key elements of a business continuity plan

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7 Elements and Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Data breaches, natural disasters, and other business disruptions can significantly impact your business, but they don’t have to. By understanding and applying the key elements of a business continuity plan (BCP), you can reduce the threat of disasters by guaranteeing a quick recovery.

A BCP serves as an emergency response plan that is put in place to ensure your business processes are maintained around the clock – even when an unexpected disaster occurs.

However, creating a complete business continuity plan requires specialized IT knowledge. With more than 90% of enterprises already completed their digital transformation, IT expertise has become increasingly integral to every possible business disaster.

At the same time, it’s also necessary to possess a thorough understanding of the essential elements of a business continuity plan. Without one, businesses are ill-equipped to face disasters – which is a startling fact given that an estimated 48% of small businesses don’t have a BCP in place.

In this article, we’ll explore what should be included in a business continuity plan, and discuss how you can create a business continuity plan of your own.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – The Differences

While similar (and often used interchangeably), DRPs and BCPs differ greatly from each other.

The main difference between the two is that a DRP helps businesses resume IT access post-disaster, while a BCP helps businesses remain operational.

What are the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan?

Now that you understand the difference between disaster recovery and business continuity, let’s take a closer look at some of the key elements of a business continuity plan.

1. A Dependable Business Continuity Team

When disaster strikes, your team can’t afford to waste any time determining who is responsible for getting things back on track.

Your business continuity team should consist of key personnel who are not only trained to respond to crises, but who also participate throughout the disaster recovery and business continuity planning and testing stages.

These key employees should include personnel at all levels of your company, including local branches.

2. Contact Information

Once your business continuity team is assembled, another key component is making sure you’re able to communicate essential information to all affected parties immediately with a list of contact information that includes:

Stakeholders
Backup operators
Third-party vendors
Anyone else crucial to your BCP
BCP team members (and their roles)

3. An Effective Crisis Communications Plan

Don’t let the outside world hear about your disaster from someone else first. Get ahead of a potential fallout with an effective crisis communications plan that includes templated social media posts and press releases that you can tailor to deal with any situation.

4. An In-Depth Risk Assessment

In order to plan for potential risks, you must first determine what those risks are. A risk assessment, another key component of a business continuity plan, is the process through which you identify risks (e.g., natural disasters, cyber attacks, flooding, etc.) and vulnerabilities (e.g., people, property, reputation, etc.).

5. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Perhaps the most vital component of a business continuity plan, the BIA identifies the impact that disruption would have on all aspects of the business.

This should include potential legal, financial and reputational consequences of disasters, and should outline what you require (including an estimated time) to recover.

6. A Detailed Response Plan

Once you’ve completed the aforementioned key components of your business continuity plan, it’s time to create the plan itself.

As one of the most important elements of a business continuity plan, your response should be exhaustive and take into account every risk, vulnerability and impact you’ve identified.

You’ll also need to rank your risks based on likelihood and vulnerabilities based on importance, and determine which impacts would be most damaging.

Based on this, you can decide on the strategies you’ll use to both respond to disasters, and prevent them (e.g., regular data backup). This is a process that your team shouldn’t take lightly, and one that you likely can’t complete without help from your in-house IT team or experienced managed services provider.

7. Testing Your Business Continuity Plan

Even the most expertly designed business continuity plan components can become meaningless if they’re not kept up-to-date through regular testing.

Effective testing ensures that your plan fits your current needs, based on any changes to your IT infrastructure, business processes, etc.

This element should include regular reviews (and, as necessary, updates) and simulations. A solid MSP will spearhead the testing for you, and guarantee that you’re always prepared for the worst.

Improve Your Business Continuity Plan Components With TAG

Understanding the elements of a business continuity plan is important for every business leader, but familiarity alone is not enough to protect your company.

If your business is trying to create a business continuity plan, or needs assistance with updating your existing one, we can help.

At Technology Advisory Group, our experts have helped companies across Rhode Island and New England mitigate business disruptions by helping them understand the key elements of a business continuity plan to improve their resilience and emergency response.

For more information about how we can help you develop and implement a plan of your own, contact us today to schedule a consultation with our business continuity specialists.

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The Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan

You have a great disaster recovery (DR) plan , and Zerto has helped simplify that even more by allowing your IT organization to consolidate multiple point products with a single, simple, and scalable solution. You have freed up valuable time for your IT operations teams to deliver more innovation as your business transforms. You have adopted the cloud for multiple applications – maybe you’ve moved away from the data center management business and are fully capable of DR to the public cloud – but has your business continuity plan (BCP) evolved alongside your DR plan to ensure holistic success in the event of an unplanned disruption? Even if you can have all those workloads recovered in the cloud or on-premises within minutes, the business operations side needs to be ready to shift in order to mitigate the downtime.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

According to ISO 22301, a business continuity plan is defined as “documented procedures that guide organizations to R espond, R ecover, R esume, and R estore to a pre-defined level of operations following disruption.” Disaster recovery is a subset of the overall BCP because, without your data, you are at the mercy of whatever disruption found its way into your datacenter. At Zerto, we create software that, at its core, delivers industry-leading recovery point objectives (RPOs) and recovery time objectives (RTOs) , minimizing data loss and disruption time. We also go the extra mile and provide your business with orchestration, automation, and visibility – to help you meet the “ four R’s ” above and bridge the gap between disaster recovery and business continuity .

