essential elements of a business continuity plan

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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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Business Continuity Planning

Organize a business continuity team and compile a  business continuity plan  to manage a business disruption. Learn more about how to put together and test a business continuity plan with the videos below.

Business Continuity Plan Supporting Resources

• Business Continuity Plan Situation Manual
• Business Continuity Plan Test Exercise Planner Instructions
• Business Continuity Plan Test Facilitator and Evaluator Handbook

Business Continuity Training Videos

Business Continuity Training Introduction

An overview of the concepts detailed within this training. Also, included is a humorous, short video that introduces viewers to the concept of business continuity planning and highlights the benefits of having a plan. Two men in an elevator experience a spectrum of disasters from a loss of power, to rain, fire, and a human threat. One man is prepared for each disaster and the other is not.

View on YouTube

Business Continuity Training Part 1: What is Business Continuity Planning?

An explanation of what business continuity planning means and what it entails to create a business continuity plan. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about what business continuity planning means to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 2: Why is Business Continuity Planning Important?

An examination of the value a business continuity plan can bring to an organization. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about how business continuity planning has been valuable to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: What's the Business Continuity Planning Process?

An overview of the business continuity planning process. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company about its process of successfully implementing a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 1

The first of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “prepare” to create a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 2

The second of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “define” their business continuity plan objectives.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 3

The third of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “identify” and prioritize potential risks and impacts.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 4

The fourth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “develop” business continuity strategies.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 5

The fifth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should define their “teams” and tasks.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 6

The sixth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “test” their business continuity plans.

Last Updated: 09/13/2023

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9 essential elements for any business continuity plan.

If the year 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the world can change at the drop of a hat. As a business owner, you’re likely feeling pressure to be ready when (not if) disaster strikes.

To accomplish this, you’ll need a trusted partner to help you prepare your vital IT infrastructure for when that proverbial hat… drops. That’s where we come in. With Keystone’s Business Continuity planning, the key technological components of your organization will never be at risk – giving you and your team complete peace of mind, 24/7/365.

What is a Business Continuity Plan and what should go into it?

Keystone Technology Consultants in Akron, Ohio provides expert business continuity solutions that are fully comprehensive and ready to be deployed the instant a crisis arises. Each of our plans include the following essential elements:

• A set of definitions: This important document, which is usually maintained by the IT department, may contain terms such as “Active Data Systems”, or “Reduced Performance.” Efforts should be undertaken to ensure that these terms are defined in a way that a business leader will understand. This will allow key players in your organization to assess the cost and capabilities of your disaster recovery process.
• A network diagram : This is an important tool utilized by your IT personnel to see what systems are in play, along with their locations and characteristics. By including specific details like location, the team can quickly assess and respond to a local issue such as a fire or flooding and pinpoint where that issue is taking place.
• A list of locations : In conjunction with the network diagram, this shows the specific location (address, room #, etc.) of all your major technological assets.
• A flowchart of the process to be enacted when a disaster occurs : This includes common tasks which are often overlooked, like communication, equipment provisioning, and system restore points.
• Communication and Operations Plan : This crucial planning document describes each system (where system is an application that the organization uses regardless of server), and what the plan will be for various periods of downtime. This is normally viewed across multiple time lines of unavailability, such as 0-4 hours, 4-24 hours, etc. For example, if the shipping system is unavailable for 0-4 hours, the plan may be to hold shipments in staging area, but after 4 hours to use a manual process to continue shipping. The business personnel who “own” each system should also be identified and engaged with as these periods are experienced.
• Key Personnel: A list of all key personnel with contact info, this is useful when initiating and communicating during a disaster. It should also include the systems they would be responsible for where applicable.
• Backup and Restore Plans: A list of all systems which details when they are backed up, how and where they are backed up, and approximately how long each backup will take to complete. A solid backup and restore plan is extremely helpful when troubleshooting system performance issues. It should also include a comprehensive restore plan.
• Reporting and Review : A description of how backup systems report results, and who reviews them for errors and resolution. Backups are of no value unless that can be restored when needed.
• Key Vendor Contacts : Often disasters are either caused by vendors, or resolved by them. For example, your internet access may be lost, so having the contact information is essential.

Keystone’s Business Continuity plans are tailored to your unique situation, provide a comprehensive way for you to understand the risks your business faces, and to restore business operations quickly and seamlessly when the need arises. These plans are typically 15-20 pages in length and are a valuable asset to your organization for many reasons, including the following:

• They are essential when a disaster occurs. As previously mentioned, it’s far too late to start planning for disaster when the middle of one. With a business continuity plan you can rest assured, knowing that your business is safe and protected.
• They are great risk assessment tools. This is important because mitigating risk has a cost, and the best way to manage that cost is to view it as an investment against loss of access. Keystone’s plans allow you to do this in a way that you (not just your IT team) can understand.
• They can reduce your insurance costs. Business insurance providers often look for a comprehensive plan, and provide lower costs when they see one.

Keystone Technology Consultants offers your organization a complete, comprehensive set of fully managed IT services, including your Business Continuity plan. We can be your sole IT provider or can work in conjunction with your existing IT department – whatever suits your business best.

Contact Keystone today by submitting the form below to see how we can improve your Business Continuity capabilities. We look forward to speaking with you!

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• Business Continuity Plan Basics
• Understanding BCPs
• Benefits of BCPs
• How to Create a BCP
• BCP & Impact Analysis
• BCP vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

• Business Continuity Plan FAQs

The Bottom Line

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

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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 IT 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 identified and 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. Accessed Sept. 5, 2021.

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What does a business continuity plan include? 5 key elements

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:

Related content

What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]

Published: December 30, 2022

When a business crisis occurs, the last thing you want to do is panic.

The second-to-last thing you want to do is be unprepared. Crises typically arise without warning. While you shouldn't start every day expecting the worst, you should be relatively prepared for anything to happen.

A business crisis can cost your company a lot of money and ruin your reputation if you don't have a business continuity plan in place. Customers aren't very forgiving, especially when a crisis is influenced by accidents within the company or other preventable mistakes. If you want your company to be able to maintain its business continuity in the face of a crisis, then you'll need to come up with this type of plan to uphold its essential functions.

In this post, we'll explain what a business continuity plan is, give examples of scenarios that would require a business continuity plan, and provide a template that you can use to create a well-rounded program for your business.

Table of Contents:

What is a business continuity plan?

• Business Continuity Types
• Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery

Business Continuity Plan Template

How to write a business continuity plan.

• Business Continuity Examples

A business continuity plan outlines directions and procedures that your company will follow when faced with a crisis. These plans include business procedures, names of assets and partners, human resource functions, and other helpful information that can help maintain your brand's relationships with relevant stakeholders. The goal of a business continuity plan is to handle anything from minor disruptions to full-blown threats.

For example, one crisis that your business may have to respond to is a severe snowstorm. Your team may be wondering, "If a snowstorm disrupted our supply chain, how would we resume business?" Planning contingencies ahead of time for situations like these can help your business stay afloat when you're faced with an unavoidable crisis.

When you think about business continuity in terms of the essential functions your business requires to operate, you can begin to mitigate and plan for specific risks within those functions.

Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning is the process of creating a plan to address a crisis. When writing out a business continuity plan, it's important to consider the variety of crises that could potentially affect the company and prepare a resolution for each.

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The Only Guide You Will Need

From the definition of business continuity and its related plans, to the description of the planning involved in establishing the business continuity plan, right down to its management, we cover everything in this ultimate Business Continuity guide.

20 min Read

What Is Business Continuity?

High-profile events and disasters such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and data breaches have increased global awareness of the need for robust business continuity practices and strategies.

Business continuity encompasses the people, processes, technologies, and frameworks needed for an organization to ensure the continuous delivery of critical business functions when a disaster occurs. The business continuity definition also includes the prevention and mitigation of such disruptions from happening in the first place.

Company leaders have a crucial role to play in ensuring the resilience and continuity of business operations during crisis events.

Business continuity does not have an end date or state. It is a continuous process that keeps on evolving to adapt to never-ending business transformations and changes in the business environment. 

Business Resilience vs. Business Continuity: What’s the Difference?

Although both terms are sometimes used interchangeably within business circles, there are several subtle differences.

