three of the above factions, [member="Ludolf Vaas"] was in two (I think), and there are people representing all of the above who are regularly active. I imagine the the senior leadership of the First Order to be largely old hands at the 'Imperial' game, but who cling to a mythologized ideal of what the Empire is to look like. They're likely stark realists on one hand, having seen so many factions collapse, but also ideologues, with a base of power and sense of stability among their fellows that they haven't seen before.
At the core of course you have the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Commander, relatively new faces on the stage (of Chaos, at least). They're the rock all our tired Imperial folks are clinging to. So long as they remain a solid foundation, the First Order will be stable and successful.
That's how I picture things, at any rate.