Having a business continuity plan in place is important because once IT has recovered the downed systems, the team responsible for executing the BCP must initiate their plan to bring operations back up as quickly as possible. Every minute counts. For every minute the business is down, there is revenue loss, brand impact, dissatisfied customers, lost productivity, and much more. So, what exactly is involved in a business continuity plan?

6 Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan

In the previous section, I mentioned that communication during a disruption is one vital aspect of a sound business continuity plan. Before a disaster was declared, there would have been key criteria and triggers before initiating the plan, so we’re off to a good start! Let’s take a closer look at several other critical components of a business continuity plan necessary for successful recovery in the event of an unplanned disruption.

Contact Information and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

The first component of a business continuity plan is contact information along with SLAs. You will need to identify the following:

Stakeholders
Key personnel
Backup site operators
Providers (equipment, services)
Emergency responders
Third-party vendors
Facilities managers
Incident response team(s)
Successors in case key personnel are unavailable or become overwhelmed
Additional critical third-party personnel

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

A business impact analysis (BIA) will help you identify and predict business disruption consequences and enable you to gather information to develop recovery strategies. Here are some examples of what may be covered in a business impact analysis:

An understanding of the changes introduced during unplanned disruption
Legal or regulatory repercussions of unplanned disruption
Inventory of all business units required for continuity of operations
Key personnel as well as staff required to support that personnel
Pre/post-disruption dependencies
Validation of test plan
Ranking of priorities & order of operations
Revenue loss
Customer service
Brand/reputation damage
Identify acceptable RTO
Identify an acceptable amount of data loss RPO to minimize the overall impact on the business
Recovery strategy

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is the process of identifying, understanding and evaluating the potential risks to all aspects of an organization’s operations. Here are some examples:

Hazard Identification – Probability and Magnitude

Natural Disasters
Utility Outage
Cyber Attack

Assets at Risk – Vulnerability Assessment

Property (buildings, critical I=infrastructure)
Supply chain
Systems/equipment
Business operations
Regulatory and contractual obligations
Environment

Impact Analysis

Property damage
Business interruption
Loss of customers
Financial loss
Environmental contamination
Fines and penalties

Identify Critical Functions

Identification of critical functions will reveal what processes are critical to maintaining and running a business in the event of an unplanned disruption. You want to identify your business critical priorities and focus recovery efforts there first. These include but are not limited to:

Payroll and time tracking
Revenue operations
Physical security
Information security
Core business functions
Data protection after recovery
Identity & access management

Communications

When an unplanned disruption occurs, communication with employees, shareholders, users, customers, and key personnel is critical. Human resource professionals can play a crucial role in ensuring consistent and timely communication between the organizational recovery efforts and staff. When customers are involved, social media has become a vital tool to provide timely updates, as many users turn to social media when incidents arise.

What is your crisis communication strategy?
Communication during an event is key to orchestrate personnel, providers, and third-party vendors if required.

Having a plan is one thing, but testing and practicing it is imperative. Having an inadequate plan is about as good as not having a plan at all. It is vital to develop a strategy to routinely test , and test often, to identify gaps in your plan and anticipate any changes along the way.

Having a working test plan will help you:

Identify gaps or weaknesses in your BCP
Evaluate the organization’s response to different types of disruptive events
Improve systems and processes based on your test results
Confirm that your continuity objectives can be successfully executed against and met
Update your plan along the way
Document lessons learned

In conclusion

We understand that unplanned disruptions do not just affect IT operations. They have a domino effect on your entire business! As digital transformation is in full gear, your reliance on technology to remain visible to the world steadily increases. Currently, we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic; the Atlantic hurricane season is just kicking off, wildfire season is on the horizon, and cyber-attacks are steadily increasing. Is your business prepared? We need to be more proactive than ever when it comes to DR and BCP; in fact, the two strategies should overlap, and both teams on the field should be playing together toward a common goal – resilience .

Learn more key considerations and where modern IT enterprises are heading in the IDC report, “The State of Data Protection and Disaster Recovery Readiness: 2022” .

key elements of a business continuity plan

Gene Torres is a Technology Evangelist at Zerto with 21 years of experience as an IT Professional focusing on data center virtualization and resilience. Prior to Zerto, Gene was a Solutions Engineer before advancing to Enterprise Architect. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his wife, Rhea, and 3 daughters. He maintains his own technology-focused blog as an active vExpert and enjoys gaming, barbecue, and spending time outdoors.

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What does a business continuity plan include? 5 key elements

The COVID-19 crisis has forced businesses to tackle a multitude of challenges over the past few months, but one of the most important involves the business continuity (BC) plan. Many companies learned too late that their plans were inadequate, lacking interoperability with other critical plans for crisis management, disaster recovery, and pandemic readiness.

Many business contnuity plans are either too high-level to offer any real actionable detail or consist of content that is out of date. In other instances, plans place too much emphasis on short-term disturbances and forsake long-lasting disruptions. Many also gloss over pre-event preparations and work acceleration strategies.