Business resilience describes the ability to return to a state of functionality that may either be the same as prior to a disruptive event, or a new state that enables operations in a new reality. It includes disaster response, incidence response, and business continuity management. A truly resilient organization is impervious to the effect and fallout of various kinds of disasters or disruptions.

On the other hand, business continuity assists companies to return to functional status by addressing the consequences of outages and disruptions to business operations. The goal of business continuity is to return the business to a state of operation/functionality prior to a disruptive event, in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of disruption. It does this by reducing and preventing data loss and the risk of reputational harm by mitigating the consequences of disastrous events. 

Essentially, business continuity is concerned with helping a company resume operations immediately when a disaster occurs while business resilience is the company’s ability to resist and adapt to disruptive events or trends.

The Plans in Business Continuity

Multiple plans result from the business continuity planning process. They are all considered part of the business continuity plan (BCP).

Business Continuity Plan (BCP): business continuity initiatives, strategy, policies, standards, and planning activities produce this plan. It is all encompassing and includes the other plans below, or at least references to them.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) : this plan will focus on business continuity from an IT / technology infrastructure standpoint.

Crisis Management Plan (CMP) : this identifies the chain-of-command and provides criteria to determine if a crisis has occurred —and therefore the activation of the BCP and related emergency response— the reporting and response management of the crisis, along with a communication plan.

Emergency Response Plan (ERP) : also called Incident Response Plan, this details the actions that need to take place to mitigate the immediate effects or consequences of an event responsible for business disruption. The priority of this plan is the safety of people directly or indirectly involved in the business. Then comes the protection of the business infrastructure (IT, building, equipment). Once the response phase is completed, it is possible to move to the Restore, Recover and Resume phases.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP) vs. Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP): What Are the Key Differences?

What Does Business Continuity Mean in a Business Emergency?

It means that the organization has made adequate preparations and has the ability to execute a business continuity plan that addresses customers, people, processes and technology. 

Ensuring Services or Products Are Delivered (Customers)

At its core, business continuity proactively ensures that organizations can still execute mission-critical operations and deliver products or services to customers during a disruption.

Proper business continuity mandates different responses to different levels of threats and disruptions. This is done for one major reason – to ensure that the products and services that are most vital to customers aren’t disrupted.

Supporting Employees (People)

The scope of business continuity covers the safety and security of human resources – from executive and middle management down to frontline workers – along with organizational assets and systems.

Since disasters and business emergencies can be confusing, business continuity planning takes cognizance of how, when, and what kind of information is delivered to employees…once disaster strikes.  

To help support company staff during operational disruptions and emergencies, business continuity ensures that employees have key information on how the organization plans to respond. Everyone needs to know what to expect from the BCM team as it implements strategies to navigate the company back to a state of normalcy.

Knowing Which Steps and Actions to Take (Process)

Company management and key personnel need to know what steps to take when faced with incidents that result in a business emergency.

A business continuity plan typically includes the contact information of relevant personnel, a guide on how to use the BCP document as well as clear guidelines on what to do to maintain critical operations. The plan should be honest about service level agreements (SLA) , recovery point and recovery time objectives ( RPO and RTO ) and identify what employees should or should not do to assist processes, facilities, and team members stay operational and productive.  

The Crisis Management and Emergency Response plans would actually provide detailed step-by-step procedures to follow to address particular situations addressed in the BCP.

Having the Right Disaster Recovery Solution in Place (Technology)

It’s imperative for organizations going through the business continuity planning process to leverage the right technologies.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of disaster recovery (DR) solutions, due to the prevalence of cloud computing applications and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Depending on their DR needs, enterprises can build or rent off-site disaster recovery facilities or leverage a variety of cloud-based options such as disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) . These offerings come with a range of tools and services that offer incident response capabilities such as DR, backup, and restore to prevent data loss and ensure the high availability of IT systems and databases. It is all about having the right solution to execute the DR plan .

Managing Business Continuity: The BC Management Team

While business continuity processes and strategies are designed to help organizations stay on track during unexpected disruptions, the success of these strategies depends largely on how well they are executed.

Business continuity management (BCM) teams are critical to the design and implementation of business continuity plans. They provide the insight, focus, and leadership that keeps a business on its feet when disaster strikes.  As such, deciding who is responsible for business continuity planning, and collating the resources and technologies needed to help them operate effectively are indispensable parts of business continuity initiatives.

Putting together a strong BCM team is challenging. A world-class business continuity team is cross-functional and includes personnel drawn from pockets of expertise across the entire organization, from executives to team members drawn from legal, facilities, finance/accounting, IT, HR, etc. The roles and responsibilities of individual BCM team members are outlined in the business continuity policy.

Regardless of company size, industry vertical, or business objectives, the BCM team should comprise the following:

Every BCM team must be headed by a company leader with the skill and experience to oversee business continuity efforts and make high-level decisions on the focus of the BCM team. The sponsor is usually drawn from the ranks of senior management.

For large enterprises, the Risk Management Officer may lead the BCM team assisted by someone from the IT department. In smaller organizations, the CTO or CFO may be picked to head the BCM team.

The Business Continuity Steering Committee or Office  

This is an interdisciplinary team at the C-suite level usually made of people overseeing key functions in the organization (COO, CIO, CSO, CISO, CPO, Legal Counsel, etc.). Their role is to ensure the BC program stays in lock-step with the corporate strategy, that proper resources are allocated and that goals are established and met within set timeframes.

In most instances, the BC Sponsor is also the chair of the Steering Committee when it exists.

The Business Continuity Plan Owners   

In larger organizations, the Business Unit or group leaders are accountable for the creation and maintenance of their own BCP, under the established policies, standards and processes set at the BC program level.

Business Continuity Planners and Managers  

The BC planners are the people in charge of developing the actual business continuity plan for their business unit or group. In larger enterprise, they will report to a BCP owner. In smaller organizations, they may just be reporting to the BC Program manager, and help to develop the BCP for various functions of the business.

The BC manager role is to ensure the BCP readiness by coordinating and organizing simulation exercises, training of the resources that would be involved in any BC activation plan. He also ensure a feedback loop into the process by bringing up any challenges that may arise during exercises testing the BCP.

BC planner and manager functions can be fulfilled by the same person. Again the size and global footprint of an organization will impact how these roles are set up.

Crisis Management Team (CMT) and Emergency Response Team (ERT)   

These are the people who are responsible for executing the BCP when it gets activated and they : 

1) Ensure all the activities get triggered and implemented,  

2) Make sure the proper resources get allocated,  

3) Make decisions to adjust the course of operations as needed,  

4) Execute the workflows and steps of the BCP ,  

5) Provide updates/reporting on the situation and its evolution on the ground .  

In some organizations this might be two teams, working closely together outside of a crisis, and obviously during one. In that scenario, the CMT would mainly cover areas 1) to 3) while the ERT would take care of 3) and 4). The overlap over decision-making (3) considers that adjustments can be made on the ground but also at higher level.

Crisis Communication Management Team (CCMT)   

Some organizations may also have a dedicated Crisis Communication Team that manages communication with the media and all key stakeholders of the organization (employees, customers, partners, etc.) during a crisis.  

The Map to Recovery: The Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

Business continuity planning culminates in the production of a business continuity plan that usually becomes a living document, constantly evolving.

The BCP is the tangible asset an organization produces to translate its strategy and approach to deal with disruptions and ensure its business can continue to operate. Because it is the result of a cyclical process —business continuity planning— it will evolve over time. Regular testing of the BCP usually brings its own set changes and adjustments too, making the BCP an actual living document.

Developed by the business continuity managers and planners, it will become the recovery map the crisis and emergency teams will rely on when disaster strikes.  

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

The BCP is a document containing processes and procedures that when implemented, help ensure that company personnel, resources, and assets are protected and can continue operating in the event of disasters. 

According to ISO 22301 ¹ , a business continuity plan is defined as “documented procedures that guide organizations to complete the four R’s: R espond, R ecover, R esume, and R estore to a pre-defined level of operations following disruption.” 

The business continuity plan aims at meeting the four R’s against defined types of risks that can affect the organization’s operations —such as floods, fires, disease outbreaks, weather-related events, cyber-attacks, and other external threats— for specified sites or geographical areas. 

Key Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

There is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all template that can be applied but at least the elements listed should be considered as minimum requirements. 

