Business Continuity Plan

In todays economy, organizations are faced with so many obstacles that could permanently alter the way they conduct business or remain relevant upon their competition. In addition to keeping up with the latest technology, new trends among their specific business industry, organizations need to have a plan of action in place if an event of any nature interrupts the normal flow of business. Disaster recovery and business continuity planning are two key processes that allow organizations to continue normal business functions in the event of an interruption. When business is disrupted, it can cost an organization a lot of money. Potential lost revenues, in addition to extra expenses, means a reduction in profits. Even though insurance is
In order to create an effective Business Continuity Plan, a Business Impact Analysis should be performed. A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a tool used by the organizations when developing Business Continuity Plans (BCP). The purpose of a business impact analysis is to collect information in an effort to understand the importance of the different functions of the organization and which ones are critical in maintaining normal business operations. It serves as the foundation for which an effective BCP can be created and implemented. A business impact analysis will identify and quantify business related impacts during a loss, disruption, or interruption of processes within an organization. Having an effective business continuity plan gives an organization the ability to recover its operations under any given circumstance. The data collected in a business impact analysis can be utilized as supporting data to define an appropriate budget for a business continuity budget. Having a Business Continuity plan is a proactive way of avoiding needless downtime due to a disaster, security breach, or human error. A business operating without a business continuity plan could suffer long-term
Even though there are several common critical business functions that exist in every organization, regardless of its business industry, there are also a few that are industry specific. One example of a critical business function of a midsize organization would be its Human Resources department. In most companies the human resources department is the go-to department in the event of a disaster or interruption of normal business operations. Human Resources is the informational hub of a company and it is the department best position with providing guidance to company personal in any given situation. Facilities would be another critical business function of a midsize company. Most midsize organizations have several different physical locations. If, for some reason, a facility is not accessible or theres a power outage, several daily business operations could be interrupted. Another example of a critical business function of a midsize organization is their Information Technology infrastructure. In todays world, businesses reply heavily on the IT infrastructure they have in place. Some form of technology is used to conduct business with partners, communicate with customers