business continuity plan risk management

Business Continuity and Risk Management: Your Complete Guide

Bcp risk management: complete guide.

You already know that risk management is vital to any competitive, responsible, and well-prepared company. But how does BCP fit into your risk management strategy? And what are the differences between BCP and risk management?

If you’re wondering how to improve your BCP (or create a BCP from scratch), check out our guide to learn the basics. We’ll answer your questions related to BCP and risk management for any size institution.

What Is BCP? (Simple Definition)

BCP stands for business continuity plan—a document that describes how an organization will carry on in the case of emergency, natural disaster, or other disruptions to typical operations.

A BCP is more extensive than a disaster recovery plan, outlining every possible situation that could occur in case of a disruption—and what the organization will do about it. The plan proposes ways to mitigate risks and details procedures to test all proposals.

Is BCP Part of Risk Management?

BCP is an important part of risk management. From cyberattacks to fires and floods, all organizations are vulnerable to unforeseen disruptions. But having a thorough BCP in place protects the organization, allowing them to quickly resume the most critical functions and ultimately bounce back faster even when faced with disaster.

Still, a BCP is only one aspect of risk management. In order to best mitigate risk, an organization should pair a BCP with a continuity program , disaster recovery plan , and ongoing risk assessments.

What Are the Differences Between BCP and Risk Management?

BCP is a sub-category of risk management, playing an important role in helping an organization get back up and running after a disruption.

While risk management focuses on mitigating problems from the outside, business continuity plans outline what a company should do in case they are faced with the worst possible outcome. Hence, organizations that invest in both risk management and BCP will be able to mitigate risk and be prepared for any scenario that may come their way.

How Does BCP Help Mitigate Risk?

A BCP helps to mitigate risk by making sure the organization is ready for any possible disruption to everyday operations. By having an outlined plan of how every department should respond to the disaster, the organization will be able to resume the most critical functions and return to typical business operations as quickly as possible, minimizing financial losses and other problems resulting from the disruption.

Who Is Responsible for BCP?

Organizations may hire continuity plan coordinators specifically tasked with the job of developing a BCPs. This job might also fall under the role of another administrative position that typically deals with risk management and mitigation.

Business continuity coordinators should work closely with all departments within the company to understand their unique processes and potential risks that could arise in case of a disaster or emergency. Once coordinators understand those risks, they should outline solutions and procedures to mitigate risk in the business continuity plan.

What Is the Primary Goal of Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity planning offers many benefits to organizations, allowing them to be more agile, competitive, and prepared for any situation. But what is the primary goal of business continuity planning?

In short, the main focus of BCP is to allow organizations to continue operating as smoothly as possible when faced with any type of business disruption, such as a cyberattack or natural disaster. By keeping the organization running smoothly, a BCP could ultimately save the business a great deal of money, plus avoid serious short-term and long-term repercussions.

Ultimately, a BCP protects an organization’s main functions and assets, restores operations, and prevents and mitigates risk.

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It’s time to make sure your organization is prepared for anything that comes your way. Kuali Ready makes it easy to create thorough, effective BCPs with intuitive continuity planning software.

Contact us today to learn more about how higher education institutions are using Kuali Ready to improve resilience and amplify risk management efforts.

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Business Continuity Plan Basics
Understanding BCPs
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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 information technology system after a crisis.

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

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

How To Create a Business Continuity Plan

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

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

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

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

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

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

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

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

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

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

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

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

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

Why Is Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Important?

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

What Should a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Include?

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

What Is Business Continuity Impact Analysis?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Understanding Risk Management and Business Continuity Plans

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We continue to urge all businesses and organizations to have a risk management plan . Further, what is termed a business continuity plan is also essential. However, many people confuse the two. True, they are related and typically work together to help keep organizations safe and, should an unfortunate incident occur, allows them to reopen and begin operating as quickly as possible. However, the two are not the same.

A Risk Management Plan is about processes that are enacted before a disaster occurs. This means that a risk management plan is primarily concerned with protecting a business from risk by identifying potential vulnerabilities and defining a way to minimize their probability.
On the other hand, a Business Continuity Plan is about processes that are designed to be enacted after a disaster has occurred. The goal of a business continuity plan is to maintain business operations after an actual disaster.
Risk Management is primarily a strategic undertaking . It is focused on understanding and planning for a variety of hypothetical situations that could harm people, facilities, or data.
A Business Continuity plan is tactical thinking . A business continuity plan focuses on the actual steps an organization can take after a business disruption occurs to get its operations up and running as quickly as possible.

Further, Nguyen offers the following advice to all those considering establishing or updating a current Risk Management or Business Continuity Plan:

Conduct a business impact analysis to identify time-sensitive or critical business functions and processes and the resources that support them.
Identify, document, and implement ways to recover critical business functions and processes.
Organize a business continuity team and compile a business continuity plan to manage a business disruption.
Conduct training for the business continuity team along with testing and exercises to evaluate recovery strategies and the plan.

“Finally, follow the guidelines put forth by ready.gov . This website offers solid, practical advice that every organization should follow, especially in today’s uncertain world.”

As you can see, there is quite a bit involved. Dealing with potential and unforeseeable risks and keeping a business operating should one occur is crucial for every organization. Many organizations attempt to put together a risk management and business continuity plan in-house. While these can be effective, this can be an extensive undertaking and not every organization has the resources to handle such a comprehensive task.

Furthermore, even when they do, they often need a fresh set of eyes to evaluate their situation. In today’s world, bringing in a fresh set of eyes such as Team-TAL Global or those at Prestige Analytics, Inc . can be one of the most effective and cost-saving steps any organization can take.

Click on the image below to request a review of your risk management/business continuity plans.

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Firm Business Continuity Planning and Risk Mitigation Strategies

This is the third article of a risk management series and focuses on business continuity planning and risk mitigation strategies. The first article Eight Steps to Establish a Firm Risk Management Program covered the benefits and steps of establishing risk management program and the second Ten Steps to Successful Firm Risk Management highlighted 10 key steps for successful risk management.

The articles are a result of discussions at recent IFAC’s SMP Committee meetings, which involves practitioners from around the world sharing their perspectives and insights. In February 2019 SMPC meeting featured a session about the Japanese accountancy professions involvement in disaster recovery support and reconstruction activities following the earthquake in 2011 .

Japan is one of the few nations that has an active disaster recovery support for small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs). It is well recognized that SMEs are critical to every countries economy, for innovation, employment and contribution to GDP. Hence, the continuation and sustainability of SMEs during and after any natural disaster is vital.

The Guide to Practice Management for Small- and Medium-Sized Practices (the PM Guide) includes a whole module on risk management including: professionalism and ethics, client engagement, quality control and business continuity planning and disaster recovery. In addition, practitioners are encouraged to use a Good Practice Checklist for Small Business as a marketing or diagnostic tool to help them determine the advice a small business client may need, and also help them in managing their own business. It includes a section on Environmental Management Tasks highlighting the necessity for SMEs to have a contingency plan for an emergency or disaster and contains a checklist on “how to respond to emergencies”.

Developing a Business Continuity Plan

The key to business continuity planning and disaster recovery is to look at it as an entire function as whole and complete in itself. The most effective way to coordinate planning in this area is to include the various components required in one central document. This is called a Business Continuity Plan. The purpose of developing a Business Continuity Plan is to ensure the continuation of the firm during and following any critical incident that results in disruption to the normal operational capability of the firm.

The Business Continuity Plan is based on the Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR) framework:

Prevention is all about risk management planning (please see Eight Steps to Establish a Firm Risk Management Program). This is where the likelihood and/or effects of risk associated with an incident are identified and managed. The key elements of the risk management processes are implemented at this stage, with threats identified and dealt with, or reduced to an acceptable level.

The key tool for the Preparedness element is the Business Impact Analysis. This is where the key activities of the firm that may be adversely affected by any disruptions are identified and prioritized.

The key function of the Response element is Incident Response Planning. This plan outlines the immediate actions to be taken to respond to an incident in terms of containment, control and minimizing of impacts.

The Recovery section focuses on recovery planning. The purpose is to outline the actions that are to be taken to recover from an incident in order to minimize disruption and recovery times.

Another important element of the Business Continuity Plan is the concept of regular updates and review. It is hoped that the firm will never need to use the plan, but if the need ever arises, staff should know the plan is up to date with current details, information and resources. This is important, as it should reflect the changing needs of the firm.

Key items the plan should include:

Distribution list: An up-to-date list should be maintained of the people who have been supplied with a copy of the plan and their contact details. Remember to keep a copy of the plan in a safe off-site location.
References and related documents: Make a list of all the documents that have a bearing on the Business Continuity Plan.
Undertake a risk management assessment of the firm;
Define and prioritize the firm’s critical practice functions;
Detail the immediate response to a critical incident;
Detail strategies and actions to be taken to enable the firm to continue operating; and
Review and update this plan on a regular basis.

Ten Risk Mitigation Strategies

Each firm should have risk mitigation strategies to prepare in case of death, loss or injury of a partner.

1. Document Sensitive Information

It is important to document and keep in a safe place critical information that is necessary for the effective running and operation of the firm. This information may include:

Client agreements and arrangements;
Employee agreements and arrangements;
Supplier agreements and arrangements;
Personal guarantees provided and to whom;
Bank and finance arrangements;
Lawyer’s name and contact details;
Intellectual property residing within or developed by the firm; and
Recommendations for ongoing management of the firm.

2. Maintain Adequate Insurance

It is important to maintain adequate insurance to cover the firm. It is prudent to ensure that the firm has adequate insurance to cover each partner and to provide the funds to pay out the estate for the partner’s share of the firm in the event of their death. The prudent firm will insure their key human assets just as they do their physical assets.

Important insurance coverage to hold includes:

“Key person” insurance;
Partnership/shareholder insurance (this provides for payment to the survivors of the partner); and
Business equity insurance (it is important that the business equity insurance policy is supported by a “buy/sell agreement,” as discussed below).

3. Ensure there is a Valid “Buy/Sell Agreement”

If there are partners in the firm, it is important to ensure there is a legally drawn and valid “buy/sell agreement.” This outlines the terms and conditions agreed upon between the partners for the purchase or sale of their share in the firm. It should be confirmed that it has been reconciled with the partnership/shareholder insurance coverage to ensure there is no shortfall.

4. Inform Bankers and Suppliers

It is important to consider beforehand what might be the reaction of bankers, other lenders and suppliers to the death or incapacitation of a partner of the firm. For instance, would they be prepared to continue with their financial arrangements, or would they call up their debt? Consideration would need to be given to whether the firm has sufficient financial reserves to cover such a situation.

5. Ensure Adequate Training of Staff

Appropriate training should be provided to staff in the key areas of management and the operation of the firm so that it is not totally dependent on one partner. The PM Guide includes a whole module ‘ People Power: Developing a People Strategy ’, which covers leadership, managing and retaining employees, recognition, training and development.

6. Ensure Procedures Manual Written and Maintained

It is vital to the ongoing operation of the firm that a procedures manual has been prepared which fully documents the procedures, processes and operations of the practice. It needs to be maintained and kept current. This means the firm is able to continue to operate during the death or incapacitation of the practitioner until certainty as to its future is known. The procedures manual also becomes a key document in any valuation process which is undertaken, as it tends to add value to the firm by reducing reliance on one partner.

7. Ensure Job Descriptions are Completed

It is important that job descriptions have been completed for all roles within the firm and that each staff member is clear on the tasks they are to perform.

8. Undertake Regular Staff Appraisals

Regular staff appraisals allow staff to stay informed of their progress and development within the firm and provides the opportunity to provide feedback on their performance. It also provides the opportunity to advise the staff member of the steps that should be taken if a partner were to die or become incapacitated.

9. Partnership Issues

If there are partners within the firm, it is important they clarify what will happen in the event of either their death or their incapacitation.

10. Other Business Relationships

It is important to understand whether the untimely death or incapacitation of a partner would unduly affect any other business relationship that the firm has. There should be a documented succession and continuity plan in place.

Monica Foerster

Partner at Confidor, Chair of IFAC's SMP Advisory Group

Monica Foerster became Chair of the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG) in 2017, after serving as its Deputy Chair. A SMPAG member since 2014, she was nominated by Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC) and Instituto dos Auditores Independentes do Brasil (IBRACON). With 20 years of experience in the accountancy profession, Ms. Foerster is a partner at Confidor, an accounting, tax, and law firm with offices in Porto Alegre and São Paulo, Brazil.

Monica is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Ibracon Brazil (where she was the SMP Director and coordinator of the SMP Working Group for 6 years), and a board member at the Accounting Council (where she was also the coordinator of the Committee of Audit Studies (CRCRS) for 4 years.

Monica holds an MBA in financial management, controllership and audit from the FGV – Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil, and a degree in accounting from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS, Brazil.

Christopher Arnold

Christopher Arnold is a Director at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). He leads activities on contributing to and promoting the development, adoption and implementation of high-quality international standards, including the Member Compliance Program, Intellectual Property and Translations. Christopher is also responsible for IFAC’s SME (small- and medium-sized entities), SMP (small- and medium-sized practices) and research initiatives, which include developing thought leadership, public policy and advocacy. He was previously an Audit Manager for Deloitte and qualified as a professional accountant in a mid-tier accountancy practice in London (now called PKF-Littlejohn LLP). Christopher started his career as a Small Business Policy Adviser at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

How to Write a Business Continuity Plan Step-by-Step: Our Experts Provide Tips

By Andy Marker | October 21, 2020 (updated August 17, 2021)

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In order to adequately prepare for a crisis, your company needs a business continuity plan. We’ve culled detailed step-by-step instructions, as well as expert tips for writing a business continuity plan and free downloadable tools.