The BCP is a document containing processes and procedures that when implemented, help ensure that company personnel, resources, and assets are protected and can continue operating in the event of disasters. The BCP should at a minimum contain the following elements:

• Contact information of the key individuals in charge of the BCP 
• A revision log with reference to documentation that describes change management procedures – This is key for audit purposes and to ensure that only the latest versions of a BCP are available. It also enables to connect changes and BCP testing, by highlighting what elements of a test drove changes in the BCP. 
• Information about and/or references to BC governance, policies and standards  
• The purpose and scope of the BCP – As seen later there will most likely be multiple BCPs developed for a single organization, to address specific types of disruptions over specific entities or locations. So, it is key to know what is the intended application of a particular BCP.
• Instructions about how to use the plan end-to-end , from activation to de-activation phases 
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs) over key business processes, defining the amount of time within which these processes must be restored.
• References to Disaster Recovery, Crisis Management and Emergency Response plans and procedures along with the identification of key roles and individuals. 
• References to Runbooks detailing all applicable procedures step-by-step, with checklists and flow diagrams.
• A glossary of terms used in the plan  
• A schedule showing dates for reviewing, testing and updating the plan, along with a record of past test dates and references to the results of these tests.

Each organization will have other items deemed important that will make it to their BCP. There is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all template that can be applied to meet every business needs.

The Lifecycle of an Active BCP

Great, you have a solid BCP. And now what? What happens when a crisis hits?

BCP Activation

A business continuity plan can be activated at multiple levels of the business continuity chain-of-command. This is how a business is best protected as it enables speed over its BCP activation when required. Obviously, this will vary with the type of disruption as not all disruptions are equal.

The response to a pandemic such as COVID-19 would  provide more time to plan and decide what parts of a BC plan to activate. In this case, it is most likely that the activation decision would be taken at the highest level of the chain. 

In contrast, the event of a shooting in a building office would most likely trigger the activation of that local BCP by the members of the teams located there. The activation would put in motion various elements of the BCP, including the reporting and potential further activations up the chain of command. The situation may end up being managed at a different level later for various reasons. 

The BCP should ensure that many members of the BC team, at various level of the organization, are empowered to act as leaders and activate a BCP, in order to enable a swift response when needed. Proper availability and coverage of these individuals is essential (designated backups in case of absence, redundancy in locations, shifts, etc.).   

Systems and procedures should also be in place to record events as they take place, or soon after (time stamps for events or decisions, people or agencies involved, etc). 

BCP De-activation

It is the responsibility of the Crisis Management Team to decide when the BCP needs or can be de-activated. The highest “ranked” individual in the activated crisis management cell is the one to make the call.

The BCP should incorporate the criteria to be met to start the deactivation process, and during the step-down process itself (validate at each step that the situation meets set criteria and conditions). At this stage, it is usually easier to properly document all these steps, and record time stamps, decision-makers names, and any other pieces of information that may be valuable for a later review of the response to a disruption. 

Other Consideration: BCP Accessibility

While it is impossible to list all the considerations that could apply to an organization’s BCP, there is one that is essential: the accessibility to the BCP, and any runbooks describing the applicable procedures step-by-step.

Training is of course important to make a lot of the activities and tasks feel like second nature for the individuals involved in executing the BCP, however it is still highly probable that during a crisis there will be a need to check some elements of the BCP.

However old-fashion this might feel, having print versions of the BCP available in designated locations is important, since some disruptions may bring down the IT infrastructure of an organization, or even the local grid, hence limiting or preventing any access to digital documents. Obviously, that adds another layer of management to ensure these documents are kept up-to-date. Other options can include having digital copies of a BCP hosted on other secured 3rd party systems or platforms. 

The Journey to a BCP: Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning is a top priority for any organization looking to minimize downtime and maintain the high availability of systems, products, and services, regardless of disastrous occurrences.

Business continuity planning describes the process of establishing risk management procedures and protocols (that should be followed in the event of a disaster) to prevent interruptions to mission-critical services and help re-establish full operational functionality as quickly as possible. It culminates in the production of a business continuity plan (BCP).  

The Key Parts to Business Continuity Planning

To ensure that the most likely scenarios are covered, the planning process involves identifying critical functions and the possible risks and disasters that would cause the failure/downtime of said functions.

The nature and severity of these threats will guide the rest of the planning process. The key parts of the business continuity planning process are:  

• Identification of critical functions or business processes – Reveals what processes are critical to maintaining and running in the event of an unplanned disruption in order to prioritize and focus recovery there 
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA) – A systematic process used first to evaluate the disruptive effects of disasters, accidents, or emergencies on critical business processes.
• Risk Assessment – Identifies all potential hazards to a company such as technology failures, cyberattacks, or natural disasters. It is also used to determine risk mitigation strategies and implementations.
• Establishment of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) – Based on the information collected from the previous stages, realistic and appropriate SLAs must be defined for specific services/teams supporting particular business functions or processes. This will drive technology solutions and processes used to deliver on these SLAs.
• Communications – Crisis communication management involves many parts and must be well planned in order to ensure clear and consistent information to many stakeholders during a crisis, which include: media, employees, customers, partners, agencies, etc.
• Testing and Maintenance – Testing the resulting BCP is essential to identify gaps and make improvements. Planning BCP testing should help determine test frequency, but also how to partially or fully test the BCP, i.e. what method to use. 

The various analysis and planning processes highlighted above will lead to the creation of other plans —and their related procedures— that are part of the business continuity plan, such as: 

• Disaster Recovery Plan 
• Crisis Management Plan, which will include the communication aspect. 
• Emergency Response Plan   

While driven and led by the BCM team, a lot of cross-organizational and cross-functional work and teams are involved to feed into and receive information from the various activities taking place to establish the BCP. This is not an easy task that requires a lot of coordination and alignment, hence the necessity to have a dedicated team managing that planning process.  

Establish Key Business Continuity Metrics: MTD and MTDL

Through the business impact analysis (BIA), an organization will estimate the downtime it can tolerate for a given process or function, and the maximum data loss it can handle. These limits are reflected in the SLAs.

Within the context of business continuity, an SLA represents a promise about how long a business process or function will remain unavailable in the event of a disruption. It assumes the commitment of every party involved.

Maximum tolerable downtime (MTD) and maximum tolerable data loss (MTDL) are two of the most important metrics of any business continuity plan, and are reflected in the business continuity SLAs related to each critical business process and/or function.

Risk Assessment, BIA, SLA, RTO and RPO: What’s the Link? MTD and MTDL

What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in Business Continuity

MTD and MTDL: Differences and Considerations

MTD, also referred to as maximum allowable downtime (MAD), is the longest downtime an organization can tolerate before facing serious repercussions. It is measured in units of time.

MTD is made of several components, including recovery time objective (RTO), meaning setting things up to stay below its defined value is more complex and involves several teams.

MTDL determines the most amount of data or transactions the business can afford to lose over a specific business process or function. This limit is measured in units of time. MTDL will directly inform the DR team about the recovery point objective (RPO) that needs to be achieved to meet the SLA of a specific business process.

Where To Begin Your Business Continuity Planning

Let’s take a look at the core steps company leaders must undertake when embarking on business continuity planning.

Start With A Thorough Prep-work and a Strong Disaster Recovery Plan

The key parts of the business continuity planning —risk assessment, BIA, identification of critical functions— contribute to determine the business requirements for the DR plan, mainly through the establishment of SLAs. There is no shortcut: that is the tedious prep-work that has to be done in order to deliver a strong disaster recovery plan. 

A strong disaster recovery plan is a core part of your business continuity strategy and is integral to its success. The DRP focuses on the technology infrastructure required as well as the specific steps organizations must take to resume operations and access their data easily following a disaster. The DRP should include the following 

• plan goals and objectives 
• authentication tools 
• incident response and recovery steps 
• the DR policy statement 
• key action steps and guidelines for when to use the plan 
• responsibilities of individual DR team members  
• contact information of personnel needed to enact critical recovery tasks. 

Train a Strong BCM Team

Designating who will manage and implement your BCP, and all its related plans, is of paramount importance to the success of business continuity initiatives. As mentioned previously, the BCM team is broad, considering it goes from the sponsor, steering committee, program manager, plan owners and planners to the crisis and emergency response teams spanning across all the areas of the business. Therefore training and simulation exercises are critical to help prepare your BCM team for when an actual disruption occurs. 