The pandemic has reset expectations. While CIOs have a vested interest in the effectiveness of BC plans – after all, they ensure essential activities can withstand a variety of disruptions to keep the business running as IT reinstates services after an incident – resilience should be a company-wide priority.

[ Also read: Digital transformation: Why data leaders must play offense during COVID-19 . ]

1. Build your business continuity plan foundation

As you reimagine your entire business resilience program, here’s what your BC plans should include. Effective BC plans start with the following five essential framework elements:

Objectives: What will the plan cover, and how does it fit into a larger organizational response to disruption?
Activation procedure: What sets the BC plan in motion? Who is involved, and what resources — i.e., backups, workplace recovery facilities, etc. — are available?
Priorities: How will you communicate with staff, vendors, customers, and others? What are the most business-critical applications and systems that you need to focus on reviving?
Assumptions and limitations: You can’t foresee every disruption, but you can detail limitations in your plan to allow for effective decision-making. Identify limitations in the extent, duration, and impact of your plan.
Standing down procedures: Determine your criteria for saying an incident is closed and how to extract lessons learned from the experience. This section can also include an appendix of relevant resources, from templates like action logs to meeting agendas.

Within this framework, there’s a lot of room to customize for your size, maturity, compliance requirements, and other factors. While every organization’s BC plan approach will be unique, it’s important to consider the following aspects when designing your plan.

2. Develop response strategies if key resources are unavailable

Effective BC plans must include well-defined strategies and actions for responding in the event that key resources become unavailable. These could include:

Third-party services
IT services

You need to have planned business responses for each of these disruption scenarios, and they must be at the individual resource level. Generic statements that convey the “what’s” without the “how’s” aren’t helpful. For example, if your inventory management system is unavailable, how will you continue your receiving activity? Be specific in your plans.

IT must be aware of the part it plays in enabling disruption response strategies. For example, remote working is one possible business response for workplace unavailability. In that event, IT might be tasked with upgrading your company’s virtual meeting service and expanding the IT help desk staff.

[ Read also: LogMeIn CIO: This is IT's time to shine on business continuity and Moving from COVID-19 crisis leadership to strategic leadership . ]

However, in a workforce unavailability scenario, your solution might be to transition work to personnel in another geography. In this case, IT’s response might be to adjust network configuration in anticipation of increased volumes from a network node.

BC planning is also essential within IT, which relies on people, workplaces, equipment, third-party services, supporting systems, and data. Put comprehensive BC plans in place for key IT activities where ongoing service levels are of paramount importance. This includes:

Network operations centers
Information security operations centers
IT help desks
Disaster recovery teams

3. Work out timing for each response strategy

Timing is critical.

Determine the anticipated time to implement each of your defined response strategies, as well as how long each strategy can remain effective.

For some strategy options, the goal should be quick implementation times. For others, focus on ensuring the response strategies will be effective for sustained timeframes – ideally three to six months or longer.

Let's look at two more important elements:

Business Continuity Simplified

By Andy Marker | December 17, 2018 (updated October 24, 2021)

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Unexpected work interruptions can cripple a business and cause millions of dollars in expenses and lost business. Learn about the importance of business continuity planning and management from experts.

In this article, you’ll learn the definition of a business continuity plan and the primary goal of business continuity planning . Additionally, you’ll learn the steps involved in business continuity planning and about the business continuity lifecycle .

What Is Business Continuity Management?

In business continuity management (BCM) , a company identifies potential threats to its activities and the threat impact. The company then develops plans to respond to those threats and continue activities through any crisis.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) describes how a business will continue to run during and after a crisis event. The BCP details guidelines, procedures, and work instructions to aid continuity.

To learn more about writing a plan, see our how-to guide to writing a business continuity plan .

What Is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity planning (BCP) refers to the work a company does to create a plan and system to deal with risks. Thorough planning seeks to prevent problems and ensure business processes continue during and after a crisis.

Business continuity planning ensures that the company deals with disruptions quickly, and minimizes the impact on operations. Business continuity planning is also called business resumption planning and continuous service delivery assurance (CSDA) .

What Is the Primary Goal of Business Continuity Planning?

The main goal of business continuity planning is to support key company activities during a crisis. Planning ensures a company can run with limited resources or restricted access to buildings. Continuity planning also aims to minimize revenue or reputation losses.

A business continuity plan should outline several key things that an organization needs to do to prepare for potential disruptions to its activities, including the following:

Recognize potential threats to a company.
Assess potential impacts on the company’s daily activities.
Provide a way to reduce these potential problems, and establish a structure that allows key company functions to continue throughout and after the event.
Identify the resources the organization needs to continue operating, such as staffing, equipment, and alternative locations.

Business Continuity Planning Steps

A business continuity plan includes guidelines and procedures to guide a business through disruption. The efforts to create a plan are the same for large or small organizations. A simple plan is better than no plan.

The basic steps for writing a business continuity plan are as follows:

Create a governance team.
Complete your business impact analysis (BIA) and risk assessment documents.
Document your plan. Remember to include detailed guidelines and procedures that cover key processes and facilities.
Test and update the plan regularly.

The Business Continuity Management Lifecycle

Business continuity management includes preparing for and handling unexpected events. BCM has a six-step lifecycle. This cycle repeats during both in regular business times and crises, as you take the right steps to keep activities always running.