Included on this page, find the steps to writing a business continuity plan and a discussion of the key components in a plan . You’ll also find a business continuity plan quick-start template and a disruptive incident quick-reference card template for print or mobile, and an expert disaster preparation checklist .

Step by Step: How to Write a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan refers to the steps a company takes to help it continue operations during a crisis. In order to write a business continuity plan, you gather information about key people, tools, and processes, then write the plan as procedures and lists of resources.

To make formatting easy, download a free business continuity plan template . To learn more about the role of a business continuity plan, read our comprehensive guide to business continuity planning .

Write a Mission Statement for the Plan: Describe the objectives of the plan. When does it need to be completed? What is the budget for disaster and recovery preparation, including research, training, consultants, and tools? Be sure to detail any assumptions about financial or other resources, such as government business continuity grants.
Set Up Governance: Describe the business continuity team. Include names or titles and role designations, as well as contact information. Clearly define roles, lines of authority and succession, and accountability. Add an organization or a functional diagram. Select one of these free organizational chart templates to get started.
Write the Plan Procedures and Appendices: This is the core of your plan. There's no one correct way to create a business continuity document, but the critical content it should include are procedures, agreements, and resources.Think of your plan as lists of tasks or processes that people must perform to keep your operation running. Be specific in your directions, and use diagrams and illustrations. Remember that checklists and work instructions are simple and powerful tools to convey key information in a crisis. Learn more about procedures and work instructions . You should also note who on the team is responsible for knowing plan details.

Set Procedures for Testing Recovery and Response: Create test guidelines and schedules for testing. To review the plan, consider reaching out to people who did not write the plan. Put together the forms and checklists that attendees will use during tests.

A business continuity plan is governed by a business continuity policy. You can learn more about creating a business continuity policy and find examples by reading our guide on developing an effective business continuity policy .

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

Creating a business continuity plan (BCP) involves gathering a team, studying risks and key tasks, and choosing recovery activities. Then write the plan as a set of lists and guidelines, which may address risks such as fires, floods, pandemics, or data breaches.

According to Alex Fullick, your best bet is to create a simple plan. “I usually break everything down into three key categories: people, places, and things. If you focus on a couple of key pieces, you will be a lot more effective. That big binder of procedures is absolutely worthless. You need a bunch of guidelines to say what you do in a given situation: where are our triggers for deciding we’re in a crisis and we have to stop doing XYZ, and just focus on ABC.”

“Post-pandemic, I think new managers will develop more policies and guidelines of all types than required, as a fear response,” cautions Michele Barry.

Because every company is different, no two approaches to business continuity planning are the same. Tony Bombacino, Co-Founder and President of Real Food Blends , describes his company’s formal and informal business continuity approaches. “The first step in any crisis is for our nerve center to connect quickly, assess the situation, and then go into action,” he explains.

“Our sales manager and our marketing manager might discuss what’s going on, and say, ‘Are we going to say anything on social media? Do we need to reach out to any of our customers? The key things, like maintaining stock levels or what if somebody gets sick? What if there's a recall?’ Those plans we have laid out. But we're not a 5,000-person multi-billion-dollar company, so our business continuity plan is often in emails and Google Docs.”

“I've done planning literally for hundreds of businesses where we've just filled out basic forms,” says Mike Semel, President and Chief Compliance Officer of Semel Consulting . “For example, noting the insurance company's phone number — you know, on the back of your utility bill, which you never look at, there's an emergency number for if the power goes out or if the gas shuts off. We've helped people gather all that information and put it down. Even if there's no other plan, just having that information at their fingertips when they need it may be enough.”

You can also approach your business continuity planning as including three types of responses:

Proactive Strategies: Proactive approaches prevent crises. For example, you may buy an emergency generator to keep power running in your factory, or install a security system to prevent or limit loss during break-ins. Or you may create a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy and offer training for remote workers to protect your network and data security.
Reactive Strategies: Reactive strategies are your immediate responses to a crisis. Examples of reactive methods include evacuation procedures, fire procedures, and emergency response strategies.
Recovery Strategies: Recovery strategies describe how you resume operations to produce a minimum acceptable level of service. The recovery plan includes actions to stand up temporary processes. The plan also describes the longer-term efforts, such as relocation, data restoration, temporary workaround processes, or outsourcing tasks. Recovery strategies are not limited to IT and data recovery.

Quick-Start Guide Business Continuity Plan Template

Business Continuity Quick Start Guide and template

If you don’t already have a business continuity plan in place, but need to create one in short order to respond to a disruption, use this quick-start business continuity template. This template is available in Word and Google Docs formats, and it’s simply formatted so that you can focus on brainstorming and problem-solving.

Download Quick-Start Guide Business Continuity Plan Template

Word | PDF | Google Docs | Smartsheet

For other most useful free, downloadable business continuity plan (BCP) templates please read our "Free Business Continuity Plan Templates" article.

Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Your company’s complete business continuity plan will have many details. Your plan may differ from other companies' plans based on industry and other factors. Each facility or business unit may also conduct an impact analysis and create disaster recovery and continuity plans . Consider adding these key components to your business plan:

Contact Information: These pages include contact information for key employees, vendors, and critical third parties. Locate this information at the beginning of the plan.
Business Impact Analysis: When you conduct business impact analysis (BIA), you evaluate the financial and other changes in a disruptive event (you can use one of these business impact templates to get started). Evaluate impact in terms of brand damage, product failure or malfunction, lost revenue, or legal and regulatory repercussions.
Risk Assessment: In this section, assess the potential risks to all aspects of the organization’s operations. Look at potential risks related to such matters as cash on hand, stock levels, and staff qualifications. Although you may face an infinite number of potential internal and external risks, focus on people, places, and things to keep from becoming overwhelmed. Then analyze the effects of any items that are completely lost or need repairs. Also, understand that risk assessment is an ongoing effort that works in tandem with training and testing. Consider adding a completed risk matrix to your plan. You can create one using a downloadable risk matrix template .
Critical Functions Analysis and List: As a faster alternative to a BIA, a critical functions analysis reveals what processes are critical to keeping your company running. Examples of critical functions include payroll and wages, accounts receivable, customer service, or production. According to Michele Barry, with a values-based approach to critical functions, you should consider who you really are as a company. Then decide what you must continue doing and what you can stop doing.
Trigger and Disaster Declaration Criteria: Here, you should detail how your executive management will know when to declare an emergency and initiate the plan.
Succession Plan: Identify alternate staff for key roles in each unit. Schedule time throughout the year to observe alternates as they make important decisions and complete recovery tasks.
Alternate Suppliers: If your goods are regulated (i.e., food, toy, and pharmaceutical manufacturing), your raw resources and parts must always be up to standard. Source suppliers before a crisis to ensure that regulatory vetting and approval do not delay supplies.
Operations Plan: Describe how your organization will resume and continue daily operations after a disruption. Include a checklist with such items as supplies, equipment, and information on where data is backed up and where you keep the plan. Note who should have copies of the plan.
Crisis Communication Strategy: Detail how the organization will communicate with employees, customers, and third-party entities in the event of a disruption. If regular communications systems are disabled, make a plan for alternate methods. Download a free crisis communication strategy template to get started on this aspect.
Incident Response Plan: Describe how your organization plans to respond to a range of likely incidents or disruptions, and define the triggers for activating the plan.
Alternate Site Relocation: The alternate site is the location that the organization moves to after a disruption occurs. In the plan, you can also note the transportation and resources required to move the business and the processes you must maintain in this facility.
Interim Procedures: These are the critical processes that must continue, either in their original or alternate forms.
Restoration of Critical Data: Critical data includes anything you must immediately recover to maintain normal business functions.
Vendor Partner Agreements: List your organization’s key vendors and how they can help you maintain or resume operations.
Work Backlog: This includes the work that piles up when systems are shut down. You must complete this work first when processes start again.
Recovery Strategy for IT Services: This section details the steps you take to restore the IT processes that are necessary to maintain the business.
Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO): RTO refers to the maximum amount of time that a company can stop its processes and the length of time without access to data before productivity substantially drops. Determine RTOs for each unit, factoring in people, places, and things.
Backup Plans: What if plans, processes, or resources fail or are unavailable? Determine alternatives now, so you don't have to scramble. Decide on a backup roster for personnel who are unavailable.
Manual Workarounds: This section details how a business can operate by hand, should all failsafe measures break down.
External Audit Details: For regulated organizations, external audits may be compulsory. Your scheduled internal audits will prepare you for external audits.
Test and Exercise Plan: Identify how and when you will test the continuity plan, including details about periodic tabletop testing and more complex real-world scenario testing.
Change Management: Note how you will incorporate learnings from tests and exercises, disseminate changes, and review the plan and track changes.

Key Resources for Business Continuity

To fix problems, restore operations, or submit an insurance claim, you need readily available details of the human resources and other groups that can assist with business continuity. (Your organization's unique situation may also require specific types of resources.) Add this information to appendices at the back of your continuity plan.

Fullick suggests broadening the definition of human assets. "People are our employees, certainly. But we forget that the term ‘people’ includes executive management. Management doesn't escape pandemics or the flu or a car crash. Bad things can happen to them and around them, too."

Use the following list as a prompt for recording important information about your organization. Your unique situation may require other types of information.

Lists of key employees and their contact information. Also, think beyond C-level and response team members to staff with long-term or specialized knowledge
Disaster recovery and continuity team contact names, roles, and contact information
Emergency contact number for police and emergency services for your location
Non-emergency contact information for police and medical
Emergency and non-emergency contact numbers for facilities issues
Board member contact information
Personnel roster, including family or emergency contact names and numbers for the entire organization
Contractors for any repairs
Client contact information and SLAs
Insurance contacts for all plans
Key regulatory contacts.
Legal contacts
Vendor contact information and partner agreements and SLAs
Addresses and details for each office or facility
Primary and secondary contact and information for each facility or office, including at least one phone number and email address
Off-site recovery location
Addresses and access information for storage facilities or vehicle compounds
Funding and banking information
IT details and data recovery information, including an inventory of apps and license numbers
Insurance policy numbers and agent contact information for each plan, healthcare, property, vehicle, etc.
Inventory of tangibles, including equipment, hardware, supplies, fixtures, and fittings (if you are a supplier or manufacturer, include an inventory of raw materials and finished goods)
Lease details
Licenses, permits, other legal documents
List of special items that you use regularly, but don't order frequently
Location of backup equipment
Utility account numbers and contact information (for electric, gas, telephone, water, waste pickup, etc.)

Activities to Complete Before Writing the Business Continuity Plan

Before you write your plan, take these preliminary steps to assemble a team and gather background information.

Incident Commander: This person is responsible for all aspects of an emergency response.
Emergency Response Team: The emergency response team refers to the group of people in charge of responding to an emergency or disruption.
Information Technology Recovery Team: This group is responsible for recovering important IT services.
Alternate Site/Location Operation Team: This team is responsible for maintaining business operations at an alternate site.
Facilities Management Team: The facilities management team is responsible for managing all of the main business facilities and determining the necessary responses to maintain them in light of a disaster or disruption.
Department Upper Management: This includes key stakeholders and upper management employees who govern BCP decisions.
Conduct business impact analysis or critical function analysis. Understand how the loss of processes in each department can affect internal and external operations. See our article on business continuity planning to learn more about BIAs.
Conduct risk analysis. Determine the potential risks and threats to your organization.
Identify the scope of the plan. Define where the business continuity plan applies, whether to one office, the entire organization, or only certain aspects of the organization. Use the BIA and risk analysis to identify critical functions and key resources that you must maintain. Set goals to determine the level of detail required. Set milestones to track progress in completing the plan. "Setting scope is essential," Barry insists. "You need to define the core and noncore aspects of the business and the minimum requirements for achieving continuity."
Strategize recovery approaches: Strategize how your business should respond to a disruption, based on your risk assessment and BIA. During this process, you determine the core details of the BCP, add the key components and resources, and determine the timing for what must happen before, during, and after a disruptive event.

Common Structure of a Business Continuity Plan

Knowing the common structure should help shape the plan — and frees you from thinking about form when you should be thinking about content. Here is an example of a BCP format:

Business Name: Record the business name, which usually appears on the title page.
Date: The day the BCP is completed and signed off.
Purpose and Scope: This section describes the reason for and span of the plan.
Business Impact Analysis: Add the results of the BIA to your plan.
Risk Assessment: Consider adding the risk assessment matrix to your plan.
Policy Information: Include the business continuity policy or policy highlights.
Emergency Management and Response: You can detail emergency response measures separately from other recovery and continuity procedures.
The Plan: The core of the plan details step-by-step procedures for business recovery and continuity.
Relevant Appendices: Appendices can include such information as contact lists, org charts, copies of insurance policies, or any supporting documents relevant in a crisis.

Keep in mind that every business is different — no two BCPs look the same. Tailor your business continuity plan to your company, and make sure the document captures all the information you need to keep your business functioning. Having everything you need to know in an emergency is the most crucial part of a BCP.

Disruptive Incident Quick-Reference Card Template

Disruptive Incident Quick Reference Cad Template

Use this quick-reference card template to write the key steps that employees should take in case of an emergency. Customize this template for each business unit, department, or role. Describe what people should do immediately and in the following days and weeks to continue the business. Print PDFs and laminate them for workstations or wallets, or load the PDFs on your mobile phone.