Since it’s difficult to know ahead of time how well your BCM team would perform during an actual crisis, continuous training will go a long way in ensuring they’re ready to oversee and execute the BCP when disaster strikes. Training also includes getting BCM team members up to speed on the latest BCM best practices. The team can also leverage cloud-based or on-premise business continuity management software to help pinpoint areas of risk, create and update plans and conduct BIAs. 

Have Something Small In Place, Test It And Grow From There

Traditionally, business continuity planning was largely the province of big businesses and most plans seem to be designed with large enterprises in mind. However, anyone can undertake BCP without breaking the bank or straining already limited company resources. Savvy business leaders can begin their BCP journey with a small but easily scalable plan. 

The plan could target one specific area at a time (such as IT assets and sensitive business data) and expand to include other business areas and processes. Such a plan should be rigorously tested to minimize loopholes and vulnerabilities. Over time, company leadership can expand the initial BCP to ensure 360-degree business continuity across the entire organization. 

Business Continuity: How to Do It the Right Way

A solution that fits your BCDR strategy, and delivers on data protection and recovery.

BC planning takes inputs from the Risk Assessment, BIA, identification of critical functions and defined SLAs to establish the appropriate processes, procedures and technology solutions to be implemented and enabling the DR plan to achieve the defined SLAs. 

To protect your data from disasters and instantly recover applications without data loss, companies need a reliable data protection mechanism and cost-effective BCDR solution in place. A lot of enterprise-grade applications and databases have the built-in capability to handle data replication synchronously and asynchronously. 

However, this is not a viable option for business continuity purposes. Companies need a single data protection solution that supports their business continuity strategy and objectives, and that provides ransomware resilience, DR, restore and testing capabilities. This solution should be designed to work independently of any resource or host platform on a company’s IT estate and scalable enough to protect single applications as well as large clusters or multisite environments. 

What is Zerto Solution?

Short video (1 min 21 sec ) explaining what Zerto does and how it helps to deliver business continuity.

Zerto Solution: Overview

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Zerto Solution Overview

Introducing Zerto for Business Continuity

Zerto , built on a foundation of continuous data protection, enables continuous availability which is essential to achieve business continuity. Zerto’s solution provides everything you need for ransomware resilience , disaster recovery , and data mobility while delivering the very best recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) possible.

With easy implementation and deployment, the Zerto solution can scale with your organization to ensure continuous data protection for all of your business-critical and lower tier applications. 

Get in Touch!

Speak to one of our specialists today to find out how Zerto can help your business to achieve business continuity.

MORE RESOURCES ON BUSINESS CONTINUITY SEE ALL

Business continuity & disaster recovery in healthcare.

Understand the unique challenges facing the healthcare industry and how, by adopting business continuity & disaster recovery, they can become more resilient.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery in the Cloud Era

Learn the different types of Cloud BCDR solutions along with their pros and cons, and then see how Zerto addresses these challenges and improves upon many of the traditional solutions that leave gaps in cloud-based BCDR .

Essential Guide: Disaster Recovery

After reviewing Business Continuity, let’s look at what is involved in getting Disaster Recovery right in this online guide.

1. ISO 22301:2019 – Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements

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What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? Purpose, Template & Examples

• Marie Laure Troadec
• Aug 29, 2023

Key Takeaways

1.  A business continuity plan is an essential risk management tool that helps organizations proactively prepare for unexpected disruptions and events, ensuring the continuity of critical operations.

2.  By identifying and assessing potential risks and threats to their operations, businesses can develop appropriate response strategies to prevent or minimize disruption during challenging times.

3.  Businesses should avoid certain pitfalls to successfully implement their business continuity plan. These include a lack of employee engagement, an over-reliance on technology, and a failure to test their plans.

4.  By proactively addressing these areas, businesses can increase the chances of successful implementation and execution of their business continuity plans.

Ensuring business continuity is a topic high on the agenda for most businesses and one that has become increasingly paramount in light of recent events: Few things have focused attention on the need to have a contingency plan more than the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential disruption caused by a pandemic, or indeed any other unforeseen event, to a business’s operations can have significant financial, legal, and reputational ramifications that can be mitigated or even prevented if appropriate measures are put in place.

This article delves into the essential elements of a business continuity plan (BCP) and provides valuable guidance on avoiding common pitfalls to help your business implement and execute a robust plan that safeguards your operations.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is a risk management strategy that a business implements to protect its operations in the face of an unexpected event or disruption such as a natural disaster, cyberattack, or technological failure. By anticipating and preparing for potential crises or unplanned eventualities, businesses can take preemptive measures to ensure they remain operational and maintain a sense of normalcy despite interruptions.

The business continuity planning process enables businesses to assess potential threats to their operations and identify vulnerabilities that could impact their ability to function effectively. Through the implementation of a business continuity plan, business leaders can swiftly respond to emergencies, minimizing any potential downtime and mitigating the negative effects on their operations. This proactive approach can help businesses navigate challenging situations with relative ease and resilience, ensuring minimal impact on their productivity and profits.

Main Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

A robust and effective business continuity plan will comprise the following key elements that facilitate business resilience and preparedness during uncertain times.

• Business impact analysis
• During this phase, a business will identify and assess potential risks and threats to their organization’s operations. A business impact analysis (BIA) assesses the potential consequences of disruptions in critical business functions. This allows businesses to prioritize resources, allocate budgets, and develop strategies to minimize downtime and facilitate recovery.  
• Recovery strategies
• This step addresses the risks identified in the BIA by developing appropriate responses to prevent or minimize disruption. Recovery strategies outline the immediate actions required following an incident, those responsible for implementing them and coordinating the allocation of resources.
• Plan development
• The plan development phase involves developing the framework of the business continuity plan by establishing the relevant recovery teams, establishing communication channels, creating relocation plans, and gaining management buy-in.
• Testing and maintenance
• This phase involves training and testing the relevant teams and systems by conducting exercises to measure the effectiveness of the business continuity plan and identifying areas for improvement. Processes are also established for regularly reviewing and updating the business continuity plan to account for changes in technology, previous incidents, and evolving threats and risks.

Common Business Continuity Plan Pitfalls

To ensure the efficacy of their response during unexpected events or disruptions, organizations should be mindful of common mistakes encountered in the business continuity planning process. 

An awareness of the following issues can help businesses avoid certain pitfalls which could hinder their efforts in this area:

1. Lack of employee engagement

The success of any business continuity plan hinges on an organization’s ability to execute it successfully as even the most comprehensive and detailed plan will fall flat if it is ineffective in real-world situations.

The successful execution of a business continuity plan goes beyond senior management. To ensure business continuity in times of trouble it is essential that those on the ground have also been briefed on contingency measures and are ready to step into action accordingly.  Without adequate employee training and awareness, organizations run the risk of compromising critical business functions leading to further disruptions and losses.

By prioritizing employee engagement and involvement in the business continuity plan, organizations can strengthen and streamline their response efforts ensuring a robust and resilient response to potential disruptions, while fostering a culture of confidence and preparedness within their organization.

2. Overreliance on technology

While technological solutions play a crucial role and should be a feature of any robust business continuity plan, an overreliance on digital services and technical infrastructure can pose potential challenges for organizations. 

Sole or heavy reliance on this area increases the risk of a single point of failure. This is especially pertinent at a time when cyberattacks and data breaches are prevalent creating vulnerabilities in a business’ technological systems, and thereby undermining the effectiveness of its business continuity plan. Unforeseen events such as natural disasters which can lead to infrastructure damage and power outages can also severely compromise an organization’s ability to function effectively during a crisis.

To counter these problems, organizations should incorporate a diverse range of technological and non-technological solutions into their business continuity plan, taking into account manual processes and alternatives that are not solely dependent on digital services. Data backup options should also be put in place to help businesses restore swift operations and minimize extended downtime.

3. Failure to test

Without proper testing, the effectiveness of a business continuity plan remains theoretical rather than proven in practice. Regular testing enables businesses to identify and address any gaps or limitations in their plan, avoiding the risk of critical business functions being left vulnerable in an actual crisis situation.

