BUSINESS CONTINUITY

What is Business Continuity?

A business continuity plan outlines how your organization will maintain operations after a disaster has struck. To put it simply, business continuity refers to the actions that you take to ensure that your business continues to function for many years to come.

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 22300), business continuity refers to your organization’s ability to deliver your product and service offerings in a timely manner following the disruption. As part of ISO 22300, ensuring business continuity is also dependent on the business owner taking on the manager’s role to make sure the business continues regardless of obstacles.

What is the purpose of a Business Continuity Plan?

The purpose of a business continuity plan (BCP) is to manage risks to prevent service interruptions and re-establish functionality as quickly and smoothly as possible for your organization. Essentially, this plan is meant to outline possible events that cannot be predicted, such as natural disasters, cyber attacks, economic declines, or outbreaks of disease. The purpose of a business continuity plan is to answer the question of whether your business is prepared for potential disasters.

Having a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) will enhance your organization’s chances of surviving emergencies such as disasters and unforeseen events. A BCP should be outlined at the very beginning of your business if you want it to continue to operate profitably. In addition to enhancing your relationship with your employees, stakeholders, and shareholders, having a business continuity plan in your organization is a vital aspect.

Your knowledge about how to respond to disasters will make these groups feel secure. Employees will feel confident that they will keep their jobs even in the face of disaster. Your customers and other stakeholders in your business will know you will continue to provide your product or service.

How to write a business continuity plan?

1.Define the scope and budget:

In this stage, you need to think about the budget you will have if an interruption or disaster occurs within your organisation, and spread it out accordingly. Costs for training employees on what to do in the event of an emergency, services that may need to be used in a disaster, and processes that will help the plan to be implemented may be included.

2. Identify the team responsible for business continuity:

Determine the key roles, responsibilities, and functions of each member of your team and use them to determine who should be responsible for what in your BCP. Clearly defining who is responsible for what and who has authority over other staff will prevent confusion when the plan must be implemented.

Here are some key roles:

Executive manager or BCP Senior – This person serves as the committee’s highest executive, communicating directly with the board of directors and people with less management responsibilities.

Program Coordinator (Team Leader) – This person is in charge of budgeting, implementing, and monitoring the plan. Additionally, this employee will train others on how to act when the BCP is in use.

Information Officer – This person has access to the data that can be used in the BCP, and is responsible for ensuring that the BCP continues to operate.

3. Identify the core business areas:

It is crucial to identify the key business areas in an organization as these are the elements that make it run smoothly.

4. Define the dependencies between the different business areas and functions:

The next step is to determine which parts of the business are dependent on each other to function well.

5. Determine the maximum downtime:

For steps to be taken to get the most crucial tasks or areas of the business up and running, it is necessary to prioritize specific tasks and make everyone aware of them.

6. Then document it:

Most of the time will be spent making drafts and checking them with the rest of the team so everyone agrees on what is being done will be beneficial to the organization.

7. Implement the plan and test it:

In this step, your plan will be put into action as though there is a real disruption within your organization. During this stage, you will have the opportunity to make changes to the BCP before it is finalized.

8. Practice adjusting and improving the plan:

Adjustments to the BCP need to be made frequently. To ensure that the plan will be effective, you should re-test it if new resources are received that will affect it. The adjustments must also consider new resources and changes in roles and responsibilities within the organization