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What is a business continuity plan (bcp), and how does it work.

the phases of business continuity planning include

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What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? 

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

Key Takeaways

  • Business continuity plans (BCPs) are prevention and recovery systems for potential threats, such as natural disasters or cyber-attacks.
  • BCP is designed to protect personnel and assets and make sure they can function quickly when disaster strikes.
  • BCPs should be tested to ensure there are no weaknesses, which can be identified and corrected.

Understanding Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)

BCP involves defining any and all risks that can affect the company's operations, making it an important part of the organization's risk management strategy. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—and cyber-attacks . Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include:

  • Determining how those risks will affect operations
  • Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks
  • Testing procedures to ensure they work
  • Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an important part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition. It is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel.

Business impact analysis, recovery, organization, and training are all steps corporations need to follow when creating a Business Continuity Plan.

Benefits of a Business Continuity Plan

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic. Business continuity planning is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of major disasters such as fires. BCPs are different from a disaster recovery plan, which focuses on the recovery of a company's information technology system after a crisis.

Consider a finance company based in a major city. It may put a BCP in place by taking steps including backing up its computer and client files offsite. If something were to happen to the company's corporate office, its satellite offices would still have access to important information.

An important point to note is that BCP may not be as effective if a large portion of the population is affected, as in the case of a disease outbreak. Nonetheless, BCPs can improve risk management—preventing disruptions from spreading. They can also help mitigate downtime of networks or technology, saving the company money.

How To Create a Business Continuity Plan

There are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid BCP. They include:

  • Business Impact Analysis : Here, the business will identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive. (More on this below.)
  • Recovery : In this portion, the business must identify and implement steps to recover critical business functions.
  • Organization : A continuity team must be created. This team will devise a plan to manage the disruption.
  • Training : The continuity team must be trained and tested. Members of the team should also complete exercises that go over the plan and strategies.

Companies may also find it useful to come up with a checklist that includes key details such as emergency contact information, a list of resources the continuity team may need, where backup data and other required information are housed or stored, and other important personnel.

Along with testing the continuity team, the company should also test the BCP itself. It should be tested several times to ensure it can be applied to many different risk scenarios . This will help identify any weaknesses in the plan which can then be corrected.

In order for a business continuity plan to be successful, all employees—even those who aren't on the continuity team—must be aware of the plan.

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis. It identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis. The worksheet should be completed by business function and process managers who are well acquainted with the business. These worksheets will summarize the following:

  • The impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and process
  • Identifying when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts

Completing the analysis can help companies identify and prioritize the processes that have the most impact on the business's financial and operational functions. The point at which they must be recovered is generally known as the “recovery time objective.”

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

BCPs and disaster recovery plans are similar in nature, the latter focuses on technology and information technology (IT) infrastructure. BCPs are more encompassing—focusing on the entire organization, such as customer service and supply chain. 

BCPs focus on reducing overall costs or losses, while disaster recovery plans look only at technology downtimes and related costs. Disaster recovery plans tend to involve only IT personnel—which create and manage the policy. However, BCPs tend to have more personnel trained on the potential processes. 

Why Is Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Important?

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic and business continuity plans (BCPs) are an important part of any business. BCP is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of threats and disruptions. This could result in a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition.

What Should a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Include?

Business continuity plans involve identifying any and all risks that can affect the company's operations. The plan should also determine how those risks will affect operations and implement safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks. There should also be testing procedures to ensure these safeguards and procedures work. Finally, there should be a review process to make sure that the plan is up to date.

What Is Business Continuity Impact Analysis?

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis which identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis.

These worksheets summarize the impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and processes. They also identify when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts.

Business continuity plans (BCPs) are created to help speed up the recovery of an organization filling a threat or disaster. The plan puts in place mechanisms and functions to allow personnel and assets to minimize company downtime. BCPs cover all organizational risks should a disaster happen, such as flood or fire.  

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15 - 17.

Ready. “ IT Disaster Recovery Plan .”

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15-17.

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What Does a Business Continuity Plan Typically Include? [Complete Guide]

Last Updated: September 19, 2023

Introduction

A business continuity plan (BCP) is your first line of defense against any challenge that threatens the core functionalities of your organization’s operations. When disaster strikes, your BCP should be there to reduce the time it takes to get things back up and running as usual again – as quickly as possible.

If you’re not able to react quickly to these types of incidents, your company could suffer physical harm, monetary losses, reputational damage, data integrity loss, litigation and much more.

Designing a BCP can feel overwhelming, as it’s such a critical document; where should you start? Who should be involved in the process? How should it be disseminated? These are all questions we’ll answer in this guide, including what is typically included in a BCP.

Bonus Material: Free BCP Checklist

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

It’s important to actively invest time and energy into preparing for any potential risk before a potential event of a disaster so that if or when it does, your BCP directs you to the necessary resources to return to business as usual. That’s why creating and developing your BCP needs to involve a great deal of strategy and intention.

Taking a risk-based approach is the best way to go about developing your business continuity plan and avoid the need to use implement a disaster recovery plan. Through a risk-based approach, you follow the following steps: identify, assess, mitigate, monitor, connect and report. Here’s how to apply each of these steps during the lifecycle of your BCP:

  • Start by identifying your most critical processes. When a business continuity event occurs, taking a risk-based approach ensures that you understand what the most critical processes to your organization are that need to be prioritized first to get back up and running to minimize any impacts.
  • Next, assess your various risks. By evaluating all of the various types of risks that an incident could bring up – such as financial, reputational, customer, legal or strategic impact – you’re able to adequately determine which steps must be included in your BCP to minimize those impacts.
  • Be sure to implement strategic mitigations as part of your business impact analysis. Building a business continuity plan through a risk-based lens empowers you to design more effective policies and procedures that simultaneously minimize the impact of the disruption at hand.
  • Monitor the effectiveness of your controls over time. Otherwise, your BCP won’t align with your risks, leaving you likely to be caught off guard next time a business continuity event occurs.
  • Your BCP does not exist in isolation, so be sure to connect departmental efforts. This allows you to identify interdependencies that must be known if an event occurs to ensure all steps are taken.
  • Reporting is a key step in the risk-based approach, as it reveals patterns over time so that you can improve your BCP development where needed and keep your organization protected from any future disruption.

What Should my Business Continuity Plan Include?

Your BCP should include:

  • An analysis of all critical functions within your business. This will allow for preparation of resources.
  • A prioritized list of risks that pose a severe or even catastrophic threat to your business. These can be prioritized through risk tolerances and risk appetite so you can visualize which ones fall farthest out of that range.
  • A list of specific strategies (or mitigation activities) that help protect the critical components you identified earlier in the BCP.
  • Evidence that the strategies have been tested across critical business functions, using key metrics, indicators and financial scenarios.
  • Dashboards and reports that uncover challenges and allow you to update the plan and your business processes over time.

Examples of Potential Unforeseen Risks

Naturally, your BCP will include risks that you deem a threat to your business. It can be difficult to begin writing that list when you’re not sure exactly what should be on it. In Risk Management, it’s important to consider potential risks that others may not have ever predicted to become reality (many people today say they never imagined in their lifetime that they would experience a pandemic).

Here is a list of potential unforeseen risks that pose a threat to business continuity:

  • The sudden unavailability of a key vendor-provided service
  • A regional power outage
  • Abandonment in leadership
  • Data protection issue
  • Supply chain issues
  • Privacy policy issues
  • Getting sued
  • An industry strike
  • Pest infestation
  • Natural disasters
  • Winning the lottery
  • Receiving a life-threatening diagnosis
  • Getting in an accident
  • A threat to national security, such as a terrorist attack
  • Collapse of infrastructure
  • And perhaps the most timely example of all, a pandemic (check out our complete guide to building a BCP for COVID-19 here )

BCP Best Practices

Like we mentioned earlier in this guide, it’s important to take a risk-based approach when creating your BCP. This will help you better preserve your business reputation, build up customer confidence and allow you to gain a competitive advantage. It will also ensure that you can avoid situations of disaster recovery. (Read our full guide on Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery )

To receive these benefits, it’s best practice to leverage robust business continuity planning software . This enables you to inherently take a risk-based approach and demonstrates to customers and stakeholders that you are prioritizing business continuity planning. This is especially true today amidst our ever-evolving disruptive business environment and the See-Through Economy.