Download Disruptive Incident Quick-Reference Card Template

Expert Disaster Preparation Checklist

Business continuity and disaster planning aren’t just about your buildings and cloud backup — it’s about people and their families. Based on a document by Mike Semel of Semel Consulting, this disaster checklist helps you prepare for the human needs of your staff and their families, including food, shelter, and other comforts.

Tips for Writing a Business Continuity Plan

With its many moving parts and considerations, a business continuity plan can seem intimidating. Follow these tips to help you write, track, and maintain a strong BCP:

Take the continuity management planning process seriously.
Interview key people in the organization who have successfully managed disruptive incidents.
Get approval from leadership early on and seek their ongoing championship of continuity preparedness.
Be flexible when it comes to who you involve, what resources you need, and how you achieve the most effective plan.
Keep the plan as simple and targeted as possible to make it easy to understand.
Limit the plan to practical disaster response actions.
Base the plan on the most up-to-date, accurate information available.
Plan for the worst-case scenario and broadly cover many types of potential disruptive situations.
Consider the minimum amount of information or resources you need to keep your business running in a disaster.
Use the data you gather in your BIA and risk analysis to make the planning process more straightforward.
Share the plan and make sure employees have a chance to review it or ask questions.
Make the document available in hard copy for easy access, or add it to a shared platform.
Continually test, review, and maintain your plan to keep it up to date.
Keep the BCP current with organizational and regulatory changes and updates.

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Enterprise Risk Management vs. Business Continuity Management: What’s the Difference?

A lot of organizations that are just embarking upon their enterprise risk management journey have questions about the basic terminology involved. In this blog post, we want to tackle some basic terms that are often—incorrectly!—used interchangeably. Enterprise risk management vs. business continuity management: Let’s break it down.

How to define enterprise risk management and business continuity?

In our webinar with Sphera [formerly riskmethods] customer Clariant, we got asked a very interesting question from one of the participants: “What’s the difference between enterprise risk management and business continuity management?”

Great question. And, like most great questions, the answer is a little fuzzy.

At the end of the day, enterprise risk management and business continuity management are tightly linked. The best way to think about it is probably this: Enterprise risk management (ERM) is about processes that are enacted before a disaster occurs, because enterprise risk management is concerned with protecting a business from risk by identifying the existence of vulnerabilities and defining a way to minimize their probability.

Business continuity management (BCM), on the other hand, is about processes that are designed to be enacted after a disaster has occurred, because business continuity management is the process of maintaining business operations during or after an actual disaster, which is executed through the use of business continuity plans.

To put a different spin on it, let’s use a hiking analogy. Enterprise risk management is the part of the hike where you pack your survival kit full of flares—and business continuity management is the part of the hike where you shoot off those flares because you’ve broken your leg and can’t move.

The difference between ERM and BCM

One of the key differences between ERM and BCM is their approaches. Due to the preventive nature of ERM programs, enterprise risk management is a largely strategic undertaking—it’s focused on understanding and planning for hypothetical situations. Business continuity management, on the other hand, is much more tactical—it’s focused on the actual way that an organization should act when a business disruption occurs.

How ERM and BCM work together?

In many organizations, enterprise risk management and business continuity management are likely managed by the same team, since they’re so tightly intertwined—after all, it’s not possible to create a business continuity plan for a risk event if you don’t have a good sense of what risk events are likely to occur. By the same token, it’s not possible to adequately protect a business against disruption without a plan to address it when it happens. In other words: if your business has risk managers and business continuity managers, you better make sure they’re the best of friends.

But regardless of how your company is set up, here’s the bottom line: risk management and business continuity management are both critical functions if you want to keep your organization running. And although ERM and BCM are large topics that encompass a number of types of risk, a significant chunk of those risks have to do with your organization’s ability to produce its product—which is heavily impacted by your supply network.

riskmethods was acquired by Sphera in October 2022. This content originally appeared on the riskmethods website and was slightly modified for sphera.com.

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The CFO'S Perspective

Business continuity planning and risk management.

by CFO Selections Team , on Jul 9, 2020

One of your most important tasks as a business leader and manager is mitigating risk. Understanding what kind of risk exists, planning for the impact of this risk, and executing continuity plans to keep the organization operational during a disruption is of paramount importance. The earlier risk can be identified, assessed, managed, and integrated into strategic planning, the better.

Typically, this burden falls on the C-Suite, but leaders at all levels should be included in the planning stage to ensure buy-in across the company. According to CFO Magazine , CFOs have seen risk management fall under their umbrella more over the last decade. They explain,

“The CFO’s role has expanded in recent years, perhaps most notably in the area of risk management. Finance chiefs frequently took charge of assessing and guarding against risk during the financial crisis, and as the economy has slowly recovered, few have relinquished the task. More than half of the finance executives responding to CFO’s latest Deep Dive Survey say their responsibility for risk management has increased.”

Not much has changed in the years since, with CFOs taking more ownership of risk than ever before, whether they want to spearhead this role or not.

While it is easy to task an individual with overseeing risk management, ideally, it should not roll up to a single person. An emphasis on risk mitigation should be ingrained across the organization with alignment and compliance at every level. CFOs leading the charge can get their organizations on board to share the responsibility by taking a four-step approach to business continuity planning.

Identify Risk Factors

The cornerstone of risk management is identifying all possible risk scenarios. Knowing what kind of risk exists sets a foundation for business continuity planning. Risk can come from inside or outside an organization, and falls within four main areas:

Financial Risk – The most apparent threat to a business is financial risk. Cash flow, regulatory guidelines, tax filings, fraudulent activity, lender obligations, contract stipulation, and other financial elements create dangers that all organizations need to navigate. Subsequently, these are the kinds of risks that businesses usually plan for first. However, these are, by no means, the only risks that your company may encounter.
Operational Risk – Regardless of industry or size, a company’s operations will inherently be subject to their own risks as well. Employee turnover, manufacturing processes, materials costs, compliance requirements, and transportation logistics all provide places where risk can threaten your organization.
Cyber Risks – Cyber risks can arise both internally and externally. Data leaks, trade secret disclosures, computer hacking, NDA breaches, and privacy infringements can pose severe risks to companies and their brands, especially in this heightened digital age. Even companies that outsource their IT functions are susceptible to cyber risk.
Catastrophic Risk – Finally, no organization is immune to catastrophic risk. Things like natural disasters, pandemics, wars, violent acts, terrorism, embargos, and other unforeseen events can dramatically affect your business. Whether the catastrophe is a single-impact event like a fire inside a business or a widespread event like a global pandemic, these occurrences represent the worst - case scenarios for your company.

A CFO must help business leaders identify risk and understand the scope of these risks by classifying and triaging them to know how best to respond. Organizations accustomed to focusing solely on financial risk may need to be recalibrated to expand their risk horizon view.

Plan to Mitigate Risks

The goal is for a CFO to insure the business against adverse outcomes by planning for a wide variety of risk factors. Maintaining financial reserves is one of the best ways for organizations to protect themselves against not only financial risk, but also operational and catastrophic risks. As the financial head of the company, a CFO is uniquely positioned to manage this initiative. Additionally, a CFO has the skillset needed to model how the business will respond strategically to moderately or highly probable risks. Continuity planning will reduce your subsequent financial and operational impacts.

Continuously Monitor Risks

Reassess to update risk probabilities and impact scenarios periodically. While a CFO can oversee risk management, one person cannot be tasked with understanding every possible risk area when other individuals are closer to a threat. Widespread adoption of risk management enables continuous risk management, equipping your business to act swiftly when a possible risk turns into a reality.

Report and Track Risk Levels

Empower employees company-wide to identify possible risks and ensure the proper chain of command is in place to get information to analysts and key decision-makers quickly. When feedback is coming from employees on the front-line, take it seriously and track it to identify emerging trends. Where credible risk exists, weave it into your organization’s risk mitigation efforts, and give credit to the individuals or teams responsible for identifying it. Protect (and even reward) employees who report risk to encourage ongoing contribution at all levels.

Use our free financial risk assessment tool to understand where your organization stands. This assessment can help you develop a plan to manage business risk and mitigate its impact.

A financial risk assessment can make all the difference for your business. Preparing to take advantage of opportunities and eliminate potential landmines makes good business sense.

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Business Continuity and Crisis Management Consultants

Integration of Business Continuity and Enterprise Risk Management: A Guide

Explore strategies for the successful integration of business continuity and enterprise risk management.

August 17, 2023 By // by Bryan Strawser

Integration of business continuity and enterprise risk management has become crucial for organizations striving to manage risks effectively. As a seasoned professional, I have observed that aligning these two strategic processes can bolster the organization’s resilience against potential threats.

This article will explore how successful enterprise risk management (ERM) and solid business continuity plan work hand-in-hand to mitigate risks. You’ll learn about the benefits of integrating ERM with your broader business continuity planning, including improved decision-making capabilities and resource allocation.

We will also discuss establishing transparent governance by setting risk management roles, which is critical in ensuring accountability across all levels within an organization. A successful ERM program requires a standardized infrastructure for managing risks.

Furthermore, you’ll gain insights on developing unified strategies for managing different types of risks such as activating disaster recovery plans or implementing intelligent contingency routing plans based on built-in business rules. Lastly, we’ll explore ways to monitor and report progress regularly to ensure continuous improvement.

Benefits of Integrating Business Continuity and Enterprise Risk Management

In the contemporary corporate sphere, companies confront a plethora of hazards. But fear not. Integrating business continuity with enterprise risk management is like having a superhero duo that can save the day.

This dynamic duo creates a unified approach to managing risks, ensuring your business is as solid as a rock. With this comprehensive strategy, you can anticipate disruptions before they hit you like a ton of bricks and take action to minimize their impact.

A Comprehensive Approach Towards Risk Management:

Better Visibility: By combining business continuity planning (BCP) with enterprise risk management (ERM), you’ll have the vision of a hawk, spotting potential threats and making informed decisions on handling them.
Improved Efficiency: With a single integrated system, you’ll avoid the chaos of duplication and streamline your efforts in identifying, assessing, monitoring, and controlling risks. Efficiency, baby.
Risk Mitigation: An integrated approach lets you identify risks and prioritize your response strategies based on their severity. Keep your critical functions running smoothly, even in the face of chaos.

This unified strategy is especially crucial in today’s digital age, where cyber threats are as common as a Kardashian selfie. According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of Data Breach Report , companies take an average of 280 days even to realize they’ve been breached. Yikes. That’s why having robust BCPs and effective ERM practices is more critical than ever.

To successfully integrate business continuity planning with enterprise risk management, you need a plan as solid as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Establish clear roles and responsibilities, and make sure everyone’s on the same page about what constitutes a risk. We’ll dive deeper into this in our next section: Establishing Risk Governance.

Key Takeaway:

Integrating business continuity and enterprise risk management creates a powerful approach to managing risks, allowing organizations to anticipate disruptions and minimize their impact. This comprehensive strategy provides better visibility of potential threats, improves efficiency by avoiding duplication, and enables prioritized response strategies for risk mitigation in today’s digital age where cyber threats are prevalent.

Establishing Risk Governance

In a well-functioning organization, everyone knows their role in managing risks, from the C-suite to frontline employees. It’s like a well-choreographed dance but with fewer jazz hands.

At Bryghtpath, we’ve seen that successful integration often starts at the top. The board of directors or executive leadership team should set the overall risk appetite and strategy. They’re the ones calling the shots, but hopefully not at a shooting range.

Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) are like the bat signal for potential threats. They give organizations an early warning system so they can be proactive instead of reactive. It’s like having a powerful ally to help protect you without the need for flashy costumes.

Once KRIs have been established, it’s important to communicate them throughout the organization. Employees must understand how their daily tasks contribute to the big picture. It’s like piecing together a puzzle without the colors.

The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) plays a pivotal role in this communication process – translating high-level strategic goals into operational activities. They’re like the risk whisperer but without the horse.
The Business Continuity Manager ensures that contingency plans are in place for unexpected events. They’re like the MacGyver of the organization but without the mullet.
Information Security Professionals focus on safeguarding sensitive data against breaches and ensuring compliance with regulations. They’re like the cybersecurity ninjas but without the throwing stars.

A robust Enterprise Risk Management framework, endorsed by the COSO (Committee Of Sponsoring Organizations), can serve as a blueprint for establishing governance structures. It’s like having a roadmap but without the annoying voice telling you to turn left.

Bryghtpath has extensive experience assisting companies in establishing strong governance frameworks tailored to their specific requirements. We’re like the risk management fairy godmothers but without the magic wand.

Successful integration of business continuity and enterprise risk management starts at the top, with the board or executive leadership team setting the risk appetite and strategy. Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) act as early warning signals for potential threats, allowing organizations to be proactive rather than reactive. Communication throughout the organization is crucial, ensuring that every employee understands how their daily tasks contribute to overall risk management goals. The Chief Risk Officer plays a pivotal role in translating strategic goals into operational activities, while the Business Continuity Manager ensures contingency plans are in place for unexpected events and Information Security Professionals focus on safeguarding sensitive data against breaches. A robust Enterprise Risk Management framework can serve as a blueprint for establishing governance structures tailored to specific requirements. Bryghtpath has extensive experience helping companies establish strong governance frameworks customized to their needs.

Developing a Unified Risk Management Strategy

When it comes to managing risk, a smart organization adopts an integrated approach that combines business continuity and enterprise risk management. This way, they can tackle all potential risks head-on and keep things running smoothly.