The BCM lifecycle includes the following points:

Mitigate Risk: Proactively identify business continuity risks to your company, and plan how your company will respond.
Prepare: Train staff on your business continuity plan and ensure they understand what they need to do to help the business respond.
Respond: Ensure that your company and all employees respond appropriately to a crisis. Be prepared to adapt in the moment.
Resolve: Ensure that the company plans how to communicate effectively with staff and that it does so appropriately during the crisis.
Recover: Inform employees, customers, and other important people about the status of the crisis and your company’s response.
Resume: Communicate with employees and others after the crisis ends.

What Are Business Continuity Risks or Events?

Also called business continuity events, business continuity risks are the most common events that can disrupt a company’s regular operations — these can be natural and human-made crises. Defining these risks is a vital part of business continuity planning.

Such events might include the following:

Severe weather
Natural disasters (tornadoes, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, fire, etc.)
A physical security threat
A recall of a company’s product
Supply chain problems
Threats to staffing and employee safety
Accidents at an organization’s facilities
Destruction to a company’s facilities or property
Power disruptions
Server crashes
Failures in public and private services (communications, transportation, safety, etc.)
Environmental disasters, including hazardous materials spills
Network disruptions
Human error/human-made hazards
Stock market crashes
Cyber attacks and hacker activity

Any of these triggers can result in broader problems for a company, such as danger or injury to staff and others, equipment damages, brand injury, and loss of income and net worth. Business continuity management and planning address and mitigate these contingencies.

What Is a Business Continuity Strategy?

A business continuity strategy is more often called a business continuity plan. The strategy includes the processes and structure a company uses to manage an unexpected event.

Some people consider business continuity strategy to be a step in the planning process. In the strategy phase, business continuity planners describe the overall approach a company should take to prevent, manage, and recover from a crisis.

An Overview of Business Continuity Management and Planning

There are several goals, key elements, and benefits to business continuity management and planning. The primary goals of management and planning are as follows:

Build Company Resiliency: Doing so means that your company’s tools, buildings, and operations are resistant to — and not greatly affected by — most disruptions.
Create a Plan for Recovery (with Contingencies that Aid in That Recovery): If a major event does cause problems, you should have a plan for how to recover quickly. That plan will include contingencies. For example, you should plan for how key operations will resume if there is a widespread power outage.

Business continuity management and planning generally cover the following areas, with differences depending on the organization and industry:

Disaster Recovery: Disaster recovery involves recovering technology after a disruptive event. You can learn more about disaster recovery and download free templates in our comprehensive article .
Emergency Management: Emergency management focuses on avoiding and mitigating catastrophic risks to staff and communities.
Business Recovery: Considered part of business continuity, business recovery centers on short-term activities after a disruptive incident. The short-term is sometimes defined as less than 60 days.
Business Resumption: This describes the longterm phase of recovery (60 or more days after an even), wherein the company returns to near-normal conditions.
Crisis Management: Crisis management focuses on communicating with stakeholders during and after a crisis, and controlling damage during the event. To learn more, read our comprehensive guide to crisis management .
Incident Management: Incident management is an ITIL (previously known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework for reducing or eliminating downtime after an incident.
Contingency Planning: This covers outlier risks that are unlikely to occur but which could have disastrous results.

“A well managed business continuity management program will help protect people, assets, and business processes,” says Scott Owens, founder and managing director of BluTinuity , a business continuity firm based in New Berlin, Wisconsin. “It may not be able to prevent all incidents. But it can reduce the likelihood of incidents, decrease response time, and lower the cost and impact of an incident.”

Key Elements of Business Continuity Management

All business continuity management programs should include a number of key elements, which serve to ensure that your plan is positioned for success and that you regularly update and improve it.

These important elements include the following:

Governance: This is the structure and team your business sets up to create and monitor the program.
Business Alignment: This section details how your company’s current business continuity management and planning processes compare to expert approaches and industry standards.
Continuity Strategy and Recovery Strategies: Include a detailed plan that assesses risks to your organization and how you can recover, should those risks become reality.
Plan Documentation: Provide details on the plan that everyone in your company can access. To get started, see our roundup of free business continuity plan templates .
Tactical Implementation: This section includes details on the specific ways your company plans to recover from certain types of incidents.
Training: In this section, detail how you will train your staff to understand the business continuity plan and their role in it.
Testing: Include real-world simulations of a crisis event, and test how your company and its employees respond and the effectiveness of your business continuity plans.
Maintenance: Make changes to the plan where necessary to increase its effectiveness.
Monitoring: This section details how you will continue to compare industry standards and expert advice to how your plan is working.

To learn about formal requirements for business continuity planning and management, see our comprehensive article on the ISO 22301 standard .

The Costs of Business Continuity Management

The costs to do an appropriate job of business continuity management can be significant. However, some reports say that the cost of unforeseen downtime may be as much as $2.5 billion a year for Fortune 1000 companies.

Kurt Engemann, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Business Continuity and Risk Management at Iona College in New York, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management and author of Business Continuity and Risk Management: Essentials of Organizational Resilience . In the book, he says that costs for business continuity preparation do not only include the groundwork to assess a company’s risks and plans to manage those risks. Rather, they also cover the needed backup facilities and equipment and company assets for emergency response. In addition, costs must cover resources for training employees and testing the plan.