Your business continuity plan will be different from anyone else’s, which is why it’s important to dedicate time and resources to creating one that fits your unique needs and risk factors. Working with a professional risk consultant is just one added benefit that’s included with your partnership with LogicManager. With their help, you’ll be able to better leverage the tools and resources included in our integrated ERM software, as well as our solution package for business continuity development .

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5 Step Guide to Business Continuity Planning (BCP) in 2021

A business continuity plan provides a concrete plan to maintain business cohesion in challenging circumstances. Click here for the key steps that can help you formulate a formidable BCP.

A business continuity plan (BCP) is defined as a protocol of preventing and recovering from potentially large threats to the company’s business continuity. This article explains what a business continuity plan is today, its key benefits, and a step-by-step guide to creating a formidable plan.

Table of Contents

What is a business continuity plan (bcp), key benefits of having a business continuity plan, step-by-step guide to building a formidable business continuity plan (bcp) in 2021.

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a protocol of preventing and recovering from potentially large threats to the company’s business continuity. Such a plan often aims to address the need for updated business norms and operational standards in unpredictable circumstances such as natural disasters, data breach/ exposures, large scale system failures etc. The goal of such a plan is to ensure continuity of business with no or little damage to regular working environments, including job security for its employees.

It covers everything from business processes, human resources details, and more. Essentially a BCP provides a concrete plan to the organization to maintain business continuity even in challenging circumstances. 

Below are key reasons why businesses need to have a BCP today:

  • BCP’s relevance has gone up considerably after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was also a major testing time for organizations that did have such a plan in place. The organizations which had a business continuity plan in place were better able to cope during these unprecedented circumstances better than those who did not have any such plans.
  • The recorded number of natural disasters has increased from 375 in 2016 to 409 in 2019 Opens a new window . Globally, the loss because of natural disasters was $232 billion in 2019, according to a study by Aon Opens a new window .
  • The number of cyberattacks has also increased in all geographies and all business verticals. MonsterCloud reported that cyberattacks have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. All this means that the organizations have to be better prepared to fight disasters. The importance of BCP can hardly be exaggerated in this context. Preparing a BCP is imperative for any enterprise, big or small, today. 

The end goal of a BCP is to ensure that the essential services continue to run in the event of an incident. For instance, if there is an earthquake where your customer service representatives operate from, your BCP will be able to tell you who will handle customer calls until the original office is restored.

Also Read: What Is Disaster Recovery? Definition, Cloud and On-premise, Benefits and Best Practices

Difference between a business continuity plan (BCP) and disaster recovery plan (DCP)

A BCP is often confused with a disaster recovery (DR) plan. While a DR plan is primarily focused on restoring the IT systems and infrastructure, a BCP is much more than that. It covers all areas and departments of the organization, including HR, marketing and sales, support functions. 

The underlying thought behind BCP is that IT systems can hardly work in silos. Other departments also need to be restored to cater to the client or for meeting the business demands. 

“Many people think a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is the same as a business continuity plan, but a DRP is only a small, yet essential, a portion of a full BCP. A DRP focuses solely on restoring an organization’s IT infrastructure while minimizing data loss. On the other hand, a BCP is a comprehensive guide on how to continue the mission and business-critical operations during a time of an unplanned disruption (natural disasters, pandemics, or malware),” says Caleb Pipkin, a security expert at Logically . 

Whether a business is small, big, or medium-sized, it needs a ‘plan B’ to recover quickly in the event of a natural disaster or a crisis and can survive the disruption. BCP helps you dust yourself and get back to business quickly and easily. It means that the enterprise will be better placed to address their customers’ needs even in the wake of a disaster. 

On the other hand, the lack of a plan means that your organization will take longer to recover from an event or incident. It could also lead to loss of business or clients. Let’s look at some key benefits of BCP.

1. It is a roadmap to act in a disaster

A well-defined business continuity plan is like a roadmap during a disruption. It allows the firms to react swiftly and effectively and maintain business continuity. In turn, this leads to a faster and complete recovery of the enterprise in the shortest possible timeframe. It brings down the business downtime and outlines the steps to be taken before, during, and after a crisis and thus helps maintain its financial viability. 

2. Offers a competitive edge

Fast reaction and business continuity during a disruption allow organizations to gain a competitive edge over its business rivals. It can translate into a significant competitive advantage in the long run. Further, your clients will be more confident in your ability to perform in adverse circumstances allowing you to build a long and sustainable relationship with your business partners.

Developing competence to act and handle any unfavorable event effectively has a positive effect on the company’s reputation and market value. It goes a long way in enhancing customer confidence. 

Also Read: Top 8 Disaster Recovery Software Companies in 2021

3. Cuts down losses

Disasters have a considerable impact on all types of business, whether big or small. Business disruption can lead to financial, legal, and reputational losses. Failure to plan could be disastrous for businesses. You may lose your customers while trying to get your business on track. In the worst circumstances, you may not be able to recover at all. A well-defined business continuity strategy minimizes the damage to an organization and allows you to bring down these losses as much as possible. 

4. Enables employment continuity and protects livelihoods

One of the most significant consequences of a disaster is the loss of employment. The loss of livelihood can be curtailed to an extent if the business continues to function in the event of a disaster. It leads to greater confidence in the workforce that their jobs might not be at risk, and the management is taking steps to protect their jobs. It helps build confidence in senior management’s ability to respond to the business disruption in a planned manner. 

5. Can be life-saving

A regularly tested and updated BCP can potentially help save the lives of the employees and the customers during a disaster. For instance, if the BCP plan for fire is regularly tested, the speed with which the workforce acts can help save lives. 

6. Preserves brand value and develops resilience

Possibly the biggest asset of an organization is its brand. Being able to perform in uncertain times helps build goodwill and maintain its brand value and may even help mitigate financial and reputational loss during a disaster. 

BCP curtails the damage to the company’s brand and finances because of a disaster event. This helps bring down the cost of any incident and thus help the company be more resilient. 

Also Read: 10 Best Practices for Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP)

7. Enables adherence to compliance requirements

Having a BCP allows organizations to have additional benefits of complying with regulatory requirements. It is a legal requirement in several countries.

8. Helps in supply chain security

A precise BCP goes a long way in protecting the supply chain from damage. It ensures continuity in delivering products and services by being able to perform critical activities.

9. Enhances operational efficiency

One of BCP’s lesser-known benefits is that it helps identify areas of operational efficiency in the organization. Developing BCP calls for an in-depth evaluation of the company’s processes. This can potentially reveal the areas of improvement. Essentially, it gathers information that can benefit in enhancing the effectiveness of the processes and operations. 

Also Read: 7 Ways to Build an Effective Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan  

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on preparing for a disaster like never before. We make the job easier for you by listing out the key steps in building a formidable business continuity plan: 

How to Build a Business Continuity Plan

How to Build a Business Continuity Plan

Step 1: Risk assessment 

This phase involves asking crucial questions to evaluate the risks faced by the company. What are the likely business threats and disruptions which are most likely to occur? What is the most profitable activity of your organization? It is vital to prioritize key risks and operations, which will help mitigate the damage in the event of a disaster. 

Step 2: Business impact analysis

The second step involves a thorough and in-depth assessment of your business processes to determine the vulnerable areas and the potential losses if those processes are disrupted. This is also known as Business Impact Analysis . 

Essentially, Business impact analysis (BIA) is a process that helps the organization define the impact if critical business operations are interrupted because of a disaster, accident, or emergency. It helps in identifying the most crucial elements of the business processes. For instance, maintaining a supply chain might be more critical during a crisis than public relations.