The first step is identifying the risks your organization faces. You need to know what you’re up against, from natural disasters to cyber attacks. Once you have them all noted, it’s time to analyze the probability and potential consequence. It’s like playing a game of risk, but with less world domination.

Don’t forget to conduct a business impact analysis . This helps you determine which parts of your business suffer the most in a crisis. It’s akin to determining which of your pals would be least helpful in a zombie invasion.

Risk assessment isn’t a one-time thing. Risk assessment is an ongoing adaptation process, with new threats constantly emerging while others become outdated. New threats pop up, while others fade away like last year’s fashion trends.

Once you’ve identified and assessed your risks, it’s time to make a plan. Business continuity planning is like having a superhero cape for your organization. It outlines the steps you’ll take to keep things running smoothly during disruptions, while also keeping your customers and stakeholders happy.

But don’t just make a plan and forget about it. Test it regularly, like a fire drill for your business. And update it as needed, because let’s face it, things change faster than the latest TikTok dance craze.

Being prepared isn’t just about reacting quickly when things go wrong. It’s about being one step ahead, like a chess grandmaster. Anticipate potential issues and put mitigation strategies in place before they even happen.

In summary, integrating Business Continuity Planning (BCP) with Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) gives organizations a clear view of their overall risk profile. It’s like having x-ray vision for your business. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions and be more resilient when the unexpected comes knocking.

Developing a unified risk management strategy involves integrating business continuity and enterprise risk management to identify, assess, and plan for potential risks. This approach allows organizations to anticipate issues, make informed decisions, and enhance resilience in the face of unexpected disruptions.

Implementing Risk Controls

The integration of business continuity and enterprise risk management is like peanut butter and jelly – they go together. Once the risks have been identified, it’s time to implement measures to control them.

A business impact analysis (BIA) is your secret weapon at this stage. It helps you understand how disruptions could mess with your operations and shows you where to focus your efforts.

But wait, there’s more. You also need to create some kickass business continuity plans. These plans should cover everything from IT system recovery to mobilizing your workforce. No stone left unturned.

Risk Identification: Time to play detective and find those potential threats that could ruin your day.
Risk Assessment: Evaluate each risk based on how likely it is to happen and how much damage it could do.
Risk Treatment: Take action, baby. Decide how you’re gonna manage each risk – avoid it, reduce it, share it, or accept it and move on.
Risk Monitoring & Reporting: Keep your eyes peeled for any environmental changes that could mess with your risks. Report any big changes ASAP.

But wait, there’s more. You also need to make sure you’ve got the resources actually to implement and maintain your plans. That means having trained personnel ready to jump into action when disaster strikes. Don’t leave them hanging.

This integrated approach covers all the bases – short-term disruptions and long-term uncertainties. It’s like being prepared for any eventuality, ’cause you never can tell what life will bring.

Monitoring & Reporting

In the ever-changing world of business, keeping an eye on risks is like playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Staying on top of risks is critical in the realm of business continuity and enterprise risk management, which is why monitoring and reporting are so essential. At Bryghtpath, we know it’s not just about spotting changes – it’s about responding quickly and appropriately.

Integrating business continuity planning with enterprise risk management requires a solid system for tracking risks, evaluating controls, and measuring their effectiveness over time. This means constantly evaluating potential threats and disruptions to your operations.

Risk Tracking: Step one is keeping tabs on all the risks you’ve identified, plus any new ones that pop up like surprise party guests.
Evaluating Controls: It’s time to see if your controls are doing their job. Are they working like a well-oiled machine or need a tune-up?
Mitigation Strategies: Based on your evaluation, you can update your mitigation strategies or come up with new ones. It’s like playing chess, but with risks instead of pawns.

But wait, there’s more. This isn’t a single-time event; it’s an ongoing cycle that necessitates consistent monitoring from your risk and business continuity managers. It’s an ongoing cycle that needs constant attention from your business continuity manager and risk management team.

Now, let’s talk about communication. Transparent reporting is key to keeping everyone in the loop – from top-level executives to the intern who just learned how to make coffee. You’ll keep everyone on the same page by sharing information about current risks and the steps you’re taking to mitigate them.

Imagine having a dashboard that shows real-time data on all the threats your organization faces. It’s like having a superhero sidekick that alerts you to trouble before it even happens.

Integrating business continuity planning with enterprise risk management isn’t just about making fancy strategies and implementing controls. It’s about constantly monitoring, reporting, and adapting to the ever-changing landscape of threats. It’s like being a ninja, but for risks.

Integrating business continuity planning with enterprise risk management requires constant monitoring and reporting to effectively respond to potential threats and disruptions. This ongoing cycle involves tracking risks, evaluating controls, updating mitigation strategies, and transparently communicating with stakeholders to keep everyone informed about current risks and the steps being taken to mitigate them. It’s like playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole while being a ninja for risks.

Frequently Asked Questions about Business Continuity & Risk Management Integration

What is the link between business continuity and risk management.

The link between business continuity and risk management lies in their shared goal of safeguarding an organization’s operations from disruption. Risk management identifies, assesses, and prioritizes potential threats to an organization’s assets or operations. It then develops strategies to mitigate these risks.

On the other hand, business continuity planning focuses on creating protocols that ensure essential functions continue during and after a disaster. Essentially, while risk management aims to prevent crises, business continuity plans for how to respond when they occur. Therefore, both are critical components of a comprehensive strategy for organizational resilience.

How does business continuity fit into an enterprise risk management strategy?

Business Continuity (BC) is critical to any Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) strategy. It focuses on ensuring that critical operations continue to function during and after a disruption, thereby minimizing the impact on the organization’s overall performance.

The BC process involves identifying potential threats, assessing their impact on business functions, developing strategies for mitigating risks, testing these strategies through exercises or simulations, and constantly updating the plan based on lessons learned and changing circumstances. This aligns directly with ERM’s objectives of understanding, managing and mitigating organizational risk.

What is the difference between enterprise risk management and business continuity management?

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) are two distinct disciplines that serve different but complementary roles in an organization’s overall strategy to manage uncertainty, mitigate risks, and ensure resilience. ERM focuses on identifying, assessing, and preparing for any potential dangers or uncertainties that could disrupt an organization’s operations or objectives. It provides a holistic view of all risks across the enterprise.

In contrast, BCM specifically concentrates on ensuring that critical functions can continue during and after a disruptive event. It involves planning for potential incidents to minimize their impact and enable a swift recovery.

How does risk management ensure business continuity?

Risk management is an integral part of ensuring business continuity. It involves identifying, assessing, and prioritizing potential threats that could disrupt normal operations. Once these risks are understood, strategies can be developed to mitigate their impact.

These strategies may include implementing preventive measures, creating response plans for different scenarios or transferring the risk through insurance. This proactive approach helps businesses prepare for disruptions before they occur, minimizing downtime and loss of revenue.

Effective risk management allows organizations to maintain critical functions during a crisis and recover more quickly afterwards – thereby ensuring business continuity.

Integrating business continuity and enterprise risk management brings a boatload of benefits to organizations – it’s like getting a two-for-one deal on risk mitigation and operational continuity.

By establishing risk governance, developing a unified risk management strategy, implementing risk controls, and monitoring & reporting on risks, businesses can effectively dodge potential threats and keep their operations sailing smoothly.

This integration allows for a comprehensive approach to managing risks across all levels of an organization – it’s like having a superhero team that tackles risks from every angle, making better decisions and allocating resources like a boss.

It also helps in identifying interdependencies between different risks and ensures that appropriate measures are taken to address them – it’s like playing a game of Risk, but with a strategy that actually works.

In conclusion, the integration of business continuity and enterprise risk management is crucial for organizations looking to manage risks and protect their assets proactively – it’s like having a security guard that never takes a coffee break.

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About Bryan Strawser

Bryan Strawser is Founder, Principal, and Chief Executive at Bryghtpath LLC, a strategic advisory firm he founded in 2014. He has more than twenty-five years of experience in the areas of, business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, enterprise risk, intelligence, and crisis communications.

At Bryghtpath, Bryan leads a team of experts that offer strategic counsel and support to the world’s leading brands, public sector agencies, and nonprofit organizations to strategically navigate uncertainty and disruption.

Learn more about Bryan at this link .

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Business Continuity Planning Solutions

In an increasingly interconnected world, it’s imperative for you to rethink contingency planning. Transformed global business and operations strategies add new interruption risks to risk portfolios. Building resilient and recoverable operations is more difficult to implement when time is precious and challenges are approaching.

PwC’s business continuity planning solutions help you identify, prepare for and prevent events that may disrupt business activities. Working with us, you can develop the plans needed to recover efficiently and effectively including program assessment, implementation, testing, maintenance and training.

Understanding today’s drivers is the first step when planning a business continuity program

Recent industry interruptions.

Cyber events and natural disasters have sparked the need to develop more robust recovery plans.

Third-party resiliency

Regulatory guidance now requires transparency into critical third-party resiliency. Third parties may include call centers, IT providers and back office services.

Being a resilient supplier/partner

Regulators and partners are seeking insight into resiliency plans to assure fund availability and portfolio integrity as well as their relative priority during crisis events.

Focus on enterprise-wide governance, risk management and compliance (GRC)

Organizations are increasingly focused on integrated risk and compliance management to reduce compliance cost and provide better risk insight.

Reduced tolerance for downtime

Customers demand 24/7 access to products and services. The new technology has high availability requirements to provide competitive and customized service offerings. Regulators' tolerance for critical system downtime is also diminishing.

Crisis management and social media

Quick identification and internal/external response to crisis events can protect and increase brand value

Developing operational resilience and business continuity

PwC’s business continuity planning solutions will help you develop operational resilience and business continuity that is scalable and that enables your company to prioritize investments.

Some of our solutions include:

BCP program assessment and design
Business impact analysis and interruption risk assessment
Recovery strategy selection and implementation
Recovery plan creation and resiliency improvement
BCP program exercising, maintenance and training
BCP program technology enablement and enterprise risk management integration
Third-party resiliency framework and analysis
Crisis management program development and exercises
IT disaster recovery and BCP program alignment and analysis

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Relationship Between Business Continuity And Risk Management

The relationship between business continuity and risk management often gets changed in agreement with the organization's perspective. Some enterprises take business continuity as ...

The relationship between business continuity and risk management often gets changed in agreement with the organization’s perspective. Some enterprises take business continuity as a sub-domain of risk management, while others put these two concepts in two different segments.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, people are focusing on overall enterprise resilience and often asking questions like whether there is a difference between business continuity and risk management. Here is an effort to address this question.

Business Continuity

Business Continuity is a process that builds a framework for organizational resilience. AutoRecon enables businesses to continue their core functions. As a result, other operations continue uninterrupted even during outages.

Process of Business Continuity

The key to effective business continuity lies in its planning and strategy implementation by understanding the intensity of the crisis and how to respond to such impacts.

Five key business continuity management steps are discussed below:

Risk Assessment

Exposure of qualitative and quantitative risk intensity and its potential impact on organizations under different scenarios. Identification of threat possibilities and sketching out the communication plans. Creating a roadmap to mitigate threats.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

This process takes care of the identification of critical processes and workflows by understanding recovery assumptions, recovery points, and time objectives. Tracing of resource dependencies in the organization before setting up backups.

Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Chalk out a thorough actionable plan after completion of risk assessment and impact analysis. Segregation of plans as per departments and priorities. Detailed auditing of a plan with key stakeholders for finalization.

Framework of Strategy

Creating a strategic framework of the finalized plan to ensure that objectives are obtainable. Incorporation of employee perspective and enterprise goals before sending it to the review team for final validation. Give access to staff for ensuring that they can access it during the crisis period.

Testing & Maintenance

The testing and maintenance phase includes periodic tabletop exercises to ensure that the organization is content with the strategy. Reviewing the performance of the BCM plan for assessing its impact.

Risk Management

Risk Management is the process to identify, assess, and control risks or threats related to an organization’s earnings & capital. The framework for risk management thoroughly examines the potential for threats from many sources. The risk could be anything, from accidents, legal liabilities, and errors to financial uncertainty.

Process of Risk Management

Often organizations have confronted our experts about the efficacy of building extensive planning and implementation structure that covers all the processes of risk management. Here is the breakdown into five key sections for easy understanding.

Identifying the Risk

Identifying operating environment risks and dangers to which the organization is vulnerable. Therefore, information is documented. It is accessible to important stakeholders through the system.

Analysis of Risk

However, Before examining the connections between these risks and the many internal factors of the company, the extent of the risk is established. A thorough assessment of risk severity and its impact on business functionalities.

Ranking of Risk

Evaluation of risks is set as per its prioritization in enterprises. Assembling threats levels as per their effect on an organization for ensuring that key stakeholder knows for which risk they should intervene immediately.

Treating the Risk

In the risk management solution , proper action plans are formed through the system. During this period, risks and their possible resolving functions are discussed. Every personnel gets a direct update from the system.

Monitoring Risk

Monitoring of risks through the risk management framework of the organization for ensuring effective business continuity.

Relationship between Business Continuity and Risk Management

These two distinct standards when applied together can result in effective and efficient business management systems that lower risk and the potential negative effects of a crisis situation. Business Continuity management and risk management are interconnected.

The survivability of enterprises often gets threatened by severe risks. Using risk management solutions at this time reduces threat intensity to facilitate effective business continuity planning. After mitigating the risk, business continuity ensures that the business does not suffer any consequences from crises, disasters, or other types of risks. Thus, according to thought leaders, competent risk management may demonstrate the success of business continuity. Others, however, contend that the implementation of a suitable BCM and strategy framework is necessary in order to achieve effective risk management.