Some experts have estimated that business continuity management and planning within only the crucial information technology aspects of companies can cost two to four percent of the information technology budget. But the costs are necessary, and worth it in the long run, according to business continuity experts.

“There is an initial outlay of a modest amount of money that will lessen the financial impact of a possible future crisis,” Engemann writes in his book. “Similar to an insurance policy, the financial benefit of BCM must be viewed from a long-term prospective.”

When an organization’s top executives complain about the costs, Owens says, “Ask them what it would cost their organization for an hour of downtime. Or eight hours. Or 24 hours. Chances are the cost — financial, operational, and to brand and reputation — of having key business functions unavailable for an extended period are significant. They will most likely find business continuity management to be worth the investment.”

Benefits of Business Continuity Management

Like Engemann, Owens points out that there are significant benefits to the investment organizations make in business continuity management, including the following:

Mission Critical Processes: If you understand your key processes, you can plan to protect them and prioritize their recovery.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Laws or regulations require companies in some industries to implement a formal business continuity management system.
Satisfying Demands from Other Organizations: Some groups and companies may require that your company sets up BCM before they do business with you.
Insurance Payments: To get the maximum payments from an insurance policy after an event, a company must have suitable business continuity management policies in place.
Reputation Management: Your business’s brand will be greatly helped or hurt, depending on how an unforeseen event affects its operations.
Competitive Advantage: A strong business continuity plan can offer your company the advantage over peers who are not as well prepared.
Seamless Recovery: Cloud-based technologies make data backup, remote work, and business recovery affordable and accessible. Groups and businesses of all sizes can benefit from such tools. See our article on cloud computing for business continuity to learn more.
Time Savings: Planning prevents teams from scrambling at the last minute to cobble together a recovery effort. Strong planning helps you get back online — and back on track — faster.

Michael Herrera, CEO of MHA Consulting , a business continuity and disaster recovery firm, cites two other significant benefits:

Keeping Customers and Avoiding Major Financial Losses: Getting operations back to normal quickly after an event means your company loses less money.

“Your customers aren’t as patient as you think they are,” Herrera explains. “They expect you to have a business continuity system and they expect you to be up and running. Their patience does run out.”

Improving Day-to-Day Operations: Herrera says his firm’s clients often discover how business continuity planning gives them insights into the day-to-day operations of their company. “It really can help you with process improvement and getting a good understanding of what your business does every day.”

Additionally, strong business continuity planning will enable you to do the following:

Officially declare a disaster and alert senior management.
Assist in the development of an official public statement regarding a disaster and its effects on a business.
Monitor your business’s progress and present the recovery status.
Provide ongoing support and guidance to teams with pre-planned operations.
Review critical processing, schedules, and backlogs to keep everyone up to date on status.
Ensure businesses have both the resources and the information to deal with an unforeseen emergency.
Reduce the risk that an emergency might pose to employees, clients, and vendors, etc.
Provide a response for both man-made and environmental disasters.
Improve overall business communication and response plans.
Summarize both the operational and the financial impacts resulting from the loss of critical business functions.
Allow businesses to plan for a loss of function that has potentially larger, more severe consequences.

See our article on the importance and benefits of business continuity planning to read more expert examples of how business continuity can bolster your company.

Key Business Continuity Management and Planning Considerations

Companies don’t have to face business continuity planning alone. There are a variety of tools and services that can help, including the following:

Consultant Services

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of consultants and companies that can provide help with developing your business continuity plan. Below are a few things to think about in choosing one:

How experienced are they? How long have they been around?
What’s their reputation as a company? What do their clients say about them?
Are they focused on a specific industry or area of business continuity, or do they have experience with a range of industries and a broad spectrum of business continuity?
How do they think about business continuity (as a somewhat separate practice or something that needs to be ingrained within your organization)?
How aligned is their advice with standards in your industry?

Business Continuity Software

There are also hundreds of pieces of business continuity software on the market. Here are some things to consider:

Are you looking for software that will automate the development of plan components, or software that offers more in-depth help during the planning phase?
What is the history of the software and the company behind it? How long has this particular software been on the market and what is the history and the reputation of the company behind it?
Is the software being continually updated and improved?

Below are some specifics to consider as you test drive the software:

Does it have an easy-to-use interface?
Does it cover all aspects and components of business continuity, including business impact analysis and risk assessment ?
Does it include sufficient storage for your company’s supporting documents?
Does it provide secure portable access via mobile or other technologies, if a crisis interrupts your information technology systems?
Does it provide strong data analytics?
Is it secure and private?

Primary Things Your Organization’s Business Continuity Management System Should Accomplish

While your business continuity management system will have various elements and details, there are some primary things it should do for your organization. They correspond to the key elements listed earlier in this article.