While there is no formal standard for a BIA, it typically involves the following steps: 

  • Collating information: As a first step, a questionnaire is prepared to find out critical business processes and resources that will help in the proper assessment of the impact of a disruptive event. One-on-one sessions with key management members may be conducted further to gain insights into the organization’s processes and workings.
  • Analysis: This is followed by analyzing the collected information. A manual or computer-assisted analysis is conducted. The analysis is based on an interruption in which crucial activities or resources are not available. Typically it works on the assumption of the worst-case scenario, even when the chances of a risk likelihood are low. This approach is followed to zero in on the systems that, when disrupted or interrupted, threaten the organization’s very survival. This way, these processes are prioritized in the business continuity plan. 

The analysis phase helps identify the minimum staff and resources required for running the organization in the event of a crisis. This also allows the organizations to assess the impact on the revenue if the business is unable to run for a day, a week, or more. There might be contractual penalties, regulatory fines, and workforce-related expenditure which need to be taken into account while finding out the impact on the business. Further, there might be specific vulnerabilities of the firm, and they need to be considered in the BIA. 

  • Preparing a report: The next step is preparing a BIA report, which is assessed by the senior management. The report is a thorough analysis of the gathered information along with findings. It also gives recommendations on the procedure that should be followed in the event of a business disruption. The BIA report also shares the impact on the revenue, supply chain, and customer delivery to the business in a specific time frame. 

The business impact analysis report may also include a checklist of all the resources, such as the names of key personnel, data backup , contact information, emergency responders, and more.

  • Presenting the report: Usually, this report goes through several amendments before being cleared by the senior management. The involvement of senior management is crucial to the success of the business continuity plan. It sends out a strong signal in the organization that it is a serious initiative. 

Also Read: Will Extreme Weather Events Affect Your Business? Lessons From the Texas Winter Storm

Step 3: BCP Testing

Several testing methods are available to test the effectiveness of the BCP. Here are a few common ones: 

  • TableTop test: As the name suggests, the identified executives go through the plan in detail to evaluate whether it will work on not. Different disaster types and the response to them are discussed at length. This type of testing is designed to make all the key personnel aware of their role in the event of a disaster. The response procedure is reviewed, and responsibilities are outlined, so everybody knows their roles.
  • Walk through: In this type of testing, the team members go through their part in the plan with a specific disaster in mind. Drills or a simulated response and disaster role-playing are part of this. This is a more thorough form of testing and likely to reveal the shortcoming in the plan. Any vulnerabilities discovered should be used to update the BCP accordingly.
  • Disaster simulation testing: In this type of testing, an environment that simulates an actual disaster is created. This is the closest to the actual event and gives the best case scenario about the plan’s workability. It will help the team find gaps that might be overlooked in the other types of tests. Document the results of your testing so you can compare the improvement from the previous tests. It will help you in strengthening your business continuity plan. 

Frequency of testing – Typically, organizations test BCP at least twice a year. At the same time, it depends on the size of your organization and the business vertical you operate in.

Step 4: Maintenance

A business continuity plan should not be treated as a one-time exercise. It needs to be maintained , so the organization’s structural and people changes are updated regularly. The key personnel might move on from the firm, and this would need to be updated in the Business Impact Analysis and BCP. The process for regular updating of the documentation should be followed to ensure that the organization is not caught on the wrong foot in case of a business disruption. 

Also Read: Offsite Data Replication: A Great Way To Meet Recovery Time Objectives

Step 5: Communication

Sometimes executives tend to ignore communication while preparing a BCP. It is a crucial aspect, and your BCP should clearly define who will maintain the communication channels with the employees, regulators, business partners, and partners during the crisis. The contact information of the key people should be readily accessible for the BCP to work without any trouble.

In the end, the organizations should accept that despite preparing a formidable business continuity plan, several factors beyond your control may still affect its success or failure. The key executives might not be available in the event of a crisis; both the primary and the alternate data recovery sites might have been affected by the event; the communications network might be damaged, and so on. Such factors are common during a natural disaster and may lead to the limited success of the business continuity plan. 

The success of a business depends on it acting swiftly and efficiently when confronted with an unanticipated crisis. Any failure to do so results in a financial and reputational loss, which takes up a long time to recover. It can be avoided if the organization quickly gathers itself during a disaster. A business continuity plan is then of paramount importance for a business of any size. At the same time, it is crucial to ensure that the BCP is not a one-time exercise. It needs to be continuously evaluated, tested, amended, and maintained so it doesn’t let you down when you need it the most. 

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Planning for the Unthinkable: The 5 Phases of a Business Continuity Plan

  • July 19, 2022
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What will you do when disaster strikes your business?

Everyone expects life to return to normal, but for many business owners, the reality is much more devastating. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, it is estimated that over 40% of businesses never reopen following a catastrophic event. Of those that remain, approximately 25% will close within two years. In large part, this is because many businesses have not created and implemented a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

A BCP is a comprehensive plan for the continuation of critical business operations after a disaster. Critical means essential. The purpose of the plan is to minimize decision-making during an incident and makes recovery more effective. According to a study by Touche Ross, companies without a BCP have a survival rate of less than 10%. Yet it is estimated only 35% of small businesses have a BCP.

How prepared are you for a disaster? What are your critical functions? Are the critical parts of your business able to function in the event of a catastrophe? How will they be restored? A written BCP that answers these and other important questions will help ensure you are prepared to survive during unexpected interruptions to your business.

The Five Phases of Developing and Maintaining a Business Continuity Plan:

Phase 1: initiation.

Pull together a team of people who are aware of the different operational aspects of your business to evaluate what potential events create the greatest threats to your organization. Here in Florida, it is easy to fall into thinking of disasters as natural events like a hurricane or flood; But hazards also include technological events such as cyber-attack, utility outages, or a fire.

Phase 2: Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

BIA is a systematic process of gathering and analyzing information about critical business functions to determine the most important elements of your business with the greatest risk potential. Don’t waste time or resources if there is little or no impact on business operations. Remember that key employees and management succession are important subjects of a BCP (Does your business have a policy that prevents key employees from traveling together? What happens if a key leader is incapacitated and not able to respond in the event of a disaster?).

The essential part of the BIA phase is that you ask the right questions. Creating a BCP may seem overwhelming, but there are a number of tools available to assist in the process. Find a good checklist and use it. BKS-Partners has created a comprehensive hurricane preparedness website where you can find resources and other tools to help you with this process.

Phase 3: Develop Recovery Strategies

Communication is key during and after a disaster. In an effective BCP, people come first. It is essential to have a functional means of communication with employees, vendors, and customers.

Determine the business impact of a function or process first, and then develop recovery capability for it. Your objective in this phase is to identify the people, facilities, and assets that are required to achieve the four “R’s” which are: Response, Resumption, Recovery, and Restoration.

Phase 4: Implementation

An effective BCP must be written and communicated to all employees on an ongoing basis.

Phase 5: Test and Monitor

Risk is not static. Personnel changes, potential threats, and critical business functions will change over time. A BCP must be validated through testing or practical application and must be kept up-to-date.

The Business Continuity Plan and Insurance

Be intentional.

Remember, it is always better to be intentional rather than random. That is how you achieve business success. The same is true for business survival following a catastrophe. One of the greatest risks you face in this or any other area of your business is complacency. Never forget that others are depending on your survival and continued success after a catastrophe—employees, their families, your customers, suppliers and vendors, and even the community. Now is the time to prepare. Are you ready?

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the phases of business continuity planning include

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Phases Of Business Continuity Planning

Want to learn how onsolve can help improve your bcp, business continuity planning can seem intimidating, leaving you to ask, "where do i begin".

Fortunately, business continuity planning falls neatly into five phases, each of which includes steps that, when followed, provide the foundation of any good plan. Let’s look at the five phases.

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Phase 1: identify the risks.

The first phase is to conduct a risk assessment, identifying any potential hazards that could disrupt your business. Consider any type of risk your team can imagine, including natural threats, human threats and technical threats.

