Business Continuity Management
Introduction
Business Continuity relates to the ability of your organisation’s business as a whole to continue operating in the event of an unscheduled interruption. It does not just relate to the information technology infrastructure of your organisation. Disaster Recovery is not Business Continuity; it is simply a component of Business Continuity.
It is critical to the success of any organisation that it has a detailed plan outlining how it will continue to operate its business and mitigate its risk in the event of an unscheduled interruption. How well this plan is developed will determine the degree to which your organisation can continue to operate. A poorly prepared plan or one that has not been adequately tested can lead to greater loss of revenue. It is, therefore, vitally important that your organisation create such a plan to ensure you can continue to function where such an interruption occurs. This process is called Business Continuity Management (BCM).
There are many different types of interruption, but they normally fall into one of three categories:
- Natural, such as fire, flooding and winds
- Technical, such as computer system failure, gas leaks or electrical power failure
- Human, such as epidemic, computer crime and human error
Organisations need to spend more time preparing for unscheduled interruptions to their business, particularly when:
- Core business processes rely on technology
Organisations invariably underestimate the recovery requirements to restore core services using computer-based systems
- The cost of a failure is high
The cost of stopping business for a time can be very high, particularly when both short-term impacts and long-term business confidence are taken into account
- Recovering core processes off-site isn’t a practical option
Some interruptions will make the business location unusable for a protracted period. A lack of planning could effectively stop the business
- The recovery process hasn’t been adequately tested
Everyone may believe that they know what to do in the event of an interruption. However, until your plan has been tested you may not realise that key operational aspects have been overlooked
How We Will Help You
The size of your organisation and the business you are in will determine where your business needs to focus in the development of its plan. Strategic Consulting Team’s BCM process will work with you to review the critical business functions of your organisation, the potential threats it may be exposed to and its current infrastructure, both from a physical and technical perspective. We will then develop a plan that:-
- Meets the business objectives of your organisation
- Will ensure your business is able to continue in the event of an interruption
A major component of your plan will focus on procedures, checklists and communications plans in the event of an interruption. Achieving the objectives of your Business Continuity Management programme may require your organisation to undertake changes to various areas of your business. These may include changes to your existing business processes, physical infrastructure and communications channels.
Successful businesses plan for success. Long-term businesses also plan for failure. |
