A business continuity plan (BCP) is your first line of defense against any challenge that threatens the core functionalities of your organization’s operations. When disaster strikes, your BCP should be there to reduce the time it takes to get things back up and running as usual again – as quickly as possible. Show
If you’re not able to react quickly to these types of incidents, your company could suffer physical harm, monetary losses, reputational damage, data integrity loss, litigation and much more. Designing a BCP can feel overwhelming, as it’s such a critical document; where should you start? Who should be involved in the process? How should it be disseminated? These are all questions we’ll answer in this guide, including what is typically included in a BCP. Bonus Material: Free BCP Checklist How to Create a Business Continuity PlanIt’s important to actively invest time and energy into preparing for any potential risk before a potential event of a disaster so that if or when it does, your BCP directs you to the necessary resources to return to business as usual. That’s why creating and developing your BCP needs to involve a great deal of strategy and intention. Taking a risk-based approach is the best way to go about developing your business continuity plan and avoid the need to use implement a disaster recovery plan. Through a risk-based approach, you follow the following steps: identify, assess, mitigate, monitor, connect and report. Here’s how to apply each of these steps during the lifecycle of your BCP:
What Should my Business Continuity Plan Include?Your BCP should include:
Examples of Potential Unforeseen RisksNaturally, your BCP will include risks that you deem a threat to your business. It can be difficult to begin writing that list when you’re not sure exactly what should be on it. In Risk Management, it’s important to consider potential risks that others may not have ever predicted to become reality (many people today say they never imagined in their lifetime that they would experience a pandemic). Here is a list of potential unforeseen risks that pose a threat to business continuity:
BCP Best PracticesLike we mentioned earlier in this guide, it’s important to take a risk-based approach when creating your BCP. This will help you better preserve your business reputation, build up customer confidence and allow you to gain a competitive advantage. It will also ensure that you can avoid situations of disaster recovery. (Read our full guide on Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery) To receive these benefits, it’s best practice to leverage robust business continuity planning software. This enables you to inherently take a risk-based approach and demonstrates to customers and stakeholders that you are prioritizing business continuity planning. This is especially true today amidst our ever-evolving disruptive business environment and the See-Through Economy. ConclusionYour business continuity plan will be different from anyone else’s, which is why it’s important to dedicate time and resources to creating one that fits your unique needs and risk factors. Working with a professional risk consultant is just one added benefit that’s included with your partnership with LogicManager. With their help, you’ll be able to better leverage the tools and resources included in our integrated ERM software, as well as our solution package for business continuity development. FREE DOWNLOAD: BCP ChecklistDownload our free BCP checklist to ensure that you are on the right track with your business continuity planning. What are the 5 components of a business continuity plan?In order to achieve this, every business continuity plan needs to incorporate five key elements.. Risks and potential business impact. ... . Planning an effective response. ... . Roles and responsibilities. ... . Communication. ... . Testing and training.. What should a business continuity plan include?Your BCP should include:. An analysis of all critical functions within your business. ... . A prioritized list of risks that pose a severe or even catastrophic threat to your business. ... . A list of specific strategies (or mitigation activities) that help protect the critical components you identified earlier in the BCP.. How many sections is the BCP?There are three major sections to the planning process: Business prioritization: Identify various risks, threats and vulnerabilities, and establish priorities.
What are the 3 elements of business continuity?A business continuity plan has three key elements: Resilience, recovery and contingency. An organization can increase resilience by designing critical functions and infrastructures with various disaster possibilities in mind; this can include staffing rotations, data redundancy and maintaining a surplus of capacity.
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