Phase 2: Analyze the risks you face

Next, you’ll perform a business impact analysis (BIA) to gauge the impact of each potential risk. For each risk, determine how severe the impact would be and how long your business could survive without those processes running. Consider what is absolutely necessary for recovery, how quickly it needs to happen, what are your minimum operating resources are and any dependencies, either internal or external.

Wish you had a strong proactive strategy? Watch this on-demand webinar with business continuity expert and OnSolve Chief Customer Officer, Ann Pickren, for a look at how to avoid five common pitfalls.

Phase 3: Design your strategy

Now it’s time to figure out strategies to mitigate interruptions and to quickly recover from them. Consider everything you’ll need to protect your people, your assets and you’re your functions. Start by comparing your current recovery capabilities to your business requirements and how you will fill that gap.

Phase 4: Plan development and execution

Finally, it’s time to create a concise, well organized and easy-to follow document or set of documents. Consider everyone that may use the plan, and document it in a way that will be most useful when your business is suffering an interruption. Then publish the plan, socialize it and train your staff on how to use it.

Phase 5: Measure your success by testing

A plan isn’t truly a plan until it has been thoroughly tested. There are a variety of tests you should perform, with each providing different information on how to improve your plan. Tests can range from a checklist test, a walk-through performed by you your team as if there were an actual event, emergency evacuation drills, and when ready, a full-on recovery simulation test is a bit more complex and involves your team simulating and emergency and using the actual equipment, facilities and supplies just as in a real disaster. After each test, you can make any necessary modifications to your plan to keep it current.

Once you’ve completed testing, the cycle is complete and begins again. Periodically reassess risks, impacts and strategies, make corrections as necessary, and re-test frequently to ensure the most effective plan.

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How to create an effective business continuity plan

A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an event.

Professional Meeting: Senior Businesswoman and Colleague in Discussion

The tumultuous events of the past several years have impacted practically every business. And with the number of extreme weather events, cyberattacks, and geopolitical conflicts continuing to rise, business leaders are bracing for the possibility of increasingly more frequent impactful incidents their organizations will need to respond to.

According to PwC’s 2023 Global Crisis and Resilience Survey , 96% of 1,812 business leaders said their organizations had experienced disruption in the past two years and 76% said their most serious disruption had a medium to high impact on operations.

It’s little wonder then that 89% of executives list resilience as one of their most important strategic priorities.

Yet at the same time, only 70% of respondents said they were confident in their organization’s ability to respond to disruptions, with PwC noting that its research shows that too many organizations “are lacking the foundational elements of resilience they need to be successful.”

A solid business continuity plan is one of those foundational elements.

“Every business should have the mindset that they will face a disaster, and every business needs a plan to address the different potential scenarios,” says Goh Ser Yoong, head of compliance at Advance.AI and a member of the Emerging Trends Working Group at the professional governance association ISACA.

A business continuity plan gives the organization the best shot at successfully navigating a disaster by providing ready-made directions on who should do what tasks in what order to keep the business viable.

Without such as a plan, the organization will take longer than necessary to recover from an event or incident — or may never recover at all.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic playbook created to help an organization maintain or quickly resume business functions in the face of disruption, whether that disruption is caused by a natural disaster, civic unrest, cyberattack, or any other threat to business operations.

A business continuity plan outlines the procedures and instructions that the organization must follow during such an event to minimize downtime, covering business processes, assets, human resources, business partners, and more.

A business continuity plan is not the same as a disaster recovery plan , which focuses on restoring IT infrastructure and operations after a crisis. Still, a disaster recovery plan is part of the overall strategy to ensure business continuity, and the business continuity plan should inform the action items detailed in an organization’s disaster recovery plan. The two are tightly coupled, which is why they often are considered together and abbreviated as BCDR.

Why business continuity planning matters

Whether you operate a small business or a large corporation, it’s vital to retain and increase your customer base. There’s no better test of your capability to do so than right after an adverse event.

Because restoring IT is critical for most companies, numerous disaster recovery solutions are available. You can rely on IT to implement those solutions. But what about the rest of your business functions? Your company’s future depends on your people and processes. Being able to handle any incident effectively can have a positive effect on your company’s reputation and market value, and it can increase customer confidence.

Moreover, there are increasing consumer and regulatory expectations for both enterprise security and continuity today. Consequently, organizations must prioritize continuity planning to prevent not only business losses, but financial, legal, reputational, and regulatory consequences.

For example, the risk of having an organization’s “license to operate” withdrawn by a regulator or having conditions applied (retrospectively or prospectively) can adversely affect market value and consumer confidence.

Building (and updating) a business continuity plan

Whether building the organization’s first business continuity plan or updating an existing one, the process involves multiple essential steps.

Assess business processes for criticality and vulnerability: Business continuity planning “starts with understanding what’s most important to the business,” says Joe Nocera, principle in the cyber risk and regulatory practice at PwC, a professional services firm.

So the first step in building your business continuity plan is assessing your business processes to determine which are the most critical; which are the most vulnerable and to what type of events; and what are the potential losses if those processes go down for a day, a few days, or a week.

“This step essentially determines what you are trying to protect and what you are trying to keep up for systems,” says Todd Renner, senior managing director in the cybersecurity practice at FTI Consulting.

This assessment is more demanding than ever before because of the complexity of today’s hybrid workplace, the modern IT environment, and the reliance on business partners and third-party providers to perform or support critical processes.

Given that complexity, Goh says a thorough assessment requires an inventory of not only key processes but also the supporting components — including the IT systems, networks, people, and outside vendors — as well as the risks to those components.

This is essentially a business impact analysis.

Determine your organization’s RTO and RPO: The next step in building a business continuity plan is determining the organization’s recovery time objective (RTO), which is the target amount of time between point of failure and the resumption of operations, and the recovery point objective (RPO), which is the maximum amount of data loss an organization can withstand.

Each organization has its own RTO and RPO based on the nature of its business, industry, regulatory requirements, and other operational factors. Moreover, different parts of a business can have different RTOs and RPOs, which executives need to establish, Nocera says.

“When you meet with individual aspects of the business, everyone says everything [they do] is important; no one wants to say their part of the business is less critical, but in reality you have to have those challenging conversations and determinations about what is actually critical to the business and to business continuity,” he adds.

Detail the steps, roles, and responsibilities for continuity: Once that is done, business leaders should use the RTO and the RPO, along with the business impact analysis, to determine the specific tasks that need to happen, by whom, and in what order to ensure business continuity.

“It’s taking the key components of your analysis and designing a plan that outlines roles and responsibilities, about who does what. It gets into the nitty-gritty on how you’re going to keep the company up and running,” Renner explains.

One common business continuity planning tool is a checklist that includes supplies and equipment, the location of data backups and backup sites, where the plan is available and who should have it, and contact information for emergency responders, key personnel, and backup site providers.

Although the list of possible scenarios that could impact business operations can seem extensive, Goh says business leaders don’t have to compile an exhaustive list of potential incidents. Rather, they should compile a list that includes likely incidents as well as representative ones so that they can create responses that have a higher likelihood of ensuring continuity even when faced with an unimagined disaster.

“So even if it’s an unexpected event, they can pull those building blocks from the plan and apply them to the unique crisis they’re facing,” Nocera says.

The importance of testing the business continuity plan

Devising a business continuity plan is not enough to ensure preparedness; testing and practicing are other critical components.

Renner says testing and practicing offer a few important benefits.

First, they show whether or how well a plan will work.

Testing and practicing help prepare all stakeholders for an actual incident, helping them build the muscle memory needed to respond as quickly and as confidently as possible during a crisis.

They also help identify gaps in the devised plan. As Renner says: “Every tabletop exercise that I’ve ever done has been an eye-opener for everyone involved.”

Additionally, they help identify where there may be misalignment of objectives. For example, executives may have deprioritized the importance of restoring certain IT systems only to realize during a drill that those are essential for supporting critical processes.