For example, a BCM system should help do the following:

Understand your company’s needs for business continuity and disaster preparedness. A BCM system should be able to assist company leaders in understanding the need for a business continuity management policy.
Understand which processes should be recovered and in what order.
Establish business continuity metrics to gauge success.
Plan for communicating with customers, staff, and other stakeholders.
Determine what tools, technology, and staffing are required to restore activities and support customers.
Establish remote-work support or relocation plans for staff and activities.
Implement ways to continually assess and manage continuity risks.
Monitor and review how its business continuity management system is working.
Continually improve the system.
Respond effectively in a real-world crisis, and allow the business’s critical operations to continue and all operations to resume quickly.

Although nobody wants to think about disasters or the effort needed to prepare to meet and mitigate crises, the alternative is the potential loss of reputation, income, or the entire business. In sum, planning translates to determining your key processes, equipment, and tools, and applying basic recovery strategies.

The Importance of Senior Organizational Leaders Strongly Supporting Your Business Continuity Management and Planning

Your senior leaders must strongly support your company’s business continuity management plan for it to succeed. Such leadership is key as storms, floods, pandemics, and data breaches increase in force and frequency.

“Make sure senior management is committed to the planning, development, execution, and implementation of a business continuity/disaster recovery program,” says Paul Kirvan , a business continuity consultant and a fellow of the Business Continuity Institute with 25 years of experience in business continuity work. “Otherwise, it simply won’t happen. Such programs work best if they have top-down support and funding, as opposed to being developed from the ground up.”

Business Continuity Plan Test Types

Testing verifies the effectiveness of your plan and provides training for participants. To ensure better communication, include suppliers, vendors, and other stakeholders in exercises. If appropriate, also consider including local emergency preparedness officials.

There are four types of testing, and each requires increasing levels of planning, resources, and focus. You should try to run each type of drill regularly.

Plan Review: Plan reviews are often the first test applied to a new plan. In this test, top management and some key BCP personnel review the relevance and completeness of a plan. Such a review can verify risk and BIA results, and help you check for gaps and inconsistencies among continuity documents.
Tabletop or Structured Walkthrough: A tabletop test requires more preparation and time. It provides a role-playing exercise for recovery teams.
Simulation or Walkthrough Drill: In a walkthrough drill, your continuity team physically completes the type of tasks they'd find in a crisis. They may practice evacuating a building during a fire, restoring a backup, or switching to another communication frequency.
Functional or Live Scenario: Functional tests include a complete physical drill of continuity plans. Live tests may focus on one aspect of the plan or include the complete plan. They may include one part of the company or all team members.

Be sure to document what happened in the test so everyone involved in the exercise — and especially those who created the plan — can understand what did and didn’t go well, and can revise as necessary.

Business Continuity Management Policy Statement

A business continuity policy statement is a written document that outlines an organization’s business continuity management program. The policy statement should be communicated to all employees and should be signed and endorsed by the organization’s senior management.

See real-world examples of a business continuity policy statement .

Cultivating Awareness of Business Continuity Plans

The best business continuity system is useless if no one knows about it. Find ways to promote your plans in daily company activities, and discuss business continuity regularly in company and team meetings. Also, be sure to include the business continuity manager in cross-functional planning meetings so they can represent the business continuity perspective. Above all, exercise your plan, test your plan, and then test again.

What Is the Importance of a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is vital to ensure that your company mitigates downtime during a crisis. Resuming activities quickly after an event also helps ensure your company’s financial health.

How to Write a Business Continuity Plan

It is crucial that your company set up a group of people to help create your business continuity plan. The group should include senior leadership, experts, and staff. A simple, practical plan is the best plan. At a minimum, include continuity team roles and duties, and team member contact information. You should also add guidelines and checklists for dealing with unforeseen events.

Daily business functions rely on many resources — human, utilities, machines, and even paper, pens, and pencils. Business recovery after a disruptive event is no different. See our in-depth article on writing a business continuity plan for a complete list of resource types you may want to include in a plan.

You can ask certain questions as you form your strategy, and a business continuity plan usually includes common resources and elements. See our article on how to write a business continuity plan to learn more.

Business Continuity Plan Template

This template can help you document and track business operations in the event of a disruption/disaster to maintain critical processes. The plan includes space to record business function recovery priorities, recovery plans, and alternate site locations. Plan efficiently for disruption and minimize downtime, so your business maintains optimal efficiency.

Download Business Continuity Plan Template

Word | PowerPoint | PDF

You’ll find other most useful free, downloadable business continuity plan (BCP) templates, in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and PDF formats in this article .

What Is a Business Impact Analysis and Why Is It an Important Part of a Business Continuity Plan?

A business impact analysis (BIA) is one of the most important parts of business continuity planning. The analysis considers how an unforeseen disruption could affect a company. BIA results also suggest how a business can recover from a crisis.

The business impact analysis will include details on the following:

Recovery time objectives that outline the organization’s goals relating to how quickly various services and processes will resume after an event
Financial impact of an incident
Impact on customers
Other possible impacts of an incident
How the organization will prioritize recovery steps
How the organization will prioritize critical services or products
Identification of potential revenue loss
Identification of additional expenses the organization will incur because of the event
Identification of insurance an organization has or needs to have
Identification of an organization’s dependencies on other agencies, companies, and providers

See our business impact analysis toolkit to find guidelines and templates to get started.

Risk Mitigation for Business Continuity

Risk assessment is one of the first steps in preparing your business continuity plan.