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What is Business Continuity Risk?

In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, companies face a myriad of risks that can disrupt their operations and threaten their very existence. Among these, “Business Continuity Risk” looms as a potential disruptor that demands vigilant attention. Business continuity risk refers to threats or risks that disrupt the functioning of a business. These threats maybe any untoward incidents or disasters that negatively impact an organization.

Several business continuity risks make organizations suffer, such as cyber-attacks, data breaches, security incidents, fire, flood, transport disruption, and terrorism.

Perhaps the best example of business continuity risk is the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic on businesses all over the world. As shops and organizations closed down indefinitely and consumers were forced to shelter in place during lockdowns, businesses faced huge losses. A record number of people were laid off, as companies struggled to make payroll or pay rent.

For essential services that were allowed to continue such as health workers and food supply managers, it became a matter of huge concern to protect their health and wellbeing. To ensure complete safety of workers, organizations were required to provide them with PPE lists, hand sanitizers, masks, and strictly observe social distancing measures.

A business continuity plan helps to mitigate such unforeseen risks, and ensure smooth and efficient functioning of the organization.

Types of Business Continuity Risks

Let’s take a look at five business continuity risks that a firm must monitor and control:

1. Cyberattacks

Cybersecurity attacks area major source of concern for businesses. Network and system damage by hackers not only damages a firm’s reputation but can also cause monetary damage.

For example, Software AG, a German tech firm, was attacked by Clop ransomware in October 2020. The cyber-criminal gang demanded more than $20 million ransom. The attack disrupted parts of their internal network.

2. Data breaches

Data breaching refers to releasing or revealing important, private and sensitive information to an untrusted person or environment. In the first half of 2020, there were 540 reported data breaches in the U.S .

Some examples of data breaching include loss of USB drives, mobile or computer devices, laptops, and computer networks. Such breaches can put sensitive information regarding the firm and it’s customers in the hands of unscrupulous people and cause severe damages to the business.

3. Terrorism

When terrorism strikes a country or city, it instill a sense of fear and uncertainty in it’s residents and the public at large. Employees and organization security forces might be ill-equipped to handle attacks of terrorism. Property damage and business interruption are the most obvious impacts of terrorism.

Further, even after a terror attack, tourism and day-to-day life in a country remains affected. It takes a few months for businesses to resume their operations as usual.

Fires generally take place suddenly, without any warning signs. They often occur due to faulty firm equipment or misuse of organizational tools and instruments.

Keeping a fire control plan involving fire brigades, fire alarms and fire extinguishers as a precautionary measure to control fires, is quintessential for businesses of all kinds.

5. Supply Chain Disruptions

Disruption in supply chains is also a big concern for organizations. Supply chains that operate on a global scale face various risks, such as transportation delays, supplier failures, natural disasters, and geopolitical events. These risks can cause disruptions in the supply chain, resulting in product shortages, production delays, and financial losses. To manage and mitigate these risks, organizations should consider diversifying their supplier base, cultivating strong relationships with key suppliers, and establishing effective communication channels.

6. Natural Disasters

Natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, often lead to such disruption. The loss of life, displacement, loss of equipment and communication, damaged builds can all have catastrophic impact on businesses. One of the major concerns for business in time of disasters are how to connect with and serve their customers. The disruption in supply network can weaken and as a result, the supply network between companies and suppliers weakens and the supply chain suffers

7. Health Emergencies and Pandemics

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of organizational preparedness for health emergencies. Infectious diseases, public health crises, and widespread employee absences can significantly disrupt operations and pose risks to business continuity. In this blog post, we will explore the significance of developing comprehensive pandemic response plans, including remote work capabilities, flexible staffing arrangements, and robust health and safety protocols, to safeguard business continuity in the face of such challenges.

8. Regulatory Compliance and Legal Issues

Non-compliance with legal and regulatory requirements can lead to substantial financial penalties, reputational harm, and operational disruptions. Businesses, particularly those in heavily regulated industries, face challenges due to evolving laws, regulations, and industry standards. To mitigate risks, organizations must stay updated on regulatory changes, maintain comprehensive documentation, and establish robust mechanisms to ensure compliance.

4 Major Risks of Not Having A Business Continuity Plan

Not having a business continuity plan might be more dangerous for a business than you think.

Here are four major risks of not having a well-defined plan to handle business continuity disruptions:

1. Death and Injury

When organizations suffer from natural disasters and other threatening events, it leads to loss of life and brutal injuries to workers, clients, and other individuals associated with the business.

This can be prevented by keeping premises under regular inspection, maintaining tools and equipment, and posting warning signs, if combustible or dangerous equipment is being used.

2. Business Failure

Disasters and unexpected incidents also affect and damage business property and goods. After suffering such damage, organizations are generally unable to recover.

For example, due to Covid 19, more than 100,000 restaurants have permanently closed this year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Business continuity plans provide better alternatives for businesses to survive even after a disaster.

3. Reputational Risk

Disasters also affect a company’s reputation in a negative way. People’s lose trust in a company and start to view it with a healthy dose of scepticism.

For example, a fire may damage a firm’s internal property as well as injure people, which might make the public think the firm is not secure and doesn’t take necessary precautions to safeguard it’s personnel and premises. This might discourage future clients and employees from associating with them.

Likewise, a firm’s reputation can also be damaged by data breaches. People’s trust towards a firm decreases due to the spread of sensitive data.

4. Loss of data

Loss of essential data not only disrupts business activities but also puts the company’s future in jeopardy. Loss of data can have severe implications for business continuity. Data is a critical asset that drives decision-making, operations, and customer interactions. Without proper backup and recovery measures, organizations risk losing valuable information due to hardware failures, cyberattacks, or human error. Such data loss can disrupt business operations, hinder productivity, and lead to financial losses. Moreover, the inability to access vital data can impair decision-making and customer service, eroding trust and damaging the organization’s reputation. To ensure business continuity, organizations must implement robust data backup, recovery, and cybersecurity measures to protect against data loss and maintain uninterrupted operations.

5. Regulatory Non-Compliance

Various industries are subject to specific regulations and legal requirements related to risk management, data protection, and business continuity. Neglecting a business continuity plan can result in non-compliance with these obligations. The failure to meet regulatory standards may lead to severe penalties, legal repercussions, and potential lawsuits. Additionally, non-compliance can further strain the organization’s financial stability and reputation, causing lasting damage.

6. Competitive Disadvantage

Organizations that lack a business continuity plan may struggle to keep pace with competitors who have invested in comprehensive continuity strategies. Insufficient preparedness limits an organization’s ability to swiftly recover from disruptions, resume operations promptly, and maintain customer satisfaction. This puts the organization at a distinct disadvantage in terms of market share, customer loyalty, and overall competitiveness. Customers and clients often prioritize reliability and uninterrupted service, making preparedness a crucial factor for success.

7. Stakeholder Confidence Erosion

Key stakeholders, including investors, business partners, and suppliers, place significant emphasis on an organization’s ability to effectively manage risks. The absence of a business continuity plan raises doubts about the organization’s commitment to preparedness and resilience. Stakeholders may experience reduced confidence, which can lead to strained business relationships, challenges in securing financing, and difficulties attracting strategic partnerships. Ensuring stakeholder confidence is vital for maintaining a strong reputation and fostering long-term growth.

Managing Business Continuity Risk:

Effective management of Business Continuity Risk involves several key steps:

Risk Assessment: Begin by identifying potential risks and assessing their potential impact on your operations. Prioritize risks based on their likelihood and severity.

Business Continuity Planning: Develop comprehensive continuity plans that outline how your organization will respond to disruptions. These plans should include strategies for IT recovery, crisis communication, and resource allocation.

Testing and Training: Regularly test your continuity plans through simulations and drills. Ensure that your employees are well-trained in executing these plans in the event of a disruption.

Regular Review and Updates: Continuously monitor and update your Business Continuity Plans to adapt to changing circumstances, emerging threats, and organizational changes.

Insurance and Financial Preparedness: Consider investing in insurance policies that cover business interruptions. Maintain financial reserves to help your organization weather financial challenges during disruptions.

Maintain effective communication channels : Establish robust communication channels to facilitate timely and accurate information dissemination during disruptions. This includes internal communication systems, contact lists, and emergency notification procedures.

Monitor and Stay Informed: Continuously monitor internal and external factors that may impact business continuity. Stay updated on emerging risks, regulatory changes, and industry trends to adapt your strategies accordingly.

Mitigate Business Continuity Risk: 4 Steps to Create a Business Continuity Plan

To develop resilience as a business and future-proof it’s functioning against unexpected disasters and events, businesses must prepare a business continuity plan.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is a critical document that outlines how a business will overcome unplanned disruptions and continue critical operations. Create a detailed plan that identifies potential risks, outlines response strategies, and assigns responsibilities. The plan should include procedures for various scenarios, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or supply chain disruptions.

Here’s a four-step guide to develop a business continuity plan and mitigate business continuity risk:

4 steps to create business continuity plan

1. Scope and Teamwork

The first step involves putting together a team for implementing a business continuity plan. This step should also establish management buy-in and commitment to the BCP process.

The firm must clearly explain the key reasons for having a BCP, namely, to protect employees, suppliers, and customers as well as the business operations themselves.

2. Business Impact Analysis

Business impact analysis helps determine the potential impacts of a disruption to critical business operations. The BIA can be facilitated by asking the following questions:

Which activities are critical to the core operations of the business?
What resources need to be obtained to resume these prioritized activities? This includes both internal and external resources such as vehicles, inventory, human resources, and electricity supply.
What is the maximum period of time for which a business might be able to withstand temporary disruption? This identifies the time frame for the prioritized activities to be resumed.

Post this, a firm should assess external risks which may affect a business. This helps establish the types of disasters which an enterprise may face.

It’s essential to account for all possible disasters a business might face, be it natural, data-based, corporations-based. To get a more accurate assessment, firms should also look at past events and disasters that similar businesses may have faced.

3 . Develop Strategies

Information gathered from the business impact analysis should be utilized to develop strategies which help an enterprise tackle an emergency and resume operations efficiently.

Strategies must include different types of plans to figure out how the enterprise will function during the time of emergency. Some basic questions your strategy might answer include:

How will customers contact the organization during that time?
How will the organization gain access to electricity and food?
Will the organization be relocated elsewhere?

The business continuity management team is responsible to ensure these strategies are implemented should a disaster strike.

4. Plan Testing

The final step of this plan consists of testing your plan to improve your ability to recover from various unexpected scenarios successfully. Conduct testing and simulations of their business continuity plans to assess their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. This allows for fine-tuning of the plans and ensures preparedness in the face of potential disruptions.

BCP testing should be exercised to experiment the effectiveness of your plan. Here are a few pointers to effectively test your business continuity plan:

Review plan strategies and ensure each disaster or scenario has been accounted for.
Ensure each employee is aware of the significant sections of the plan and their roles in a disaster or scenario. Carry out BCP simulation tests. These tests include actual recovery actions such as restoring backups and live testing of superfluous systems.
Involve vendor partners in your testing process. This will help you attain accuracy in your tests and receive feedback from the vendors on the effectiveness of your plan.
Document your testing results and implement processes by following up on the results to improve your BCP.

Wrapping up

Business continuity plans help organizations safeguard their existence as well as retain the trust of their customers and employees. The lack of a well-documented business continuity plan can disrupt the functioning of a business, affect it’s employees’ physical and monetary health, and in some cases, cause complete business failure.

The importance of risk management and compliance automation

A risk management platform can enable organizations to identify and assess potential risks across various areas, such as operational, financial, regulatory, and reputational risks. This helps in understanding the critical risks that could impact business continuity and allows for proactive mitigation efforts.

In the event of a disruption or incident, the platform helps organizations efficiently manage and respond to the situation. It provides a structured framework for incident reporting, tracking, and resolution, ensuring a coordinated response and minimizing downtime.

While it’s difficult to anticipate when the next pandemic might strike, or when businesses will fully recover from the current one, one thing is clear: failing to plan is planning to fail.

VComply’s Compliance and Risk Management software streamlines and automates risk assessment, internal control procedures, managing compliance frameworks, and monitoring and reporting.

Request a demo today to learn more about how VComply can help your business.

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Unpacking Risk Assessment: Business Continuity Plan Risk Assessment

February 6, 2024

Business continuity planning is a critical aspect of modern business operations. With the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, cyberattacks, and other unexpected events, organizations need to develop and implement robust plans to ensure that they can continue to operate in the face of disruptions.

Risk assessment is a crucial component of business continuity planning , as it helps organizations identify potential risks , evaluate their likelihood and potential impact, and develop strategies to prevent or mitigate them.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the importance of risk assessment in business continuity planning. It will explore common mistakes to avoid, the risk assessment process, the significance of business impact analysis , and cybersecurity policies.

In providing insights into best practices for conducting risk assessments , this article aims to help organizations ensure business continuity in the face of any unforeseen circumstances.

Understanding the process of evaluating potential hazards and prioritizing risks is fundamental to creating a comprehensive plan for ensuring the continuity of business operations in the face of unexpected disruptions.

Risk assessment is an essential step in Business Continuity Planning (BCP) as it systematically identifies potential threats and vulnerabilities that could disrupt operations.

It involves assessing the likelihood of an event occurring and the impact it would have on the organization. Risk assessment should be carried out before undertaking a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) as it helps identify potential threats that could impact critical business functions.