Types and timing of tests

Many organizations test a business continuity plan two to four times a year. Experts say the frequency of tests, as well as reviews and updates, depends on the organization itself — its industry, its speed of innovation and transformation, the amount of turnover of key personnel, the number of business processes, and so on.

Common tests include tabletop exercises , structured walk-throughs, and simulations. Test teams are usually composed of the recovery coordinator and members from each functional unit.

A tabletop exercise usually occurs in a conference room with the team poring over the plan, looking for gaps and ensuring that all business units are represented therein.

In a structured walk-through, each team member walks through his or her components of the plan in detail to identify weaknesses. Often, the team works through the test with a specific disaster in mind. Some organizations incorporate drills and disaster role-playing into the structured walk-through. Any weaknesses should be corrected and an updated plan distributed to all pertinent staff.

Some experts also advise a full emergency evacuation drill at least once a year.

Meanwhile, disaster simulation testing — which can be quite involved — should still be performed annually. For this test, create an environment that simulates an actual disaster, with all the equipment, supplies and personnel (including business partners and vendors) who would be needed. The purpose of a simulation is to determine whether the organization and its staff can carry out critical business functions during an actual event.

During each phase of business continuity plan testing, include some new employees on the test team. “Fresh eyes” might detect gaps or lapses of information that experienced team members could overlook.

Reviewing and updating the business continuity plan should likewise happen on an ongoing basis.

“It should be a living document. It shouldn’t be shelved. It shouldn’t be just a check-the-box exercise,” Renner says.

Otherwise, plans go stale and are of no use when needed.

Bring key personnel together at least annually to review the plan and discuss any areas that must be modified.

Prior to the review, solicit feedback from staff to incorporate into the plan. Ask all departments or business units to review the plan, including branch locations or other remote units.

Furthermore, a strong business continuity function calls for reviewing the organization’s response in the event of an actual event. This allows executives and their teams to identify what the organization did well and where it needs to improve.

How to ensure business continuity plan support, awareness

One way to ensure your plan is not successful is to adopt a casual attitude toward its importance. Every business continuity plan must be supported from the top down. That means senior management must be represented when creating and updating the plan; no one can delegate that responsibility to subordinates. In addition, the plan is likely to remain fresh and viable if senior management makes it a priority by dedicating time for adequate review and testing.

Management is also key to promoting user awareness. If employees don’t know about the plan, how will they be able to react appropriately when every minute counts?

Although plan distribution and training can be conducted by business unit managers or HR staff, have someone from the top kick off training and punctuate its significance. It’ll have a greater impact on all employees, giving the plan more credibility and urgency.

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What does a business continuity plan include? 5 key elements

business continuity plan how to build

The COVID-19 crisis has forced businesses to tackle a multitude of challenges over the past few months, but one of the most important involves the business continuity (BC) plan. Many companies learned too late that their plans were inadequate, lacking interoperability with other critical plans for crisis management, disaster recovery, and pandemic readiness.

Many business contnuity plans are either too high-level to offer any real actionable detail or consist of content that is out of date. In other instances, plans place too much emphasis on short-term disturbances and forsake long-lasting disruptions. Many also gloss over pre-event preparations and work acceleration strategies.

The pandemic has reset expectations. While CIOs have a vested interest in the effectiveness of BC plans – after all, they ensure essential activities can withstand a variety of disruptions to keep the business running as IT reinstates services after an incident – resilience should be a company-wide priority.

[ Also read: Digital transformation: Why data leaders must play offense during COVID-19 . ]

1. Build your business continuity plan foundation

As you reimagine your entire business resilience program, here’s what your BC plans should include. Effective BC plans start with the following five essential framework elements:

  • Objectives: What will the plan cover, and how does it fit into a larger organizational response to disruption?
  • Activation procedure: What sets the BC plan in motion? Who is involved, and what resources — i.e., backups, workplace recovery facilities, etc. — are available?
  • Priorities: How will you communicate with staff, vendors, customers, and others? What are the most business-critical applications and systems that you need to focus on reviving?
  • Assumptions and limitations: You can’t foresee every disruption, but you can detail limitations in your plan to allow for effective decision-making. Identify limitations in the extent, duration, and impact of your plan.
  • Standing down procedures: Determine your criteria for saying an incident is closed and how to extract lessons learned from the experience. This section can also include an appendix of relevant resources, from templates like action logs to meeting agendas.

Within this framework, there’s a lot of room to customize for your size, maturity, compliance requirements, and other factors. While every organization’s BC plan approach will be unique, it’s important to consider the following aspects when designing your plan.

2. Develop response strategies if key resources are unavailable

Effective BC plans must include well-defined strategies and actions for responding in the event that key resources become unavailable. These could include:

  • Third-party services
  • IT services

You need to have planned business responses for each of these disruption scenarios, and they must be at the individual resource level. Generic statements that convey the “what’s” without the “how’s” aren’t helpful. For example, if your inventory management system is unavailable, how will you continue your receiving activity? Be specific in your plans.

IT must be aware of the part it plays in enabling disruption response strategies. For example, remote working is one possible business response for workplace unavailability. In that event, IT might be tasked with upgrading your company’s virtual meeting service and expanding the IT help desk staff.

[ Read also: LogMeIn CIO: This is IT's time to shine on business continuity  and  Moving from COVID-19 crisis leadership to strategic leadership . ]

However, in a workforce unavailability scenario, your solution might be to transition work to personnel in another geography. In this case, IT’s response might be to adjust network configuration in anticipation of increased volumes from a network node.

BC planning is also essential within IT, which relies on people, workplaces, equipment, third-party services, supporting systems, and data. Put comprehensive BC plans in place for key IT activities where ongoing service levels are of paramount importance. This includes:

  • Network operations centers
  • Information security operations centers
  • IT help desks
  • Disaster recovery teams

3. Work out timing for each response strategy

Timing is critical.

Determine the anticipated time to implement each of your defined response strategies, as well as how long each strategy can remain effective.

For some strategy options, the goal should be quick implementation times. For others, focus on ensuring the response strategies will be effective for sustained timeframes – ideally three to six months or longer.

Let's look at two more important elements:

the phases of business continuity planning include

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Risk Publishing

Phases of Business Continuity Planning

February 13, 2024

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Business Continuity Planning (BCP) typically involves several phases to ensure an organization can continue operations before, during, and after a disruptive event. While there may be some variations in how these phases are named and structured, they generally include:

  • Initiation : This phase involves establishing the need for a business continuity plan , securing management support, and defining the project scope and objectives.
  • Business Impact Analysis (BIA) : During this phase, the organization identifies critical business functions, assesses the risks to these functions, and determines the potential impact of different types of business disruption. The goal is to understand which areas are most at risk and could cause the most significant harm to the business if they were not operational.
  • Strategy Development : In this phase, the organization develops strategies to manage the risks identified in the BIA. This includes determining how to maintain critical operations at an acceptable level following a disruption.
  • Plan Development : This phase involves the creation of the business continuity plan itself, which includes response procedures for managing an actual disruption. It details the steps to maintain or quickly resume critical operations during an incident.
  • Testing and Maintenance : The final phase includes regular testing to ensure the plan works as intended and updating the plan as necessary when there are changes in the business environment or organizational structure.

These phases of BCP help an organization create a robust strategy to deal with potential threats and minimize downtime and financial loss in the event of a disruption.

business continuity

Business continuity planning is crucial for organizations to ensure their ability to respond and recover from unexpected disruptions. The phases involved in this planning include:

  • Risk assessment .
  • Strategy development.
  • Plan implementation.
  • Testing and evaluation.
  • Maintenance and review.

Each phase plays a vital role in preparing for potential crises and minimizing the impact on business operations.

Organizations can enhance their resilience and safeguard their future by understanding these phases and their significance.

But what are the key considerations during each phase? And how can organizations ensure an effective and comprehensive approach to business continuity planning?

Let’s explore further.