Risk management includes identifying and ranking risks, and risk control includes identifying policies and procedures to avoid and contain risks.

To learn more about risk management , read our comprehensive guide.

The Importance of Periodically Testing an Organization’s Business Continuity Plan

Even the best business continuity plans are useless if you do not continually test them in real-world mockups. Testing helps you continuously improve procedures, and also keeps plans synched with current business context.

Robert Sollars, a security trainer and consultant from Mesa, Arizona, says, “You must exercise your plan and train your employees in it. This can be costly and unwieldy at times, but it is an absolute must. I liken this to buying a Lamborghini and letting it sit in the garage, never starting it up, never driving it, never doing anything but admiring it. Your plan must be taken out and test driven at least two to three times per year. If you don’t test it, then when the real thing pops you will realize what the books, consultants, and experts have told you is useless for your organization. Testing it allows you to figure out the bugs and tweak the necessary items to make it more efficient and effective.”

Owens adds, “If you haven’t tested your plans, you aren’t ready for a disaster.”

You can do some testing through simpler table top exercises — for example, by talking through hypothetical incidents with your team. But Owens and other business continuity experts say organizations should also periodically do exercises that more closely mimic a real-world event.

“Organizations need to move … to progressively more complex scenarios, involving cross-functional teams and interdependent systems and processes,” he writes in a blog post about business continuity. “This is the only way that a company can get outside its comfort zone to truly understand if what they have designed will really work. My preference is to involve role-playing, actors, and include participation from vendors, business partners, and local law enforcement when appropriate. This will almost always result in lessons learned and opportunities to improve the plan, which is another great outcome.”

The most important result from testing your plan is an understanding of where theoretical solutions won’t work in real events. This understanding will then allow your organization to amend the plan to be more effective.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan Governance Committee?

Many companies set up a business continuity plan governance committee, which consists of staff members and senior leaders (their continuity efforts is vital). Governance tasks include writing the business continuity plan and supervising ongoing plan maintenance.

The committee is often responsible for the following duties:

Approving the governance structure of the committee
Clarifying the roles of committee members and others working on the plan
Overseeing the creation of working groups to develop and implement the plan
Providing overall direction and communicate important information to employees
Approving the continuity plan and essential specifics within it
Setting priorities within the plan

The committee often includes the following members:

A senior leader from the business, often the sponsor
A business continuity manager and assistant manager
The company employee, or outside consultant, who will serve as overall coordinator of the business continuity plan
The company’s security officer
The company’s chief information officer, or information technology leader
Representatives from the company’s business department, to help with the business impact analysis
An administrative representative

How to Cultivate Resilience in Your Organization

A resilient organization has the tools and abilities to survive a disruptive event, and also regularly looks for new threats and adapts to changes in the organizational and industry landscape. Resilience experts recognize two types of resilience: reactive resilience uses a company’s existing processes to meet and overcome a crisis; proactive resilience anticipates disruptions and considers methods to prevent problems.

Real World Example: Lessons Learned About Business Continuity from the Terrorist Attacks of Sept. 11, 2001

Organizational leaders and business continuity experts learned a lot from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Worst of all, the attacks killed thousands of people. But they also severely disrupted communications, financial transactions, and some commerce in New York City and throughout the world.

The following are among the lessons learned:

Business continuity plans must be tested frequently, and updated where needed.
The plans must assume a wide range of threats.
The plans must take into account how much companies, agencies, and other entities depend on each other.
Key people from any organization must be available and reachable when an incident happens.
The ability to communicate, especially through landline phones, cell phones, and the internet, is vital.
Sites that organizations use for backup of their digital information should be located at a distance from their primary information technology site.
Employee support and counseling may be important during and after a crisis.
An organization should store copies of its business continuity plan at a location apart from its primary location.
Security perimeters around the scene of an incident may be large, which may affect employees’ access to organization facilities for long periods.

Legislation Governing Some Business Continuity Management and Planning

The United Kingdom did approved the Civil Contingencies Act in 2004, which requires businesses to have business continuity plans in place.

Some industries do have regulatory bodies that may impose business continuity requirements within those industries. For instance, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private self-regulatory organization overseeing the U.S. financial securities industry. FINRA established FINRA Rule 4370. This rule requires securities firms to create and maintain written business continuity plans. Utility bodies, such as North American Electric Reliability Corporation ( NERC ) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ( FERC ), also require continuity plans.

Guidelines, Standards, and Resources Providing Guidance on Business Continuity Management and Planning

Organizational leaders can use a number of standards set by industry and other groups to guide their business continuity planning and management programs. Below are some commonly used standards:

ISO 22301 : Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a standard-setting body, this group of standards sets out appropriate business continuity management practices. Learn more about how this standard can help businesses of all sizes in our guide to ISO 22301 .
NFPA 1600 : Developed by the National Fire Protection Association, the standard is one of the most widely recognized in the U.S. on emergency preparedness and business continuity.
National Institute of Standards and Technology SP 800-34 : Sets contingency planning standards for federal information systems in the U.S.
SPC-2009 — Organizational Resilience : Security, Preparedness and Continuity Management Systems provides critical business and infrastructure security standards developed by the American Society for Industrial Security.
ISO 27000 : Standards for security in information technology systems, which include standards for business continuity in information technology. Learn more about ISO 27000 and find free checklists and templates .
DRI International : Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Continuity Guidance Circular: Continuity Guidance for Non-Federal Entities: An 86-page formal document, the circular presents FEMA’s perspective on how businesses can prepare for disasters.
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety: Open for Business Continuity Toolkit: This site offers a video, FAQ, and downloadable continuity planning tools.