The BIA then evaluates the impact of these threats on business operations, allowing organizations to prioritize their response strategies.

A comprehensive risk assessment should identify potential threats, evaluate the likelihood of those threats occurring, and determine the potential impact on the organization. The ongoing risk assessment process should be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure it remains relevant and reflects the organization’s current risk posture .

To be effective, a risk assessment should be conducted by trained professionals who can identify potential threats and vulnerabilities and evaluate their potential impact on the organization.

A thorough Business Continuity Plan Risk Assessment should also consider the potential impact of large-scale natural disasters , such as hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes. While these events may be rare, their potential to cause large-scale disruption and damage is significant.

Businesses should analyze the likelihood of these events occurring in their region, the potential severity of the impacts, and the potential costs associated with any damages. Further, businesses should consider the impact of any potential disruption to their supply chain and the potential costs associated with lost or damaged inventory.

Finally, businesses should review their insurance policies to ensure they are adequately covered in the event of a large-scale natural disaster .

In addition to natural disasters, businesses should assess the risks posed by cyber-attacks, terrorism, and other criminal activities. Companies should review the security measures they have in place and consider any additional measures that may be necessary to protect their assets and operations.

Businesses should also consider the potential impacts of a cyber attack, such as lost or compromised data, stolen funds, and disruption to their operations. Furthermore, businesses should consider the potential costs of any losses or damages resulting from a cyber attack .

Common Mistakes

These mistakes include not accounting for the loss of critical people, not planning for staff stress and trauma, and not having alternative recovery sites.

The mistakes can lead to a lack of preparedness during unexpected events, which can have severe consequences for the business. For example , not accounting for the loss of critical people can result in a lack of expertise and knowledge, which can be detrimental to the smooth functioning of the organization.

Another common mistake in business continuity planning is not making emergency plans accessible . Emergency plans should be accessible to all employees, including those who work remotely. This can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and knows what to do when an unexpected event occurs.

Not communicating plans and processes transparently is also a mistake. Communication is essential during a crisis, and transparent communication can help build employee trust and confidence.

Not having alternative recovery sites is another mistake that can have severe consequences. If the primary recovery site is unavailable, the organization should have an alternative site ready to ensure continuity of business operations . Failure to plan for alternative recovery sites can lead to prolonged downtime, which can be costly for the business.

Overall, it is essential to avoid these common mistakes to ensure that the business is prepared to navigate unexpected events and maintain continuity of operations.

Risk Assessment Process

The process involves identifying and describing risks , prioritizing risks associated with essential recovery processes, and evaluating risks to compare results with the organization’s risk tolerance.

It is important to venture outside the scope of risk assessment to find information that supports evaluation and have workshops with the enterprise risk team to test the articulation of risks.

The risk assessment process should focus on risks that have the potential to disrupt the business recovery process during a disaster . Risks associated with processes essential to the organization’s recovery process should be identified, and unforeseeable risks should not be anticipated.

The identified risks should be closely related to overall business continuity, and mitigation controls should justify the investment to mitigate.

The findings from the risk assessment process will be valuable input in designing a business recovery strategy , which will be the next step in the program.

Overall, the risk assessment process is integral to business continuity planning . It helps organizations prepare for and mitigate risks , prevent injuries or illnesses, meet legal requirements, create awareness about hazards and risks, create an accurate inventory of available assets

Justify the cost of managing risks, determine the budget to remediate risks , and understand the return on investment. A specialized compliance specialist can help with the risk assessment process, and risk assessment plans should be reviewed and updated regularly to stay on top of new hazards .

Business Impact Analysis

A thorough Business Impact Analysis is critical for organizations to gauge the impact of specific risks on their business operations and financial implications, ultimately leading to a more effective and resilient Business Continuity Plan .

The analysis involves identifying and assessing the potential consequences of disruptive events on critical business functions, assets, and stakeholders. It considers the time required for recovery, the cost of recovery, and the impact on revenue, reputation, and customer satisfaction.

The Business Impact Analysis enables organizations to prioritize recovery efforts and allocate resources effectively. It also helps them identify areas for improvement in their Business Continuity Plan.

Business Impact Analysis is an essential step in the risk assessment process for Business Continuity Planning. It helps organizations understand the potential impact of disruptive events on their operations, finances, and reputation.

Reporting and Review

Reporting and Review is a crucial step in the Business Impact Analysis process as it allows organizations to present their findings to stakeholders and obtain feedback. This feedback is important as it helps organizations to improve their Business Continuity Plan .

Reporting and Review also enable organizations to identify any gaps in their plan and make the necessary changes to better prepare for the risks identified during the risk assessment .

During the Reporting and Review process, it is important to use templates that are familiar to the enterprise risk team to report findings. These templates help to ensure consistency in reporting and make it easier for stakeholders to understand the findings.

It is also important to provide a high-level update to the steering committee and review the report with the GRC or enterprise risk management team. This review process helps to ensure that the findings are accurate and that the Business Continuity Plan is aligned with the enterprise risk management practices.

Reporting and Review is an essential step in the Business Impact Analysis process . The feedback obtained during this process is crucial in improving the Business Continuity Plan and ensuring that the organization is better prepared for the risks identified during the risk assessment process.

Risk assessment is a crucial component of business continuity planning that involves identifying and analyzing potential risks to an organization’s operations. It allows businesses to evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of various risks and develop strategies to prevent or mitigate them.

To ensure the success of a risk assessment process, organizations must avoid common mistakes, such as failing to involve key stakeholders or neglecting to update the assessment regularly.

Business impact analysis is also a critical aspect of risk assessment that helps organizations understand the potential consequences of a disruption and prioritize recovery efforts accordingly.

Additionally, cybersecurity policies must be integrated into the risk assessment process to address the increasing cyber-attack threat.

Implementing a comprehensive cybersecurity program that includes employee training and education, regular system and software updates, and up-to-date antivirus protection is important. Also, organizations should have a process in place to regularly review their policies and procedures to ensure they are up-to-date and in line with industry best practices.

Regular network activity monitoring should also be conducted to identify any suspicious activity and respond to potential threats quickly and effectively. Finally, organizations should develop a communication plan to ensure all staff and stakeholders are aware of the cybersecurity policies and related procedures.

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

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Risk Management and Business Continuity: Improving Business Resiliency

Tackling these risks requires an integrated and holistic framework with the capability to identify, evaluate and adequately define responses to the circumstances. For more and more organizations, this means adapting an enterprise risk management (ERM) model. ERM seeks to identify all threats—including financial, strategic, personnel, market, technology, legal, compliance, geopolitical and environmental—that would adversely affect an organization. This holistic approach gives organizations a better framework for mitigating risk while advancing their goals and opportunities in the face of business threats. But in order to implement and continuously manage this enterprise-wide model there is a critical need for closer integration of two typically distinct roles within the organization—business continuity management (BCM) and risk management. Together, these two vital elements make up a robust ERM plan and have a tremendous impact on an organization’s ability to contend with interruptions to the execution of organizational activities.

Put in the simplest terms, risk management is concerned with minimizing the probability of and destruction caused by negative events. Operational risk management, as the name implies, must cope with interruptions at the operational level. Recognizing that there are inherent imperfections in systems, people, facilities and general operational functions, the essence of operational risk management is to negate or reduce the probability of an incident occurring. Focusing upon incident-specific, site-specific analysis of potential causes of interruptions, risk managers seek to preclude incidents from occurring. If elimination of the risk is not possible, the focus moves to minimizing the results of the negative event.

For example, suppression systems reduce the risk of operational disruption caused by fire damage. Redundant equipment decreases the possibility of operational interruption resulting from machine breakdown and redundant communications help maintain connectivity. By analyzing past events and examining known hazards (defined flood plains, hurricane-prone areas, construction sites, earthquake areas and terrorism-prone areas) operational risk management seeks to avoid the occurrence of negative destructive events.

So understanding that every incident is not preventable, our other line of defense is to minimize the impact. That’s where BCM comes in. BCM is concerned with minimizing the impact upon the entity after an event occurs and restoring the organization to its normal operations and delivery of products and services as quickly and safely as possible. In short, BCM helps maintain the viability of an entity under duress.

Because it is event-neutral, BCM is able to categorize effects into four distinct categories:

Effects on facilities, making them inaccessible or unusable
Effects on operational capability, such as supply chain interruptions, processing errors or staff unavailability
Effects on technology
Effects on the organization itself, ranging from financial problems to intellectual property rights.

When an event inevitably does occur, the optimal goal is to make any business interruptions imperceptible to those outside the affected organization. Here’s an example of how risk management and business continuity management, working together, enabled an organization to achieve that goal:

One of the world’s most important foreign exchange dealers realized that, as an occupant of a high rise building, it could not control the consequences of all incidents that might impact its ability to service its customers, which were some of the largest financial institutions in the world. A review by the company’s risk manager determined that there was a likelihood of an interruption in service as a result of construction work in the surrounding area. To reduce the risk, it was recommended that they install redundant lines and route them through alternative conduits into the building. So they undertook building redundancy in their telecom network. In addition, the risk of server failure was similarly high and so mirroring was implemented to duplicate all transactions and ensure that no data would be lost in the event of a failure of the building’s infrastructure.

Despite all the precautions to reduce risk, what risk management couldn’t control was an East Coast blackout that terminated power to its operation.

Recognizing the impact that a loss of power could have, including the loss of use of the facility, the business continuity professional determined that a robust contingency plan was required.

The business continuity plan included a strategy that automatically forwarded incoming calls to another facility outside the U.S. and also provided connectivity to its back-up technology center. When the blackout hit, the business continuity plan worked exactly as tested. Phones were switched, systems were accessible and, best of all, customers never knew the difference. The company was actually more prepared than many of its customers who failed to provide similar capabilities and had to cease trading.

The combination of risk management and business continuity provides the level of resiliency that most organizations must achieve in light of the uncertainty that exists today. The blend will reduce uncertainty and promote a more stable operating environment.

Adapting to Change: Business Continuity Planning in 2024 for Logistics and Metallurgy

How prepared is your business for the changes coming in 2024?

The logistics and metallurgy sectors are about to enter a year filled with economic growth, an e-commerce explosion, and shifting geopolitical and regulatory landscapes. These changes bring both opportunities and challenges, making it clear that having a solid Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is crucial to navigate the future effectively.

Navigating Logistics and Metallurgy Trends in 2024

Looking towards 2024, the logistics industry is bracing for significant shifts.

Expectations of rising Full-truckload (FTL) rates due to increasing diesel prices, labor costs, and insurance premiums demand a new approach to managing logistics.

Meanwhile, Less-than-truckload (LTL) rates seem set for stability, though they might adjust slightly based on market conditions.

These trends will also impact the metallurgy industry, which relies heavily on efficient supply chains. Adapting to these logistics changes is vital for keeping operations smooth and staying ahead in the market.

The Core of Adaptation: Business Continuity Planning

At the heart of handling these shifts is Business Continuity Planning (BCP). BCP is about preparing for unexpected disruptions and keeping your business running no matter what. It’s about planning, communication, and resilience.

Enhancing Communication with Mass Notification Systems

Speaking of communication, it’s essential in managing crises and maintaining operations. This is where mass notification systems come into play. They’re key for quick and effective communication during emergencies.

In this blog we’ll introduce Regroup, a mass notification solution that fits well into any BCP strategy, enhancing how you communicate during crises.

This blog will guide you through preparing for 2024. We’ll cover strategic planning, the importance of communication systems like Regroup , and how embracing technology can help your business face the future confidently.

Understanding the 2024 Logistics Forecast: Key Trends and Predictions

Navigating through uncertainty.

The logistics sector is on the threshold of significant change.

With 2023 witnessing fluctuations in full-truckload (FTL) rates due to excess capacity and weak demand, a notable recovery was seen in the latter half of the year.

This trend suggests a shift in the FTL market in 2024, driven by a mix of decreased capacity and a surge in demand, particularly from the continuing boom in e-commerce. These factors, coupled with rising operational costs like diesel fuel prices, labor, and insurance, hint at potential rate increases.

Conversely, less-than-truckload (LTL) rates have shown remarkable stability, with expectations for this trend to continue into 2024. However, slight adjustments might occur, reflecting specific market conditions and segments.

This balance between FTL and LTL rates underscores the strategic importance of planning and flexibility within logistics operations.

As we delve into the intricacies of the 2024 logistics forecast and the critical need for adaptability, it becomes evident that navigating through uncertainty requires a strategic approach.

While understanding key trends and predictions is essential, implementing actionable strategies is equally crucial.

Let’s explore how businesses can leverage these insights to thrive in the evolving landscape of the logistics industry.

Building Strong Relationships with Carriers

For businesses navigating these waters, building strong relationships with carriers is paramount. This is more than just securing competitive rates. It is about fostering partnerships built on trust and reliability. By understanding your business’s unique needs and collaborating closely with carriers, you can ensure seamless operations and timely deliveries.

Leveraging Technology for Optimization

In parallel, leveraging technology will be instrumental in staying ahead of the curve. Freight procurement platforms, dynamic Transportation Management Systems (TMS), and visibility platforms offer invaluable insights into your supply chain. They enable you to optimize routes, track shipments in real-time, and make data-driven decisions. Embracing these technological advancements empowers businesses to streamline processes, reduce costs, and enhance overall efficiency.

Exploring Green Logistics Options

Moreover, the growing emphasis on sustainability underscores the importance of exploring green logistics options. From utilizing fuel-efficient vehicles to partnering with carbon-neutral transport providers, embracing eco-friendly practices not only reduces environmental impact but also enhances your brand’s reputation as a responsible corporate citizen.