Through drills, real-life simulations, and tabletop exercises, organizations can learn from real-world incidents, gaining practical insight into the feasibility of their business continuity plans and identifying any areas that require improvement. Regular testing plays a crucial role in helping businesses to optimize their response strategies and ensure resilience and readiness in the face of difficult or unforeseen circumstances.

By proactively addressing and avoiding these common pitfalls, businesses can develop comprehensive business continuity plans that help to bolster their resilience, minimize disruptions, and ensure the continuity of their operations during challenging times.

BCP Template

The precise content of your BCP will depend on the nature of your business. However, below is a useful template for a typical business: 

1. Introduction

• Purpose: Outline the purpose of the BCP.
• Scope: Specify which parts of the organization this BCP covers.
• Assumptions: State any assumptions made during the BCP’s creation.

2. Business Continuity Policy

Outline the company’s policy regarding business continuity. This can include the company’s commitment to employee safety, client service, data protection, etc.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

List the key personnel responsible for executing the BCP:

• Business Continuity Manager/Coordinator
• Crisis Communication Team
• Emergency Response Team
• IT Recovery Team
• Employee Assistance Team

4. Risk Assessment

Identify potential risks and threats:

• Natural disasters
• Technological failures
• Security breaches

5. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Identify the potential impacts of each threat:

• Financial impacts
• Reputational impacts
• Operational impacts
• Legal/Regulatory impacts

6. Business Continuity Strategies

Outline strategies for:

• Data backup and recovery
• Alternate work locations
• Communication protocols
• Supply chain management

7. Incident Response Plan

Details the immediate actions to be taken following an incident:

• Alert and notification procedures
• Evacuation procedures
• Safety checks

8. Recovery Plans

For each critical department/function, provide a detailed plan on how to resume operations:

• IT systems recovery
• Resumption of critical business functions
• Communication with stakeholders

9. Training and Testing

Outline how the plan will be tested and how often, as well as any training programs for employees:

• Tabletop exercises
• Full-scale drills
• Employee training sessions

10. Maintenance and Review

Describe how the plan will be kept current:

• Regularly scheduled reviews
• Updates following any changes in the business environment or operations
• Feedback loop from testing

11. Communication Protocols

Specify how communication will be maintained:

• Emergency contact lists
• Communication methods (phone, email, etc.)
• External communication (with media, stakeholders, etc.)

12. Appendices

• Resource lists
• Vendor contacts
• Floor plans
• Backup data locations

Business Continuity Plan Examples

If you are looking for some other examples of well-designed BCPs and BCP templates, check out the following: 

• Durham County Council’s BCP
• Chisholm & Winch (UK Construction Company)
• Ready (US Government Disaster Response Resource).

Developing and implementing business continuity plans

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Contact us today to learn how we can support your business continuity efforts and provide the stability and peace of mind you need in an ever-changing world. 

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4 Essential Building Blocks of a Business Continuity Plan

If you ever find yourself having to defend the notion of creating a business continuity plan, consider the case of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook . First published in 1999, it went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. 

The secret to its success? Some readers enjoyed the authors’ deadpan advice for landing an airplane or surviving a shark attack as a kind of psychic balm to soothe their anxieties. Others simply enjoyed learning real-life strategies for escaping killer bees. 

Both of the readers’ experiences are valid and both underscore the inherent benefits of creating a business continuity plan for your organization (sometimes referred to as a business contingency plan). When executed correctly, these plans can help your organization face and overcome its own worst-case-scenario.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is the set of protocols, procedures, and policies. It enables the organization to preserve and protect essential operations in the face of disasters, emergencies, or threats.

Here’s what you’ll find in most business continuity plan examples :

• The objectives of your organization when responding to a crisis 
• Strategies for mitigating risks and allaying losses
• The roles and responsibilities of key team members 
• All tasks necessary to keep business operations running smoothly
• The location of resources and key meeting spots
• Methods for backing up important data and related information technology concerns  
• Contact procedures and information for team members, stakeholders, and emergency personnel
• Provisions for regular plan updates and practice

No matter what type of business you’re company is in, the fundamental components of your organization will be essentially the same. Naturally, you will want to tailor any business continuity plan template to the specific needs of your organization or industry. The name of the game is creating what amounts to a survival handbook for your business.

Why Does a Business Continuity Plan Matter?

You know those fire-engine red shadow boxes with the words “In Case of Emergency Break Glass?” Behind the glass is a switch that engages an alarm or sprinkler system, allowing savvy bystanders to save the day if a fire occurs in the building.

Essentially, your organization’s business continuity plan is the switch on the other side of that glass . It can both sound the alarm, and it can implement protocols that can save your business during a crisis.

Disruptions such as natural disasters, utility failures, terrorism, disgruntled employees, cyber-attacks, and — as we have recently witnessed — global pandemics can strike at any time. Your organization’s business resilience is dependent on the quality of your business continuity plan . 

A plan that is proactive, prudent, and practiced can help your ensure your organization’s survival in three distinct ways:

• Expect the unexpected and react accordingly
• Avoid panic and be able to make responsible, rational decisions despite the disruption
• Be able to continue serving customers during and after a disaster

The bottom line is that a solid business continuity plan template is good for your organization’s health, the well-being of its stakeholders, and its operations.

The Backstory on Business Continuity Plans 

One of the key concepts of business continuity planning was developed during the latter half of the 20th century. It came about through the emergence of computers and — more specifically — data storage systems.

It’s hard to imagine blue-chip companies (including top financial and insurance institutions) relying on delicate, half-inch magnetic tape spun onto clunky reels. But that’s how it worked — if it worked. 

Incalculable amounts of ones and zeroes, representing vast amounts of private (though woefully unencrypted) data flew through primitive computers that looked like a cross between a Walkman and a refrigerator. Literally hundreds of miles of tape were located off-site as back-ups in case their onsite versions were physically destroyed in a disaster. 

As computing evolved during the ‘80s and ‘90s, however, data storage development kept pace with the growing global economy and more effective systems evolved to meet new challenges. Not only did data need to be backed up, but it also had to be shared through networks. This brought a host of additional concerns, specifically around cybersecurity. 

Throughout this evolution, companies began to consider business resilience as a guiding principle beyond the scope of their IT department . At stake was the possible erosion of their competitive advantage, and the fear that customers might turn to competitors. 

Devising programs to promote business continuity best practices quickly became a key component of the business contingency plan for forward-thinking companies. 

These days, of course, there are countless platforms including app and cloud-based systems that not only provide a way to preserve an organization’s data, but they also enable employees to securely share critical information. Mobile-first solutions like Beekeeper can keep the entire company connected and informed before, during, and after a crisis.    

The Four Building Blocks of Your Business Continuity Plan 

1. determine your plan’s objectives .

To kick off your organization’s business continuity exercise, it’s important to identify its goals and benchmarks for a positive outcome. 

Business continuity plan sample questions to consider might include:

• Which departments will be covered by the plan?
• How will you track the time invested in researching and generating the plan?    
• What does success look like?

Think of this stage as a roadmap, but start with the destination and work backward from there. Knowing where you want your organization to “arrive” will help get you to envision how to get there successfully.

Knowing when to put your business continuity plan in motion is just as important as having one. Determine what thresholds a crisis or disaster situation must reach to determine which business continuity plan example to follow. 

2. Conduct a Business Impact Analysis

A crucial element of a successful business continuity plan is understanding what’s at stake for your organization . Assess how threats and crises may impact various aspects of a company. This helps you gain clarity around what you need to protect, and why you’re protecting it in the first place. 

Though no business has a crystal ball that will help it foresee every potential pitfall, it’s important to honestly reflect on your organization’s vulnerabilities and potential liabilities. This will help business leaders to come up with the most rational solutions.

The business impact analysis should also inventory your essential business operations and help identify what is mission-critical . Knowing what it will take to sustain business continuity and build business resilience will help determine what resources are necessary to maintain core business operations.

3. Choose Your Team

Your crisis management team is just as important as your business continuity plan. Consider the specific tasks and resources each of your organization’s departments will need and assign roles accordingly.

Think strategically in terms of interdependencies within your organization. Consider the order that certain tasks must be completed and who will own the process. 