Key Takeaways

  • The risk assessment phase helps identify potential threats and determine recovery time objectives.
  • The strategy development phase involves setting goals, analyzing business impacts , and developing recovery strategies.
  • Resource allocation strategies prioritize critical business functions and determine necessary equipment and supplies.
  • Plan implementation involves executing strategies, testing plans through drills, and refining plans based on simulations.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is an integral part of business continuity planning. It involves identifying potential threats that could disrupt operations and analyzing the likelihood of their impact.

Identify Potential Threats

During the initial phase of business continuity planning, organizations begin by conducting a comprehensive assessment to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities that could impact their operations.

This risk assessment is crucial as it helps the organization understand the potential risks and allows them to prioritize resources and develop effective response procedures.

Key areas of focus during this phase include identifying risks related to natural disasters , evaluating the impact on employees and customers, and assessing the availability of necessary resources.

Analyze Impact Likelihood

To effectively assess the potential impact of identified threats , organizations must conduct an in-depth analysis of the likelihood of these risks occurring.

This can be achieved through a comprehensive risk assessment process , which involves evaluating the probability of various potential hazards and their potential impacts on critical business functions and processes.

The analysis helps organizations determine the recovery time objective and identify necessary mitigations to minimize the effect on essential functions. Action can then be taken to strengthen the organization’s resilience and ensure business continuity .

Strategy Development

Several vital points need to be addressed in the strategy development phase in business continuity planning.

Firstly, the goal-setting process is crucial in determining what the organization aims to achieve regarding resilience and recovery.

Secondly, risk assessment methods are vital in identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities that could impact the organization.

Goal Setting Process

The initial phase of business continuity planning involves developing a strategic goal-setting process. This process is crucial in aligning the business continuity planning process with the overall goals and objectives of the organization.

It includes conducting a business impact analysis and risk assessment to identify critical business functions and potential risks. Based on these findings, recovery strategies are developed, and key performance indicators are established.

Additionally, a communication plan and testing and maintenance procedures are implemented to ensure the effectiveness of the business continuity plan .

Risk Assessment Methods

Various methods can be employed to conduct a risk assessment as part of the strategy development phase in business continuity planning.

These methods include impact assessment, business impact analysis, risk analysis , disruption analysis, risk identification, risk mitigation , and risk evaluation .

A risk assessment aims to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities that could impact critical business functions. Organizations can minimize disruptions and ensure business continuity by conducting thorough risk assessments and implementing effective risk management strategies .

Resource Allocation Strategies

To effectively develop resource allocation strategies for business continuity planning, organizations must carefully analyze their critical business functions and prioritize the allocation of resources based on their importance and potential impact on overall business continuity.

This involves considering the criticalness factor of each business function and determining the necessary equipment, supplies, and technology systems required to sustain those functions during a crisis.

The resource allocation strategies should ensure the uninterrupted operation of the most critical business functions.

Plan Implementation

The implementation phase of business continuity planning involves executing strategies , allocating resources, and testing and refining the plan.

Execution strategies involve implementing the plan and following the established procedures and protocols.

Resource allocation ensures that the necessary personnel, technology, and materials are available to support the plan.

Testing and refining the plan allows for identifying and addressing any weaknesses or areas for improvement, ensuring its effectiveness in a real-life scenario.

Execution Strategies

Implementing a practical plan for business continuity requires careful execution strategies to ensure smooth and efficient implementation.

Business continuity professionals understand the importance of conducting exercises and drills to test the plan’s effectiveness in responding to disruptive events.

These exercises help identify gaps in the emergency response, supply chain, and potential business impacts. Organizations can refine their plans by simulating a disruption and enhancing their ability to mitigate risks .

Resource Allocation

During the implementation phase of business continuity planning , careful allocation of resources is crucial to ensure the smooth execution of the plan.

Resource allocation involves determining the necessary resources, such as finances, workforce, and technology, to implement the disaster recovery plan effectively .

This includes identifying critical business operations, assessing key risks , and developing a backup plan to mitigate the disruption of business functions.

Effective communication with employees is also essential to prevent and minimize business disruptions.

Testing and Refining

Thorough testing and refinement are essential during the implementation phase to ensure the effectiveness of the business continuity plan .

This proactive approach allows organizations to identify weaknesses or gaps in their strategy and make necessary adjustments.

Testing methods such as tabletop exercises and simulation testing help evaluate the response strategy in a controlled environment. Refining action plans based on testing helps businesses prepare for potential interruptions.

Testing and Evaluation

The testing and evaluation phase of business continuity planning involves two key points: test frequency and evaluation metrics.

Test frequency refers to the frequency at which tests are conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the business continuity plan.

Evaluation metrics are the criteria used to assess the success and performance of the plan during testing.

Both these points are crucial in determining the readiness and reliability of the plan in the event of a disruption.

business continuity plan

Test Frequency

Test frequency is critical to the testing and evaluation phase in business continuity planning. It determines how often tests are conducted to assess the plan’s effectiveness in a disaster or unexpected event.

The frequency of these tests should be determined based on the organization’s risk tolerance , the complexity of its services and technology, and the involvement of senior management and business partners. Regular testing helps identify weaknesses and minimize potential losses.

Evaluation Metrics

Evaluation metrics are crucial in assessing the effectiveness of business continuity plans during the testing and evaluation phase.

These metrics help measure the performance of various components of the business continuity management process , such as the incident response plan , risk analysis and impact assessment, and alternate resources.

Organizations can use metrics to identify improvement areas and ensure robust plans for critical events. One way to visualize the importance of evaluation metrics is through the following table:

Maintenance and Review

Maintenance and review are crucial aspects of business continuity planning. Regular audits for compliance ensure that the plan is current and aligns with industry standards.

Additionally, continual improvement strategies help identify areas of weakness and allow for necessary adjustments to enhance the plan’s effectiveness.

Regular Audits for Compliance

Regular audits for compliance are an essential component of business continuity planning . They ensure that all necessary measures are in place and adhered to.

These audits help organizations identify gaps or weaknesses in their processes and systems, allowing them to take corrective actions promptly.

Regular audits also demonstrate a commitment to following regulations and industry standards. They provide an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the business continuity plan and make necessary improvements.

Continual Improvement Strategies

Organizations implement continual improvement strategies through regular maintenance and review processes to ensure business continuity plans ‘ ongoing effectiveness and relevance.

These strategies are integral to the business continuity management lifecycle and the business continuity management system .

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key elements to consider during the risk assessment phase of business continuity planning.

During the risk assessment phase of business continuity planning , key elements include identifying potential threats , assessing their likelihood and impact, evaluating vulnerabilities, and determining the criticality of business functions and resources.

How Can Organizations Effectively Develop a Strategy for Business Continuity Planning?

Organizations can effectively develop a strategy for business continuity planning by thoroughly analyzing potential risks and vulnerabilities, establishing clear objectives and priorities, and implementing comprehensive plans that address all critical business areas.

What Steps Should Be Taken During the Plan Implementation Phase of Business Continuity Planning?

During the plan implementation phase of business continuity planning , organizations should focus on executing the strategies and measures outlined in the plan.

This includes activating emergency response protocols, ensuring effective communication, and regularly testing and updating the plan.

How Can Companies Ensure Their Business Continuity Plans Are Adequately Tested and Evaluated?

Companies can ensure that their business continuity plans are adequately tested and evaluated by implementing a comprehensive testing and evaluation process that includes conducting regular drills and exercises, analyzing the results, and making necessary updates and improvements.

What Is the Importance of Regularly Maintaining and Reviewing Business Continuity Plans?

Maintaining and reviewing business continuity plans ensures their effectiveness and relevance in addressing potential disruptions. It allows organizations to identify gaps, update strategies, and enhance preparedness, ultimately minimizing the impact of disruptions and ensuring business resilience .

supply chain

Business continuity planning requires several phases, including risk assessment , strategy development, plan implementation, testing and evaluation, and maintenance and review.