Staying Abreast of Market Trends

Staying abreast of market trends is another critical aspect of strategic planning. By monitoring fluctuations in fuel prices, regulatory changes, and consumer preferences, businesses can proactively adjust their strategies to capitalize on emerging opportunities and mitigate potential risks.

Proactive Cost Management

In the face of rising parcel delivery costs, proactive cost management becomes paramount. Adopting freight-spend-management solutions enables businesses to analyze shipping expenses, identify cost-saving opportunities, and negotiate more favorable contracts with carriers. Additionally, exploring alternative carriers offers flexibility and resilience in managing parcel deliveries, particularly amidst general rate increases imposed by major carriers.

Embracing Technology for Resilience

The ongoing e-commerce explosion places pressure on parcel networks, potentially creating competition for available capacity and influencing pricing. In this landscape, technology plays a pivotal role. Leveraging AI-powered platforms and multicarrier parcel optimization solutions can aid businesses in comparing rates, optimizing routes, and automating processes for better cost management and efficiency.

As we approach a dynamic 2024, these insights underscore the necessity for logistics and metallurgy sectors to adapt their strategies, ensuring business continuity and growth in the face of evolving market conditions.

For those looking to dive deeper into the anticipated changes in the logistics sector and explore comprehensive strategies for 2024, detailed insights are available here .

Impact of 2024 Forecast on Logistics and Metallurgy

These forecasted changes in logistics directly impact the metallurgy industry, which relies heavily on efficient supply chain management. The expected adjustments in rates necessitate a recalibration of logistics strategies to ensure uninterrupted supply chains and to maintain a competitive edge. This section explores the consequences of logistic shifts on metallurgy operations, highlighting the interconnectedness of these industries and the imperative for strategic foresight.

The Pillar of Resilience: Business Continuity Planning

The recent insights suggest a multi-faceted approach to BCP, focusing on analysis, resilience, risk management, and adapting to the evolving work environment and economic conditions.

Performing a Business Impact Analysis

A fundamental step in BCP is conducting a business impact analysis (BIA) . This process helps identify potential vulnerabilities within your operations and overall business model, guiding you to prepare solutions effectively. Such proactive measures are instrumental in planning for budgeting, hiring, and other crucial business activities, ensuring readiness for future challenges.

Strengthening Business Resilience

Given the unpredictable nature of 2024, bolstering your business’s resilience is essential. This includes preparing for natural disasters, cybersecurity threats, and other disruptions that can impact operations. A resilient business model, backed by a comprehensive BCP, can withstand various challenges, allowing for continued growth and investment.

Disaster Recovery and Risk Management

Having a disaster recovery plan is a key component of BCP. Identifying potential risks and having a recovery strategy ensures your business can manage and recover from disruptions effectively. With the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of risk management techniques and preparing for unforeseen events has been highlighted, emphasizing the need for a solid BCP.

Adapting to New Work Trends

The persistence of work-from-home trends and the need for cybersecurity planning are also crucial elements to consider in your BCP. As remote work continues to be favored by many, integrating this model into your business continuity planning ensures operational flexibility and employee well-being. Additionally, the rise in cyber threats calls for a robust cybersecurity strategy to protect your business and customer data.

Considering Economic Factors

Economic downturns, such as recessions, pose significant threats to businesses. A BCP that includes strategies for navigating these economic conditions is crucial for ensuring your company’s survival and ability to capitalize on growth periods. Managing operational costs amidst inflation and understanding new regulations coming into effect each year are also critical aspects of a comprehensive BCP.

The Role of Mass Notification Systems in BCP

Mass notification systems have become an indispensable part of Business Continuity Planning (BCP), especially as businesses navigate through the complexities of modern threats and disruptions in the logistics and metallurgy sector.

These systems serve a critical role in ensuring effective communication during crises, which is essential for maintaining operational continuity and managing emergencies effectively.

Let’s see the 3 primary functions of Mass Notification Systems and how they help BCP.

1. Enhancing Communication Speed and Reach

In the event of a crisis, time is of the essence. Mass notification systems enable organizations to disseminate crucial information quickly and efficiently to a wide audience, including employees, stakeholders, and even customers. This rapid communication capability is vital for initiating emergency protocols, providing real-time updates, and minimizing the impact of disruptions.

2. Streamlining Communication Processes A well-integrated mass notification system can streamline communication processes, reducing complexity and the potential for errors. These systems often come with features that allow for the customization of messages, ensuring that the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

3. Ensuring Timely Alerts Timeliness can significantly influence the effectiveness of emergency response efforts. Mass notification systems are designed to send alerts instantly across multiple platforms, such as SMS, email, and social media, ensuring that all recipients receive the message as soon as possible.

Introducing Regroup: A Strategic Asset for 2024

Regroup stands out as a strategic asset for organizations looking to strengthen their BCP. With its robust capabilities in managing and distributing critical communications, Regroup facilitates a more coordinated response to emergencies and disruptions.

Streamlining Communication: Regroup simplifies the communication process during crises by providing a centralized platform for sending alerts and messages. This not only enhances the speed of communication but also ensures consistency in the information being disseminated.

Customizable Alert Systems: One of the key features of Regroup is its ability to tailor alerts and messages to specific groups or individuals. This customization ensures that each recipient receives relevant information, which is crucial for effective crisis management.

Integration into BCP Frameworks: Incorporating Regroup into an organization’s BCP framework can significantly improve its preparedness and response to emergencies.

By leveraging Regroup’s capabilities, businesses can ensure that their communication strategy is robust, responsive, and capable of handling the challenges of 2024 and beyond.

Looking Ahead: Preparing for a Dynamic 2024

As logistics and metallurgy sectors approach a year of significant transformation, the imperative becomes clear: to reassess, reinvent, and reinvigorate BCP strategies with a focus on sustainability, resilience, and growth.

The time to fortify your Business Continuity Planning is now!

With Regroup as your strategic partner, you can empower your organization with seamless communication and crisis management solutions. Take the first step towards resilience and growth by booking a quick demo today to discover how Regroup can transform your preparedness for the future.

Q1: What is business continuity planning and why is it crucial for logistics and metallurgy sectors? Business continuity planning (BCP) involves preparing organizations to maintain essential functions during and after a disaster. It’s crucial for minimizing disruptions in logistics and metallurgy, sectors highly sensitive to operational delays.

Q2: How have recent trends in the US logistics sector influenced BCP strategies? Recent trends, such as fluctuating FTL and LTL rates and increased e-commerce demands, underscore the need for robust BCP to navigate economic and market changes effectively.

Q3: What role do mass notification systems play in BCP? They ensure timely, effective communication during crises, a cornerstone of any BCP strategy, by alerting stakeholders of disruptions and recovery actions.

Q4: When should Regroup be introduced into a BCP strategy? Introduce Regroup after establishing your core BCP objectives to enhance your communication strategy, ensuring all parties are informed and can respond promptly to disruptions.

Q5: Can mass notification systems help with regulatory compliance in logistics and metallurgy? Yes, they can disseminate regulatory updates and compliance requirements swiftly to all relevant parties, aiding adherence and minimizing risk.

Q6: How does economic growth impact logistics and metallurgy sectors’ BCP? Economic growth can increase demand, straining resources. BCP helps manage this by planning for capacity and maintaining supply chain resilience.

Q7: How can technology optimize BCP in these sectors? Technology, particularly mass notification systems like Regroup, can automate and streamline communication for efficiency and effectiveness during disruptions.

Q8: What are some best practices for integrating Regroup into BCP for logistics and metallurgy? Start with a clear assessment of communication needs, ensure staff training on Regroup’s features, and regularly update your plan based on new insights.

Q9: How do mass notification systems support sustainability in logistics and metallurgy? They facilitate the coordination of green logistics practices, like optimizing routes for fuel efficiency and communicating sustainability initiatives.

Q10: In light of 2024 predictions, how should logistics and metallurgy sectors update their BCP? Consider the predicted market conditions, like FTL rate increases, and integrate flexible, responsive tools like Regroup for dynamic risk management.

Q11: How do mass notification systems like Regroup handle the complexity of global supply chains? They offer scalability and global reach, ensuring that messages are delivered across different regions and time zones, crucial for international operations.

Q12: How can businesses measure the effectiveness of their BCP involving mass notification systems? Through drills, response time analyses, stakeholder feedback, and reviewing the resolution of actual incidents, businesses can gauge and improve their BCP efficacy.

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Business continuity plan in the management and operations of hospitals: First experience to certify the PDTA processes with the requirements defined by ISO 22301:2019 in emergency medical services

Affiliations.

1 Unit of Quality and Risk Management, University-Hospital of Marche, Ancona, Italy. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8471-9965.
2 Unit of Quality and Risk Management, University-Hospital of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
3 Healthcare Medical Direction, University-Hospital of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
4 Consultek Group s.r.l, Fano, Italy.
5 General Director, University-Hospital of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
PMID: 38533699
DOI: 10.5055/jem.0791

Background: A business continuity plan (BCP) facilitates the performance of primary functions during emergencies or other situations that can disrupt normal operations. If risk management is done analytically, a business impact analysis (BIA), according to ISO 22301 certification, makes it possible to define the best strategy for supporting the company's assets and image, optimizing the operational efficiency of service recovery and redesigning spaces for health. Since 2015, our healthcare company has embarked on a certification process for all sectors and activities through the implementation and development of diagnostic and therapeutic paths for operational diagnos-tic-therapeutic-assistance pathways (PDTAs). PDTA processes are all certified by the ISO 9001:2015 management system hospital. Our hospital is the first healthcare company to have obtained ISO 22301:2019 certification concerning PDTA processes, offering patients the highest standards of quality and safety of care in emergency medical services.

Methods: The formal BCP process includes several steps prior to the creation of a BCP: create a BCP team, conduct a BIA, determine the continuity plan by using the results of the analyses, and conduct training and exercises to educate staff and improve the BCP.

Results: From the BIA analysis, the team identified the time-employee PDTAs in company paths under emergency and urgency: acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), TRAUMA, and STROKE, providing for a planning path that took advantage of the duration of approximately 12 months. This path included the creation of structural procedures, the redefinition and updating of the PDTA in the light of the BCP, the preparation of exercises aimed at guaranteeing the business continuity objectives, and, finally, the awareness of our stakeholders regarding its correct application.

Conclusions: With a business continuity management (BCM) system, companies take preventative measures to ensure they can start operations again quickly in an emergency. An exhaustive BIA in a hospital company reveals the effects when processes fail, how critical each process is for the company, and the amount of time required to get up and running again, thus providing the organization with important information for risk management. The measures for handling risks derived from this analysis are incorporated into a BCM system where the emergency plans are defined, too, so that business operations continue even in the event of an emergency.

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Risky business: 6 steps to assessing cyber risk for the enterprise

Risk is an unavoidable consequence of doing business in the digital age. These six steps for creating a risk assessment plan can help anticipate the danger.

With the explosive rise of digital information, the continued success of modern enterprises has become inextricably bound to the effective use and management of data. However new efficiency-driving technologies, global interconnectivity, and remote work have also introduced several significant and high-profile information risks.

The specter of risk is leaving organizations with no choice but to improve the overall management of various cyber risks. What follows is a step-by-step process (based on the Information Security Forum’s IRAM2 methodology) that cybersecurity and risk practitioners can leverage to assess and manage information risk.

Step 1: Scoping exercises

The objective of a scoping exercise is to provide a business-centric view of an identified risk. This involves achieving alignment and agreement between stakeholders on the business scope (intellectual property, brand or reputation, organizational performance) and the technological scope of the assessment (information architecture, user profiling, assessment of a technology or a service).

This exercise can help determine which party will be responsible for assessing the various risk domains and the mandate behind a particular risk assessment. For example, choosing who will handle the introduction of a new business service or technology or address management concerns about a particular area of the business.

Step 2: Business impact assessment (BIA)

A BIA is used to determine the potential business impact should any information asset or system have its confidentiality, availability, or integrity compromised. The first step in a BIA is to identify all relevant information assets, such as customer and financial data, and information used for the operation of services and systems, across all environments and across the entire information lifecycle (input, processing, transmission, storage).

Once assets are identified, a value (rank or priority) can be assigned to them. Then the extent of any potential security incident can be determined by comparing realistic scenarios comprising the most reasonable impact with worst-case scenarios for each asset.

Step 3: Threat profiling

This phase helps to identify and prioritize threats and understand how they can manifest. Threat profiling starts with the identification of potentially relevant threats through discussion with key stakeholders and analyzing available sources of threat intelligence (e.g., an internal threat intelligence team or external commercial feeds).

Once the threat landscape is built, each threat it contains should be profiled. Threats can be profiled based on two key risk factors: likelihood of initiation — the likelihood that a particular threat will initiate one or more threat events — and threat strength, or how effectively a particular threat can initiate or execute threat events.

Threats can also be further profiled by separating them into an overarching group: adversarial, accidental, or environmental.

Step 4: Vulnerability Assessment

Once threat profiling is completed, the next phase is to identify the degree to which information assets are vulnerable against each identified threat. A vulnerability assessment is used to examine the extent of the relevance of each key control as well as the performance and quality of its implementation.

Each vulnerability must be assessed and expressed in terms of its relative strength of controls. The strength of controls can be calculated based on the stakeholder rating for that control, along with supporting information such as control characteristics, performance, deficiencies, and documentation.