Typical questions to consider are:

• Communications — Who is responsible for communicating with employees, stakeholders, the media, and the general public?
• Information Technology — How will it safeguard the organization’s ability to maintain continuous operations in an emergency?
• Human Resources — How will the business protect, serve, and facilitate the work of its employees and contractors?
• Facilities — What determines if a building is safe if it is subject to a natural disaster or other physical threat? What safety precautions are already in place and what procedures are in place in the event of an evacuation?
• Finance — Having access to critical financial information and insurance records could prove vital to maintaining business continuity. This includes access to capital as well as all company accounts and credit cards — who has this access?
• Legal — Chances are any crisis that befalls an organization will bring with it some order of legal component — is your legal team empowered to make decisions that will protect the company and its stakeholders?

Be sure to assign alternate team members for each position in the event that someone is unavailable. Also, include all points of contact for these team members and be sure they are acquainted with each other and 

4. Strategize for Before, During and After a Crisis

No two crises are exactly the same but they will share some commonalities, the most basic of which is a beginning, middle, and end. Fortunately, each of these phases can be targeted by having the arrows of Prevention, Response, and Recovery in your quiver.

Prevention  

 As comedian Groucho Marx once remarked, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of bandages and adhesive tape.” Anticipating disasters and putting preventative measures in place can save both dollars and heartache. 

For a recent business continuity example in practice, look no further than those companies that already had systems in place for remote workers when the pandemic struck. Those that could easily pivot into having their staff work from home (and stay connected through a digital workplace ) maintained business continuity despite the quarantine where those that didn’t have a platform or procedures available lost weeks of productivity as solutions were improvised. 

Response  

Each member of your business continuity team should not only know their own duties in an emergency but how their activities fit into the larger picture of your plan. In addition to preparing safety protocols, the team should chart if-this-then-that action flows to visualize viable contingencies that can be implemented in real-time. The more your team practices this process, the more prepared they’ll be to respond to issues as they arise.

Recovery  

Once some measure of control has been exerted over a crisis event, it’s time to implement your organization’s recovery strategies . Know your milestones and prospective timeline and be realistic when considering and committing to these initiatives. 

There is often an impulse to be a cheerleader or use platitudes when speaking about the recovery of one’s organization — resist it. Instead, establish clear objectives and give stakeholders reasonable estimates when activating a recovery plan, whether that’s bringing a new facility online or dispensing of certain assets to remain solvent. Establishing a recovery plan differentiates determination from desperation. 

Top Business Continuity Best Practices

A worthy business continuity exercise every business should consider practicing comes courtesy of the British Standards Institution (BSI). 

The book Exercising for Excellence from BSI recommends three tests to validate your business continuity plan’s effectiveness and promote organizational acceptance.

It can be broken down as follows:

Beginner Level 

Gather a small group of team members and rigorously attempt to “poke a hole” in each aspect of the plan. Start simply by asking the question “Why?” at key junctures and pivot points in the plan to ensure the reasoning is sound and not based on intrinsic biases like “that’s what we always do.” 

Your organization doesn’t always “do” emergencies either so it’s likely that a plan that adheres to conventional operational assumptions will fail.   

Intermediate Level

Invoke the element of surprise. Invite teams from multiple departments to evaluate various aspects of your business continuity disaster recovery plan. Then enact the procedures while new variables are introduced. 

For example, if a team member is tasked with releasing information to stakeholders via email, “surprise” them with news that the email servers are down. How do they proceed? The improvisation required in this kind of situation could lead to a viable solution that can be added to your plan.

Expert Level 

To really test your team’s readiness to kick your business continuity plan into high gear, consider going for “maximum realism.” This means activating the exercise without notice. At some random-seeming time, announce the exercise like a pop quiz. Then evaluate how your response team handles it. 

Naturally, it would be inappropriate to pretend an actual emergency is occurring; however, a short-notice test of the plan should help you assess where the pain points. This allows you to uncover where the plan can be improved. No business continuity disaster recovery plan is complete without rehearsal . It leads to better all-around preparedness, readies the team for their roles, and forms the bonds necessary to help everyone perform their best.

Learn how to make the best of a worst-case scenario with our Business Recovery Roadmap.

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Developing a Robust Business Continuity Plan: Essential Steps for Marketers

It is essential for marketers to have a robust business continuity plan in place so that a company can continue its operations smoothly in the face of unexpected events or disruptions. By understanding the importance of a business continuity plan and its key elements, marketers can take the necessary steps to develop and maintain an effective plan that will safeguard their business.

Understanding the Importance of a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan is a proactive strategy that outlines the steps and actions a company will take to continue its core functions in the event of a disruption. It provides guidelines and procedures to mitigate risks, manage crises, and ensure business resilience.

Marketers have a unique role in the overall functioning of a company, because they are responsible for promoting products or services, building brand awareness, and driving sales. A disruption in marketing activities can have significant implications for the company's reputation and revenue. Therefore, marketers need to be prepared with a solid business continuity plan to minimize any potential impacts on their marketing efforts.

Key Elements of a Robust Business Continuity Plan

A robust business continuity plan consists of several key elements that work together to ensure the company's continued operation. These elements include:

Risk Assessment and Management

Before developing a business continuity plan, marketers need to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities that could disrupt their marketing activities. This includes assessing both internal and external factors that may pose a threat, such as natural disasters, cyber attacks, or supply chain disruptions. Once the risks are identified, strategies can be put in place to manage and mitigate these risks. This may involve implementing security measures, creating backup systems, or establishing alternative communication channels. In the case of a natural disaster, marketers may need to consider the potential impact of flooding on their physical marketing assets, such as retail stores or warehouses. They may develop a risk management strategy that includes relocating these assets to higher ground or investing in flood-resistant infrastructure. For cyber attacks, marketers may conduct regular vulnerability assessments and implement robust security measures, such as firewalls and encryption, to protect their digital marketing platforms and customer data.

Business Impact Analysis

A business impact analysis helps marketers understand the potential impacts of different disruptions on their marketing activities. By assessing the potential consequences, marketers can prioritize their response and allocate resources accordingly. During the business impact analysis, marketers should identify critical marketing functions and determine the potential loss of revenue or customer impact resulting from disruptions. This analysis provides valuable insights into where resources and efforts should be focused in the event of a disruption. For instance, if a supply chain disruption occurs, marketers may analyze the potential impact on product availability and customer satisfaction. They may identify alternative suppliers or develop contingency plans to guarantee uninterrupted delivery of goods or services to customers.

In addition, marketers may conduct customer surveys or market research to understand the potential impact of disruptions on customer loyalty and brand reputation. This information can help them prioritize recovery efforts and allocate resources to minimize any negative consequences.

Recovery Strategies and Procedures

Recovery strategies outline the steps and procedures that marketers will follow to recover their marketing activities after a disruption. These strategies may include alternative marketing channels, backup plans for lost data, or contingency plans for promotional activities. For example, if a marketing campaign is disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances, marketers may have a recovery strategy in place that includes redirecting resources to alternative marketing channels, such as social media or email marketing. They may also have backup plans for lost data, such as regularly backing up customer databases and marketing analytics . As for contingency plans for promotional activities, this may involve having alternative promotional materials or messaging ready to go in case the original plans are disrupted. The objective is for marketers to quickly adapt and continue engaging with their target audience, ensuring minimal disruption to their marketing efforts.

Steps to Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Now that the importance of a business continuity plan and its key elements are understood, let's dive into the essential steps for marketers to develop a robust plan:

Establishing the Planning Team

The first step in developing a business continuity plan is to establish a dedicated planning team. This team should consist of key stakeholders from the marketing department, as well as representatives from other areas of the company. The planning team will be responsible for conducting risk assessments, performing business impact analyses, and creating recovery strategies. 

During the process of establishing the planning team, it is important to identify individuals who possess a deep understanding of the company's marketing operations and have the ability to think strategically. These individuals should have a comprehensive understanding of the potential risks and challenges that the business may face, allowing them to contribute effectively to the development of the plan. Moreover, it is crucial to confirm that the planning team consists of individuals who possess strong communication and leadership skills. This will enable effective coordination and collaboration among team members, so that the plan is developed and executed smoothly.

