BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING
A business continuity plan specifies which products or services are deemed to be critical to the operation of the business and outlines what steps will be taken to ensure that they will be provided in the event of an emergency or other disruption.
It helps to ensure that a business has the resources and information needed to deal with the emergencies.
It helps to ensure that a business has the resources and information needed to deal with the emergencies.
Getting Started
- The Board of Directors, Senior management or an assigned committee need to begin by undertaking a Business Impact Analysis
- Based on the mandate and/or mission statement of the organization and any applicable legal requirements, the critical services or products need to be ranked by priority for continuous delivery
- As well, internal and external impacts of the disruptions should be identified in this analysis
Next Step:
- Once the Business Impact Analysis has been completed, a Business Continuity Plan should be prepared, outlining the ways and means to continue to provide these critical products or services
- In addition, practical measures and arrangements should be made in advance to promote business continuity
Maintaining & Reviewing Your Plan:
- Provide regular training to employees in business continuity practices
- Regularly test the Plan, or parts of it
- Review, maintain and update the Plan as needed