At the end of the assessment, the practitioner will have gained a solid understanding of which information assets are vulnerable against which threat event.

Step 5: Risk evaluation

By evaluating risks, organizations can map how likely threats are to succeed, what the worst-case business impact would be, and how these can fit into their overall risk management plan.

The first step is to choose the most relevant impact scenario for each risk. This means deciding between a realistic outcome, considering the threat’s strength, or a worst-case scenario.

Secondly, it’s crucial to identify existing or planned controls that might lessen the threat’s impact. Like other control assessments, judging how much these controls reduce the inherent impact is subjective. Here, the experience of the risk practitioner and key stakeholders plays a vital role.

Step 6: Risk treatment

This step explores various approaches to managing information risk:

Mitigation: To build stronger defenses, improve existing controls and implement new ones to lessen the impact of a potential attack.

Avoidance: Avoid or eliminate any activities that could trigger or lead to potential risk.

Transfer: Allow another party to shoulder some level of risk, for example, obtaining cyber insurance.

Acceptance: Acknowledge the possibility of the risk happening and its potential fallout, but take no further action based on the organization’s risk tolerance.

Risk treatment should be guided by an organization’s risk appetite. Evaluate each risk individually to determine whether it exceeds the organization’s risk tolerance. When all risk treatment options are clear, create a risk treatment plan. Follow through with executing the plan and monitoring the results to ensure that risk management efforts are successful.

Using the six steps of risk assessment

At the end of the sixth step, the risk assessment process is effectively complete. The practitioner has gained a better understanding of the assessed environment. This includes a clear picture of the relevant threats, the associated vulnerabilities, and the prioritized risks. A risk treatment plan has been developed and implemented to reduce risks to an acceptable level.

It’s important to remember that the world of information security is dynamic; threat events, vulnerabilities and their impacts on the business are fluid and evolving. Practitioners and stakeholders should consistently evaluate risks especially when the organization or the environment undergoes major changes or mitigation efforts.

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Why technology needs to be part of your risk management plan

Why a risk management plan is critical for your business

When your “to-do” list is full of things that feel immediate and concrete, planning for the unexpected may not be your top priority. But managing risks proactively can help avoid negative impacts to your business.

Put simply, a risk management plan helps your business become more resilient. It can help you protect your reputation, minimise losses and avoid wasting time reacting to issues without a clear plan.

What is a risk management plan?

A risk management plan details how you can manage any significant risks that could impact your business. To create one, you first need to identify potential risks. Then assess them to decide which are the most important to consider. And from there you can develop a clear plan to minimise or manage those risks.

There are multiple ways you can approach this. The government offers a range of tools to help businesses with risk management planning.

Identify business risks

It’s important to understand the different types of risks your business might face. It will vary business to business. Some of the areas you might consider include:

Workplace health and safety risks
Environmental risks
Security risks
Financial risks
Competitive risks

When exploring financial, legal, or regulatory risks, it’s critical to consider where you need professional help by engaging experts.

Technology and risk management

Many businesses use digital tools to perform critical tasks. From mobile phones to collaboration apps, cloud services, your website, EFTPOS solutions and many more. These tools rely on multiple layers of technology to operate – power, devices, network connectivity and applications that may operate from servers around the world.

As part of risk management planning, you should audit the technology you’re using and how you’re using it. You can then work through any risks you need to manage. Below we explore some things you could consider.

Business applications

What applications do you use and what business functions do they support? If there was an issue with any of these applications, how would it impact your business?

Some business apps may work across multiple devices or offer functionality while offline. This means you and your team may have some flexibility to switch devices or perform some activities even if you’re not connected to a network.

Make sure you set up applications on all relevant devices and you’re clear on any important offline features. This could be helpful in reducing downtime, by refocusing attention to offline activities.

By thinking about these areas before an issue arises, you can develop an action plan. This will let you react more quickly should a disruption occur.

Connectivity

You may have business applications that rely on an internet connection to function. Consider how you connect to the internet and any risks associated with potential network disruptions.

Having more than one way to connect to the internet gives you an alternative if your primary connection is disrupted. So, you might want to consider how to enable your business apps on a range of devices so you can connect via fixed or mobile network options if needed. This can help boost the resilience of your business operations and offer you more flexibility in where and how you work.

Cyber security

Risks to business and customer data are growing as cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated. Take time to understand threats such as business email compromise .

There are a range of steps you can take to help protect your business from cyber criminals. They include:

Staying aware of the latest cyber security trends
Putting in place steps to get the basics of cyber security right
Developing a cyber secure mindset
Training your staff via programs like Cyber Wardens
Making sure you understand what to do if you're targeted by cyber crime

Think about where and how you use technology

Creating a safe workplace for you, your employees and your customers is also part of risk management planning. This can help minimise injuries and illness.

The shift to remote or hybrid working models has changed the meaning of ‘workplace’ for some businesses. And things are still evolving for many businesses.

Consider how to make hybrid working work for you, your staff and your customers . As part of this, think about your occupational health and safety obligations with respect to remote workers. It’s important to seek specialist advice if you need to.

Digitisation as part of your business continuity plan

The use of new digital technologies can also help you manage certain risks to your business. The Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman highlights how small and family businesses can get more prepared, by digitising critical information.

Implementing the right backup strategy for your data will help ensure you can access it when and where you need to. Choosing solutions with security features built in, can also help you minimise the risks of data breaches.

A risk management plan can help ensure your business future

Thinking about risks to your business proactively and systematically will help you develop a strong risk management plan. Consider how the technology you use might create risks, but also how it can help you minimise risks.

Building digital skills or engaging experts can help you enhance how you manage risks associated with technology and how you use technology to build a resilient business. Involve trusted partners who can help you think about risk management and disaster planning .

A clear action plan for dealing with the risks most likely to impact your business will help give you peace of mind. You’ll be able to react more quickly, should something go wrong and help protect your business into the future.

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Business Continuity and Risk Management by Wentz Wu, ISSAP, ISSEP
Building a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
Where Does a Business Continuity Plan Fit with Emergencies
Free Business Continuity Plan Templates
Managing risk and business continuity
What Exactly is BCM?

VIDEO

Business Continuity Planning BCP
Risk Management and Business Continuity Strategies with Gloria Nyaboke
Leadership in the Post-COVID Era
Task 10 of the Level 7 NVQ Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity in the Cloud
Business Impact Analysis and Risk Assessment l Tips and Suggestions

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Enterprise risk management and business continuity management ...
The ERM and BCM programs report to the same risk committee and/or board of directors. Organizations that integrate enterprise risk management (ERM) into their strategic planning efforts have found that business continuity management (BCM) enhances both their value creation objectives and their protection objectives.
Complete Guide to Business Continuity and Risk Management.
Business continuity coordinators should work closely with all departments within the company to understand their unique processes and potential risks that could arise in case of a disaster or emergency. Once coordinators understand those risks, they should outline solutions and procedures to mitigate risk in the business continuity plan.
What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and How Does It Work?
Business Continuity Planning - BCP: The business continuity planning (BCP) is the creation of a strategy through the recognition of threats and risks facing a company, with an eye to ensure that ...
Understanding Risk Management and Business Continuity Plans
Risk Management is primarily a strategic undertaking. It is focused on understanding and planning for a variety of hypothetical situations that could harm people, facilities, or data. A Business Continuity plan is tactical thinking. A business continuity plan focuses on the actual steps an organization can take after a business disruption ...
All about Business Continuity Planning
A business continuity plan includes guidelines and procedures to guide a business through disruption. The efforts to create a plan are the same for large or small organizations. A simple plan is better than no plan. The basic steps for writing a business continuity plan are as follows: Create a governance team.
Firm Business Continuity Planning and Risk Mitigation Strategies
This is the third article of a risk management series and focuses on business continuity planning and risk mitigation strategies. The first article Eight Steps to Establish a Firm Risk Management Program covered the benefits and steps of establishing risk management program and the second Ten Steps to Successful Firm Risk Management highlighted 10 key steps for successful risk management.
ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Made Easy
Use this template to create a business continuity plan. Describe the results of your risk analysis and business impact analysis, detail your disaster recovery and continuity procedures, and list key contacts and important assets. ... ISO 22317- Societal security — Business continuity management systems — Guidelines for business impact ...
How to Write a Business Continuity Plan
Here is an example of a BCP format: Business Name: Record the business name, which usually appears on the title page. Date: The day the BCP is completed and signed off. Purpose and Scope: This section describes the reason for and span of the plan. Business Impact Analysis: Add the results of the BIA to your plan.
ISO 22301:2019
ISO 22301 is the international standard for Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS). It provides a framework for organizations to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and continually improve a documented management system to protect against, reduce the likelihood of, and ensure recovery from disruptive incidents.
PDF Crisis management and business continuity guide
the wider risk management of the business. Risk Assessment quantifying what matters most through risk assessment techniques. Planning for the worst and protecting what's most vulnerable. Testing & Exercising putting incident response capabilities to the test through engaging and interactive live and table top scenario exercises.
Enterprise Risk Management vs. Business Continuity Management: What's
Due to the preventive nature of ERM programs, enterprise risk management is a largely strategic undertaking—it's focused on understanding and planning for hypothetical situations. Business continuity management, on the other hand, is much more tactical—it's focused on the actual way that an organization should act when a business ...
Business Continuity Planning and Risk Management
The cornerstone of risk management is identifying all possible risk scenarios. Knowing what kind of risk exists sets a foundation for business continuity planning. Risk can come from inside or outside an organization, and falls within four main areas: Financial Risk - The most apparent threat to a business is financial risk.
ISO
A free publication about ISO 22301, Security and resilience - Business continuity management systems - Requirements, the International Standard for implementing and maintaining effective business continuity plans, systems and processes.
Business Continuity Management (BCM) Toolkit
Business continuity planning and management lagged even before COVID-19. Only 38% of organizations were implementing lessons learned from previous crises to improve risk management capabilities. ERM leaders must prioritize business continuity risk management to better protect their organizations from future events.
Integration of Business Continuity and Enterprise Risk Management: A Guide
The link between business continuity and risk management lies in their shared goal of safeguarding an organization's operations from disruption. Risk management identifies, assesses, and prioritizes potential threats to an organization's assets or operations. It then develops strategies to mitigate these risks.
Business Continuity Planning Solutions: PwC
PwC's business continuity planning solutions will help you develop operational resilience and business continuity that is scalable and that enables your company to prioritize investments. Some of our solutions include: BCP program assessment and design. Business impact analysis and interruption risk assessment.
Business continuity and risk management
A business continuity plan details processes and procedures that will help keep operations up and running or restore them as quickly as possible in the event of a major disaster. Here's a look at important business continuity planning steps for organizations to take as they build their risk management and business continuity strategies.
ISO 22301:2019(en), Security and resilience ? Business continuity
Introduction. 0.1 General. This document specifies the structure and requirements for implementing and maintaining a business continuity management system (BCMS) that develops business continuity appropriate to the amount and type of impact that the organization may or may not accept following a disruption.
Relationship Between Business Continuity And Risk Management
The relationship between business continuity and risk management often gets changed in agreement with the organization's perspective. Some enterprises take business continuity as a sub-domain of risk management, while others put these two concepts in two different segments. During the COVID-19 outbreak, people are focusing on overall ...
What is business continuity risk?
Here's a four-step guide to develop a business continuity plan and mitigate business continuity risk: Four Steps to Create Business Continuity Plan 1. Scope and Teamwork. The first step involves putting together a team for implementing a business continuity plan. This step should also establish management buy-in and commitment to the BCP process.
Unpacking Risk Assessment: Business Continuity Plan ...
Risk assessment is a crucial component of business continuity planning, as it helps organizations identify potential risks, evaluate their likelihood and potential impact, and develop strategies to prevent or mitigate them. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the importance of risk assessment in business continuity planning.
Risk Management and Business Continuity: Improving Business Resiliency
The combination of risk management and business continuity provides the level of resiliency that most organizations must achieve in light of the uncertainty that exists today. The blend will reduce uncertainty and promote a more stable operating environment. Preparing for a Pandemic: Review Business Continuity Plans Amid Coronavirus Outbreak.
What is business continuity and why is it important?
Business continuity management software is also an option. Software -- either on premises or cloud-based -- helps conduct BIAs, create and update plans and pinpoint areas of risk. Business continuity is an evolving process. As such, an organization's business continuity plan shouldn't just sit on a shelf.
Strategies for 2024 Logistics: Business Continuity Planning
The Pillar of Resilience: Business Continuity Planning. The recent insights suggest a multi-faceted approach to BCP, focusing on analysis, resilience, risk management, and adapting to the evolving work environment and economic conditions. Performing a Business Impact Analysis. A fundamental step in BCP is conducting a business impact analysis ...
Business continuity plan in the management and operations of hospitals
Background: A business continuity plan (BCP) facilitates the performance of primary functions during emergencies or other situations that can disrupt normal operations. If risk management is done analytically, a business impact analysis (BIA), according to ISO 22301 certification, makes it possible to define the best strategy for supporting the company's assets and image, optimizing the ...
Risky business: 6 steps to assessing cyber risk for the enterprise
Business Business IT Alignment Risk Management Risk is an unavoidable consequence of doing business in the digital age. These six steps for creating a risk assessment plan can help anticipate the ...
Why technology needs to be part of your risk management plan
Why a risk management plan is critical for your business. When your "to-do" list is full of things that feel immediate and concrete, planning for the unexpected may not be your top priority. But managing risks proactively can help avoid negative impacts to your business. Put simply, a risk management plan helps your business become more ...