Businesses can ensure continuity of operations by enhancing preparedness and resilience, even in the face of unexpected events.

It is essential for organizations to regularly review and update their business continuity plans to adapt to evolving risks and maintain their readiness.

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Chris Ekai is a Risk Management expert with over 10 years of experience in the field. He has a Master’s(MSc) degree in Risk Management from University of Portsmouth and is a CPA and Finance professional. He currently works as a Content Manager at Risk Publishing, writing about Enterprise Risk Management, Business Continuity Management and Project Management.

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The 5 Phases of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

the phases of business continuity planning include

When a natural disaster, untimely power outage or cybersecurity threat strikes, the disruption can severely impact your business. Replacing damaged items takes time and money, and in severe cases, the disruption even keeps employees from working.

Some disasters are unavoidable — but thankfully, a well-structured business continuity plan allows you to prepare for an emergency in advance. With proper planning, you can reduce damages and get back to work faster. Learn more about how to create a business continuity plan below.

What Is Business Continuity Management?

In short, business continuity management (BCM) is the process of developing strategies for minimizing the impact of threats and disasters on a company. Certain events, like flash floods or cyberattacks, can interrupt business for days or weeks. If a critical event results in damaged assets, replacement costs can make it even harder to recover. 

A BCM program combines the principles of crisis management, disaster recovery, emergency response and operational relocation to maneuver emergencies with as little damage as possible. By anticipating the disasters before they happen, the organization can ensure operations proceed smoothly.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is an organization’s system for responding before, during and after an emergency. The BCP is at the heart of a company’s business continuity management program, using the program’s principles to inform best practices for risk mitigation. It provides instructions for handling various situations and includes contact points for assistance, locations for emergency office spaces and procedures for an immediate response within the organization. A well-executed BCP also comprises a process for identifying certain problem areas before a critical event occurs and neutralizing the risk entirely.

Applications of Business Continuity Management

Here are some common examples of events that would benefit from a business continuity plan: 

  • Natural disasters:  From floods to tornadoes and hurricanes to earthquakes , natural disasters cause lengthy disruptions to your business. Even when the damage to your own business is minimal, the more significant impact across the community can make it difficult for customers to reach you. Making a plan to evacuate valuable business assets or bring services directly to customers can significantly reduce the effects of the disruption.
  • Outages:  Power, phone and internet outages impact nearly all modern businesses. Though outages may be rare in your area, it’s wise to prepare a backup plan. Emergency power generators, cell phones, laptops and mobile hotspots help in a pinch. For prolonged outages, plan to work in a shared workspace or from home temporarily. Hosting files on a cloud service and using software with autosave features allows you to continue where you left off no matter where you work.
  • Sabotage and cyberattacks:  While preventing a data breach can be challenging, developing a contingency plan to respond to cyberattacks quickly can help reduce significant damages. Consider implementing quarterly cybersecurity training sessions to instruct employees on how to report and deal with incidents. It’s also a good idea to keep a backup of your most essential data so you can quickly get back to work if computer data is corrupted or deleted.

the phases of business continuity planning include

The 5 Phases of a Business Continuity Plan

Follow these business continuity planning steps to prepare your business for any disruptions:

  • Prevention:  Before a disaster occurs, try to determine which disasters are the most likely to interrupt your business. For example, if your building sits beside a river, flooding could cause significant damage in the future. You should also consider whether areas within your operation are prone to threats. In operations with heavy machinery working at high temperatures, keeping flammable objects away from the machinery at all times reduces the risk of fire.
  • Mitigation:  After identifying potential threats, the next step is to find ways to mitigate the damages caused by a disaster. The first method is to create contingencies ahead of disasters to continue functioning despite damages. The second method is to prepare a guide for immediate action during a disaster. Though damage may still occur, well-trained employees will have a chance to rescue certain assets before they can be damaged.
  • Response:  If a disaster happens, your BCP should help you assess the damages and determine the most practical actions to continue business. These instructions should be written as clear “if-then” statements. For example, “If the power in the facility goes out, then the employees should leave the building and work from home.”
  • Recovery:  Depending on the disruption, you and your employees may be able to recover from damages on your own. For many disasters, it can be as simple as replacing damaged assets or restoring corrupted file data. For more severe events like natural disasters, you’ll need to call a specialist to help recover from the damages.  Emergency fuel  or  water delivery  services can help your business return to operations as usual.
  • Restoration:  After recovery, the final step is to make sure everything is functioning correctly before returning to work.

The Benefits of Practicing Business Continuity Management

In addition to managing risks, practicing business continuity management can benefit a business in a variety of ways:

  • Follow regulations:  Certain businesses are  required to submit a Risk Management Plan  to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The plan must include assessments of chemical risk factors, actions taken to mitigate these risks and strategies for emergency procedures in case of an accident.
  • Improve reputation:  Customers will react to disruptions with varying levels of understanding. A well-executed BCP allows you to get back to business quickly so your clients can keep working with you. How you respond to a critical event can improve B2B relationships as other companies will view you as a reliable source even in a disaster.
  • Boost morale:  A BCP empowers all members of an organization. With a clear and thorough plan in place, employees can work confidently to respond appropriately to an interruption.

Plan Ahead With Foster Fuels

When preparing a business continuity plan, it helps to partner with an emergency specialist to ensure you have access to everything you need before a disaster strikes. Foster Fuels’ Mission Critical division is a national provider for emergency response services and  the award-winning contact of choice  for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). From emergency fuel and water delivery to emergency response training, our emergency services are unrivaled across the nation.

We value the opportunity to be your strategic partner for emergency services.  Contact us today  to see how we can fit into your business contingency plan.

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Six stages of the business continuity management lifecycle.

the phases of business continuity planning include

Business continuity is a crucial part of any scalable operations plan, but many businesses fail to realize how important it is until their first critical emergency. Only then does business continuity management come to the forefront of planning exercises, and stakeholders are forced to reflect on what went wrong, why it went wrong, and determine if they can avoid it happening again, or be better prepared if it does.

The true business continuity management lifecycle begins long before an incident. Whether you’re looking to start planning now, or refreshing your current processes to ensure they meet modern standards, consider the following six key steps to prepare for and recover from disasters and critical incidents.  

  • Mitigate Risk

Preparing your business to respond to unexpected events requires proactive planning. In this step, it’s vital to identify, understand, and prioritize possible business continuity risks, and develop response plans and mitigation plans. Consider which events are most likely, and most dangerous, and use those to guide how you develop your plans. For example, if your office is in a location that’s prone to earthquakes, planning for those events should be a priority. Or, if your workforce is entirely remote, consider how your business continuity plan may overlap with the equipment employees are provided, or software maintained on their devices.

Mitigation includes proactively reducing the likelihood of an event and reducing the impact of an event if it does occur. While there are many events that can’t be mitigated, like natural disasters, others like IT outages can be mitigated with proper solutions installed and backups in place.   

No matter the business continuity threat, once it occurs, you’ll need to respond quickly and effectively. Communications during disruptive events are critical to ensuring the continuation of your business. You never know where key people will be when an event happens, so your communications must be powerful and flexible, with features like:   

  • Mobile: Enable people to send or receive critical notifications immediately.  
  • Multi-channel: Email, SMS messages, ChatOps tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, voice recordings, push notifications and even phone calls are all potential channels to consider.   
  • Customizable: Integrate with your org chart and use each individual’s schedule and device preference.  
  • Targeted: People get overwhelmed during major events, especially when their phones or inboxes are filling up with notifications. Targeted notifications help to alleviate alert fatigue .  

Communication during the response phase is critical, and response teams should define the most appropriate protective action for each hazard to ensure the safety of employees.  

The communication process during and after an emergency should include protocols and procedures to alert first responders, including public emergency services, trained employees, and management. The response team must ascertain employee wellness and provide status on issues and keep management informed of new developments. A leading communications platform can enable these steps with a single click on a mobile device.  