Identifying Critical Business Functions

Next, marketers need to identify the critical marketing functions that need to be prioritized in the event of a disruption. These functions could include lead generation, brand management, advertising campaigns, or customer communications. By identifying these critical functions, marketers can focus their efforts on confirming that these activities can continue even in the face of a disruption. This may involve establishing backup systems, training additional staff, or developing contingency plans. During the process of identifying critical business functions, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of the potential impacts of disruptions on each function. This analysis should take into account various scenarios, such as natural disasters, supply chain disruptions, or technological failures.

Furthermore, marketers should consider the potential financial and reputational consequences of disruptions to these critical functions. By understanding the potential risks and impacts, marketers can develop strategies to mitigate these risks and uphold the continuity of their marketing activities.

Developing Recovery Strategies

Based on the risk assessments and business impact analyses, it is vital for marketers to develop recovery strategies that align with the specific needs of their marketing activities. For example, if a disruption affects a company's ability to use its primary marketing channels, marketers should have alternative channels in place to maintain communication with customers. This may include utilizing social media platforms, email marketing, or influencer collaborations.

During the process of developing recovery strategies, marketers should consider the potential costs and feasibility of implementing these strategies. They should assess the resources required, such as financial investments, technological infrastructure, or human resources. Moreover, marketers should also take into account the potential impact of these recovery strategies on other aspects of the business. For example, implementing certain strategies may require reallocating resources from other areas of the company, which could have implications on overall business operations.

Creating and Implementing the Plan

Once the recovery strategies are developed, marketers need to create a comprehensive business continuity plan that outlines all the necessary procedures and steps to be followed in the event of a disruption. This plan should be clearly communicated to all relevant stakeholders within the marketing department and regularly reviewed and updated as needed. Implementation of the plan should be practiced through drills or simulations to verify all team members are familiar with their roles and responsibilities.

During the process of creating and implementing the plan, it is important to establish clear lines of communication and escalation protocols. This will ensure that in the event of a disruption, all team members are aware of the appropriate channels to report incidents and receive guidance. Also, the plan should include mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the business continuity strategies. This will allow marketers to continuously improve and refine their approach to ensure maximum resilience in the face of disruptions.

Testing and Maintaining Your Business Continuity Plan

Developing a business continuity plan is only half the battle; testing and maintaining the plan is equally important to ensure its effectiveness. This involves regular testing of the plan and updating it as business needs change.

Regular Testing of the Plan

Marketers should conduct regular tests and simulations to assess the effectiveness of their business continuity plan. These tests can help identify any gaps or weaknesses in the plan and allow for adjustments to be made accordingly. During testing, marketers can evaluate the response time, communication effectiveness, and overall functionality of the plan. This provides an opportunity to fine-tune the plan and ensure it remains robust and up-to-date.

Updating the Plan as Business Needs Change

As a company evolves and business needs change, it is essential for marketers to review and update their business continuity plan to reflect these changes. This includes revisiting the risk assessments, business impact analysis, and recovery strategies to ensure they align with the current marketing landscape. Regular reviews and updates of the plan help marketers stay proactive and prepared for any potential disruptions that may arise in the future.

Overall, developing a robust business continuity plan is an essential step for marketers to safeguard their marketing activities and ensure business resilience. By understanding the importance of a business continuity plan and following the key elements outlined in this article, marketers can take the necessary steps to develop an effective plan that mitigates risks and ensures the continuity of their marketing efforts even in challenging circumstances.

Develop a robust business continuity plan with Wrike's strategic planning tools. Start your free trial and ensure your marketing efforts remain unhindered, no matter what comes your way. Note: This article was created with the assistance of an AI engine. It has been reviewed and revised by our team of experts to ensure accuracy and quality.

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What are the 5 key components of a business continuity plan?

Related Articles

Putting together a robust business continuity plan means that your business is more likely to be able to react confidently and quickly in the event of disruption. this can help you to keep customer dissatisfaction at bay, give your team confidence and reduce recovery timescales. in order to achieve this, every business continuity plan needs to incorporate five key elements., 1. risks and potential business impact.

Any business continuity plan worth its salt will be based on a business impact analysis, which identifies potential risks and vulnerabilities both within and outside the business. These risks could be anything from flooding or a major IT disruption to a failure from an important supplier. By knowing what you could potentially face, you can begin to take steps to prevent or mitigate the risk.

A strong plan will also use the output of your business impact analysis to reveal the possible consequences of disruption on your business. This will enable you to anticipate its cost, the effect it could have on essential business functions and the time needed to recover.

2. Planning an effective response

Once you have an awareness of the types of risks and threats your business may be vulnerable to, you can begin to form an effective plan.

A comprehensive business continuity plan will take each risk identified in the business impact analysis and develop an appropriate response strategy to either minimise it or prevent it altogether. These detailed plans will describe the action needed and outline who needs to be involved to implement it. Timescales and resources, such as laptops, alternative warehouse space and mobile phones, should also be laid out to ensure a quick and relevant response.

3. Roles and responsibilities

In order for a crisis or disruption to be met confidently, the key people in your business need to know their roles and responsibilities. A business continuity plan will therefore document which key personnel need to be involved in the response to the disruption. This will typically be more senior staff members, but this depends on your business and the type of risk you are dealing with.

Once these people have been identified, their roles and actions need to be clearly defined so that they can react quickly and efficiently. The resources they need following a disruption should also be clearly stated so that they can be prioritised ahead of the rest of the team. For instance, if a remote office needs to be set up following a disruption, critical personnel will need to be prioritised when it comes to allocating resources such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

4. Communication

Clear communication is vital during business disruptions. Effective communication across your business can reassure team members and give them confidence that the organisation is taking effective steps to respond and recover. Outside of your company, good communication is also necessary in order to liaise with suppliers and customers and minimise dissatisfaction.

To prepare for this, a business continuity plan will normally include a list of key contacts as well as templated press releases and social media posts. Having these in place in advance can speed up communication in a crisis and ensure that both your staff and external contacts are kept up to speed. In larger organisations, it may be necessary to have a separate communication plan that provides a comprehensive approach to communication during a crisis.

5. Testing and training

Business continuity plans are not just theoretical – they need to be robust enough to be put into action. In order to check this, the final key component of a business continuity plan is testing and exercising.

Realistic scenarios can be used to test the plan and your team’s response. By doing so, you can identify room for improvement and take action to improve the plan before a disruption occurs. Testing and exercising business continuity plans also helps to ensure that key personnel understand the plan and their role in it. This means that the company can respond quickly and efficiently when a disruption occurs.

Raising awareness of the business continuity plan among your wider staff will also help them to understand their role in responding to disruptions. Many companies run regular awareness training sessions and include business continuity as a key topic during new staff inductions. This training can then improve the resilience of the company overall.

Building your own business continuity plan

An internationally recognised mark of best practice, ISO 22301 will enable you to implement, maintain and improve a business continuity management system, which will support your business before, during and after disruption.

To find out more, visit our dedicated webpage for  ISO 22301 .

You can also get in touch on  0333 259 0445  or by emailing  [email protected] .

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Claire Price

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Claire worked for Citation ISO Certification between 2020 and 2022 writing creative and informative content on ISO certification and consultation to help businesses reach their potential.

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What are the main components of a Business Continuity Plan?

With the abundance of potential threats awaiting every company, creating a business continuity plan (BCP) is an absolute must. An efficient BCP will allow you to predict potential risks and create a scheme that will help your company bounce back in the event of a disaster.

In a nutshell, a business continuity plan is going to save your butt, reputation, and money. Creating an effective BCP should include determining risks, picking reliable business continuity software, and testing whether everything works properly.

With so many things that demand consideration, it’s understandable that some of them are more important than others. And what should be the main components of every business continuity plan? You’ll find the answer in the article below.

Every potential threat

The first thing that your business continuity plan needs is a list of all the potential threats awaiting your company and their possible impact on your operations . Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter whether they’re minor or too unlikely to happen. It would help if you named them all.

Your list should definitely include:

• Floods, including broken pipes
• Earthquakes
• Acts of terrorism
• Cyber Attacks
• Malware and viruses
• Power outages
• Biological threats

As you probably suspect, the examples mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. When creating a continuity plan, the right idea is to group the threats into categories. It will enhance the efficiency of your actions and make your BCP more readable.

Data recovery

Data is your most valuable asset, and you should implement whatever means necessary to protect it. That’s why your data recovery should be a top priority when creating a continuity plan.

First of all, you need to determine what type of backup source you’re going to use. When it comes to that, you have three main options to choose from. You can backup your data using the cloud, special software , and external hard drive. To maximize your security, it’s best to store your data in several places.

Secondly, you have to decide how regularly you’re going to perform backups. The answer to that is relatively straightforward – as often as you can, preferably every day.

Communication and preparation

Communication is crucial if you want your BCP to work correctly when it has to. Every employee should know it. Otherwise, they won’t be able to perform when the time comes.

But sharing your plan is not the only vital thing. You also need to make sure your BCP is readable and easy to understand. What’s more, you should perform regular training to ensure your employees know what to do.

Preparation also means that you prepare the defense mechanism to prevent anything from happening. Besides training, it also includes investing in a reliable firewall, using VPN, buying insurance, and ensuring your office meets all the safety regulations.

Asset inventory

If you want your business to recover in the event of a disaster fully, you need to know your assets, both cyber and physical. Get all the necessary details, like models of your company’s computers, phones, pieces of furniture, documents, even the number of pens you have in the office.

If possible theft or fire, it’s also good to take pictures of your office premises. When it comes to cyber data, we’ve already discussed what you have to do above.

Keep in mind that you will be in big trouble without knowing your assets when something terrible happens to your business. That’s why you should include it in your BCP.

Testing results and updates

As soon as you create your plan, you must test it . Only doing that will prove whether your BCP is efficient or not. Many managers forget to do that, only to realize that their plan doesn’t work as it should.

Through testing, you’ll be able to determine what you need to improve and change. And don’t forget to implement the results in your final plan.

What’s more, since the number of threats is constantly changing, you need to make sure you keep up with them. Updating your plan is a must if you want to ensure it’s effective. Do that as often as possible, and add improvements to your existing plan.

The bottom line

Creating an efficient business continuity plan is extremely crucial for every company. Still, many managers underestimate it, believing that nothing bad can happen to them. It’s quite illogical considering the number of potential threats awaiting.

When creating a BCP, there are many things you need to take into account. As you can see, some of them are more significant than others, so implementing them is crucial if you want your plan to work as it should.

Also, don’t forget to test your plan as soon as you create it and improve it as regularly as possible. Doing that will ensure your company will work without any significant disruptions, ensuring you build trust and reputation among clients.

Related Tags: Business Continuity Plan

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What are the 5 key components of a business continuity plan?

Putting together a robust business continuity plan means that your business is more likely to be able to react confidently and quickly in the event of disruption. This can help you to keep customer dissatisfaction at bay, give your team confidence and reduce recovery timescales.

In order to achieve this, every business continuity plan needs to incorporate five key elements.

1. Risks and potential business impact

Any business continuity plan worth its salt will be based on a business impact analysis, which identifies potential risks and vulnerabilities both within and outside the business.

These risks could be anything from flooding or a major IT disruption to a failure from an important supplier. By knowing what you could potentially face, you can begin to take steps to prevent or mitigate the risk.

A strong plan will also use the output of your business impact analysis to reveal the possible consequences of disruption on your business. This will enable you to anticipate its cost, the effect it could have on essential business functions and the time needed to recover.

2. Planning an effective response

Once you have an awareness of the types of risks and threats your business may be vulnerable to, you can begin to form an effective plan.

A comprehensive business continuity plan will take each risk identified in the business impact analysis and develop an appropriate response strategy to either minimise it or prevent it altogether. These detailed plans will describe the action needed and outline who needs to be involved to implement it. Timescales and resources, such as laptops, alternative warehouse space and mobile phones, should also be laid out to ensure a quick and relevant response.

3. Roles and responsibilities

In order for a crisis or disruption to be met confidently, the key people in your business need to know their roles and responsibilities. A business continuity plan will therefore document which key personnel need to be involved in the response to the disruption. This will typically be more senior staff members, but this depends on your business and the type of risk you are dealing with.

Once these people have been identified, their roles and actions need to be clearly defined so that they can react quickly and efficiently. The resources they need following a disruption should also be clearly stated so that they can be prioritised ahead of the rest of the team. For instance, if a remote office needs to be set up following a disruption, critical personnel will need to be prioritised when it comes to allocating resources such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

4. Communication

Clear communication is vital during business disruptions. Effective communication across your business can reassure team members and give them confidence that the organisation is taking effective steps to respond and recover. Outside of your company, good communication is also necessary in order to liaise with suppliers and customers and minimise dissatisfaction.

To prepare for this, a business continuity plan will normally include a list of key contacts as well as templated press releases and social media posts. Having these in place in advance can speed up communication in a crisis and ensure that both your staff and external contacts are kept up to speed. In larger organisations, it may be necessary to have a separate communication plan that provides a comprehensive approach to communication during a crisis.

5. Testing and training

Business continuity plans are not just theoretical – they need to be robust enough to be put into action. In order to check this, the final key component of a business continuity plan is testing and exercising.

Realistic scenarios can be used to test the plan and your team’s response. By doing so, you can identify room for improvement and take action to improve the plan before a disruption occurs. Testing and exercising business continuity plans also helps to ensure that key personnel understand the plan and their role in it. This means that the company can respond quickly and efficiently when a disruption occurs.

Raising awareness of the business continuity plan among your wider staff will also help them to understand their role in responding to disruptions. Many companies run regular awareness training sessions and include business continuity as a key topic during new staff inductions. This training can then improve the resilience of the company overall.

If you would like to find out more, you can take a look at our dedicated webpage.

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7 Essential Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

In a study conducted by Nationwide, over 75 percent of the businesses polled claimed they had no kind of disaster recovery plan in place . If you are a small business owner, you know all too well how easy it is for disasters to happen. Whether these disasters are the work of Mother Nature or caused by human error, having a business continuity plan in place is essential. According the Institute for Business and Home Safety, 25 percent of businesses that close due to a major disaster never reopen . Rather than leaving important matters like this to chance, you should work with professionals to develop an adequate business continuity plan. Below are some of the key elements to include in this type of plan.

1. Clearly Defining Your Team

The first thing your employees will want to know in the midst of a disaster situation is who’s in charge. Creating a business continuity team is a great way to have an answer to this important question before a disaster ever happens. When dealing with localized or even broader-based disasters, having the right team in place can make a big difference. The teams you put in place should plan and test throughout the year to keep the continuity plan up-to-date.

2. Meticulous Planning is Essential

Trying to think three steps ahead in a disaster situation is a lot easier said than done. Rather than trying to figure out what needs to happen when a disaster situation is unfolding, you need to have a meticulous plan in place well in advance. Establishing what your recovery priorities are after a disaster is vital. Are you more concerned with re-establishing customer connections, regulatory implications or your revenue first? Once you have the answer to this question, the rest of your continuity plan should start to fall in place.

3. Effective Testing

As with any type of plan, testing the elements you have in place on a regular basis is important. Having an out of date plan will typically lead to more confusion when disaster actually strikes. Reviewing, testing and updating your plan a few times a year is something you need to view as a priority. By doing this, you can discover any potential flaws in the plan and fix them before they cause any real trouble.

4. Crisis Communications

Having an effective means of communicating with your employees during a disaster situation is very important. Creating a toolkit that has a full range of various communication channels like telecom, intranet and email can be very helpful. When disaster does strike, you will have a number of different ways to reach out to members of your team if this toolkit is in place.

5. Employee Safety is Key

Nothing is more important in a disaster situation than keeping those around you safe. Reaching out to organizations like FEMA is a great way to provide yourself and your team with emergency response training. Tailoring the training to fit your particular business and location can help your team greatly when they are faced with a disaster.

6. Access to Business Resources

While keeping your staff productive during a disaster situation is important, so is protecting your data. Establishing a remote computer network to use during disasters is a great idea. A mobile network will allow you and your employees to work from home. Working with IT professionals is a great way to ensure a mobile network is fast and secure.

7. Continuous IT Operations

Establishing a number of offsite backups for your data can help you get through a tech disaster with ease. Many companies have avoided damage from ransomware attacks due to offsite backups and disaster recovery plans. An IT professional will be able to offer you advice regarding how to keep your data safe and accessible during a crisis situation.

Allowing the team at Monster Technology to help with your business continuity plan is a great idea. They offer a wide range of online backup and cloud-based services that can be very helpful during a disaster situation.