A communications plan is essential for ensuring that responders can communicate with each other. Communication equipment, procedures, and systems must be interoperable. Develop an integrated voice and data communications system, including equipment, systems, and protocols prior to an incident.  

Recovering from an event is a unique process depending on what the event was, but staying in contact with various groups of involved persons is important regardless of what happened. There are numerous stakeholders that need to be kept updated during a business continuity event, including customers, employees, regulators, vendors, suppliers, shareholders, emergency services, and more.  

How you communicate about crises can seriously impact how the public, the media, customers, and regulators perceive your company. When the company is ready to resume normal business operations, communications must be sent that detail anticipated times of reopening impacted buildings.  

Social media, around-the-clock news, and other instantaneous methods of communication have made communicating clearly and concisely with employees, customers, and business partners are particularly important. Communication channels could include social media, blast text messaging, blast phone calls, 800 numbers, and company websites.  

Communicate with suppliers and vendors and ask for their flexibility and understanding after a disaster occurs. They may provide critical machinery or software, or be willing to establish alternative billing or delivery options until your business is back on its feet. Establish regular communication with government agencies and regulatory authorities to obtain approvals for resuming occupancy of the building or reconstructing the facility.  

Incident management begins not with an incident but long before. Your preparation will directly impact the seriousness of the incident when it occurs. Make no mistake: Regardless of your preparation, incidents will happen. From data breaches to building fires, they happen every day.  

Be prepared and automate time-consuming activities like finding on-call employees and setting up escalation procedures throughout the business continuity management lifecycle.   

Try xMatters today!  

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the phases of business continuity planning include

7 Stages of a Business Continuity Plan

Having a robust Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that addresses the moving parts and key players to keep a business thriving is essential for success, especially in these uncertain times. If an organization does not have a BCP strategy in place or if the existing plan needs to be revisited, consider the different stages in developing or improving one.

First and foremost, obtain executive sponsorship. An important initiative such as Business Continuity needs approval from the top and dedicated resources to make it successful. From there, identify your Business Continuity champion(s) to facilitate and enact the remaining stages in developing the BCP.

To build the foundation for a thorough, effective Business Continuity program, perform a Business Impact Analysis, which identifies the critical business processes that must be continued through a disaster, pandemic or other impactful event.

Once the BCP and its accompanying plan documentation are finalized, train the involved parties on what is expected and be sure to update the plan regularly to reflect the organization’s evolving risks, requirements and recovery strategies.

If you’d like to discuss a custom approach that addresses your businesses’ specific risks around unforeseen interruptions, we invite you to contact us for a consultation.

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The 5 Phases of Business Continuity Planning - Part 1

2 of 5 Phases

  • Restoration

These phases can help you keep track of what needs to happen and when. The focus for this post is on the Prevention and Mitigation phases. Response, Recovery, and Restoration will be covered in our next post.

1 - Prevention

The Prevention phase is concerned with taking steps to lessen the chance that a threat could occur. To put this in context, businesses start the planning process with a Threat Risk Assessment (TRA). During the TRA, a business might discover that they are at high risk of fire due to storing highly flammable chemicals next to a heat source. By moving those chemicals away from the heat source, they are lessening the chance of a fire occurring.

2 - Mitigation

By contrast, Mitigation is about taking steps to lessen the impact on your business when a threat occurs. There are some threats that you simply have no control over, like a power outage. But, the impact of a power outage can be lessened by installing a generator or an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). This would ensure there is no immediate data loss, and core operations can continue for the short term.

Both of these phases address steps taken in advance of an incident to ensure a more timely and effective response and recovery.

Interested in learning about phases 3,4,5 of 5? Click here for part 2 where we discuss the phases involved in planning for what is required when an incident actually occurs.

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7 Elements and Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Data breaches, natural disasters, and other business disruptions can significantly impact your business, but they don’t have to. By understanding and applying the key elements of a business continuity plan (BCP), you can reduce the threat of disasters by guaranteeing a quick recovery.

A BCP serves as an emergency response plan that is put in place to ensure your business processes are maintained around the clock – even when an unexpected disaster occurs.

However, creating a complete business continuity plan requires specialized IT knowledge. With more than 90% of enterprises already completed their digital transformation, IT expertise has become increasingly integral to every possible business disaster.

At the same time, it’s also necessary to possess a thorough understanding of the essential elements of a business continuity plan. Without one, businesses are ill-equipped to face disasters – which is a startling fact given that an estimated 48% of small businesses don’t have a BCP in place.

In this article, we’ll explore what should be included in a business continuity plan, and discuss how you can create a business continuity plan of your own.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – The Differences

While similar (and often used interchangeably), DRPs and BCPs differ greatly from each other.

The main difference between the two is that a DRP helps businesses resume IT access post-disaster, while a BCP helps businesses remain operational. 

What are the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan?

Now that you understand the difference between disaster recovery and business continuity, let’s take a closer look at some of the key elements of a business continuity plan.

1. A Dependable Business Continuity Team

When disaster strikes, your team can’t afford to waste any time determining who is responsible for getting things back on track.

Your business continuity team should consist of key personnel who are not only trained to respond to crises, but who also participate throughout the disaster recovery and business continuity planning and testing stages.

These key employees should include personnel at all levels of your company, including local branches.

2. Contact Information

Once your business continuity team is assembled, another key component is making sure you’re able to communicate essential information to all affected parties immediately with a list of contact information that includes:

  • Stakeholders
  • Backup operators
  • Third-party vendors
  • Anyone else crucial to your BCP
  • BCP team members (and their roles)

3. An Effective Crisis Communications Plan

Don’t let the outside world hear about your disaster from someone else first. Get ahead of a potential fallout with an effective crisis communications plan that includes templated social media posts and press releases that you can tailor to deal with any situation.

4. An In-Depth Risk Assessment

In order to plan for potential risks, you must first determine what those risks are. A risk assessment, another key component of a business continuity plan, is the process through which you identify risks (e.g., natural disasters, cyber attacks, flooding, etc.) and vulnerabilities (e.g., people, property, reputation, etc.).

5. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Perhaps the most vital component of a business continuity plan, the BIA identifies the impact that disruption would have on all aspects of the business.

This should include potential legal, financial and reputational consequences of disasters, and should outline what you require (including an estimated time) to recover.

6. A Detailed Response Plan

Once you’ve completed the aforementioned key components of your business continuity plan, it’s time to create the plan itself.

As one of the most important elements of a business continuity plan, your response should be exhaustive and take into account every risk, vulnerability and impact you’ve identified.

You’ll also need to rank your risks based on likelihood and vulnerabilities based on importance, and determine which impacts would be most damaging.

Based on this, you can decide on the strategies you’ll use to both respond to disasters, and prevent them (e.g., regular data backup). This is a process that your team shouldn’t take lightly, and one that you likely can’t complete without help from your in-house IT team or experienced managed services provider.

7. Testing Your Business Continuity Plan

Even the most expertly designed business continuity plan components can become meaningless if they’re not kept up-to-date through regular testing.

Effective testing ensures that your plan fits your current needs, based on any changes to your IT infrastructure, business processes, etc.

This element should include regular reviews (and, as necessary, updates) and simulations. A solid MSP will spearhead the testing for you, and guarantee that you’re always prepared for the worst.

Improve Your Business Continuity Plan Components With TAG

Understanding the elements of a business continuity plan is important for every business leader, but familiarity alone is not enough to protect your company.

If your business is trying to create a business continuity plan, or needs assistance with updating your existing one, we can help.

At Technology Advisory Group, our experts have helped companies across Rhode Island and New England mitigate business disruptions by helping them understand the key elements of a business continuity plan to improve their resilience and emergency response.

For more information about how we can help you develop and implement a plan of your own, contact us today to schedule a consultation with our business continuity specialists.

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    2. Contact Information. Once your business continuity team is assembled, another key component is making sure you're able to communicate essential information to all affected parties immediately with a list of contact information that includes: Stakeholders. Backup operators. Third-party vendors.