What Is the Business Continuity Institute?

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), based in the United Kingdom, is a non-profit professional organization providing education, certification, and leadership on business continuity management. The Institute has more than 8,000 members in more than 100 countries.

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Understanding the Essentials of a Business Continuity Plan

In the face of unforeseen disruptions, a robust business continuity plan (BCP) is essential to preserve the trust of stakeholders. If you are able to seamlessly continue operations even in the face of sudden challenges, stakeholders are reassured of the company’s resilience and commitment to their interests.

In this blog post, we offer a comprehensive guide to business continuity planning, how it can benefit organizations and share key insights into Developing and Maintaining an Effective business continuity plan.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is an essential blueprint that outlines how a company will continue operating during an unplanned disruption in service. It’s more than just a reactive strategy; it’s a proactive measure to ensure that critical business functions can continue during and after a crisis. The purpose of a BCP is to provide a systematic approach to mitigate the potential impact of disruptions and maintain business operations at an acceptable predefined level.

The role of a BCP is crucial in maintaining operations during unforeseen events such as natural disasters, cyber-attacks, or any other incident that could interrupt business processes. By having a well-structured business continuity plan, organizations can:

Minimize downtime and ensure that essential functions remain operational
Protect the integrity of data and IT infrastructure
Maintain customer service and preserve stakeholder trust

Why is a Business Continuity Plan Important

Immediate Response : A BCP ensures that there is a predefined action plan, minimizing downtime and demonstrating control over the situation.

Transparent Communication : Keeping stakeholders informed during a crisis promotes transparency and maintains confidence in the company’s management.

Inclusive Planning : Involve stakeholders in the business continuity plan development process. Their insights can enhance the plan’s effectiveness and ensure their needs are addressed.

Consistency in Service : By prioritizing critical operations, a BCP helps maintain the quality and consistency of services or products, which is important for customer retention.

The absence of a business continuity plan can lead to a domino effect of negative outcomes, including a tarnished reputation and the potential loss of future business. Stakeholders remember how a company responds in a crisis, and a well-executed BCP can be the difference between a temporary setback and a long-term impact on the company’s image and relationships.

Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

When exploring various business continuity plan examples, certain common elements emerge as critical for their effectiveness. These elements serve as the backbone for a robust BCP plan, ensuring that businesses can maintain operations and protect their reputation during unforeseen events. Here are some of the key components found in successful BCP examples:

Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis : Identifying potential threats and assessing their impact on business operations is a foundational step in any BCP plan.

Crisis Communication Plan : A clear communication strategy is essential to manage stakeholder expectations and maintain trust.

Recovery Strategies : Detailed procedures for restoring business functions and services post-disruption are indispensable.

Employee Training and Awareness : Ensuring staff are well-prepared and knowledgeable about the BCP plan is crucial for its successful implementation.

Case studies of successful BCP implementations often highlight how these elements are tailored to fit specific business models and industries. For instance, a financial institution may focus heavily on data security and regulatory compliance within their BCP, while a manufacturing business might prioritize supply chain alternatives and on-site safety protocols. Regular testing and adjustment of these plans are also a common thread, underscoring the importance of adaptability and continuous improvement in business continuity planning.

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Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery

It’s important to distinguish between a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan. While both are vital, a BCP is broader and focuses on the continuity of the entire business, whereas a disaster recovery plan is more technical and concentrates on the recovery of specific operations, such as IT services. Understanding these differences helps organizations allocate resources effectively and ensures comprehensive preparedness for any type of disruption. Understanding when to activate a business continuity plan (BCP) versus a disaster recovery plan is crucial for maintaining operational resilience.

To ensure a comprehensive crisis management strategy, consider the following integration points:

Pre-emptive Planning : Establish clear triggers for when each plan is activated. For instance, a BCP might be initiated in the face of a supply chain disruption, while disaster recovery would come into play during a data breach or server failure.

Unified Communication : Both plans should have a coordinated communication strategy to inform stakeholders and employees about the status and steps being taken.

Regular Testing : Conduct joint drills that test both the BCP and disaster recovery plans to identify any gaps or overlaps in procedures.

Continuous Improvement : Use insights from drills and actual incidents to refine both plans, ensuring they evolve with the changing business landscape and technological advancements.

By integrating both plans, organizations can navigate crises with agility and confidence, minimizing downtime and protecting their reputation. Tools like Creately, with features such as real-time collaboration and visual project management, can help create and maintain these critical plans, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page and ready to act when necessary.

Crisis Communication Strategies within Business Continuity Planning

A business continuity plan (BCP) is not just about responding to the crisis at hand, but also about how you communicate during the disruptions and the decisions you make. Here are some best practices to ensure your crisis communication and decision-making processes effective:

Clear Communication Channels : Establish predefined channels for internal and external communication. This ensures that messages are consistent and reach all stakeholders promptly.

Designated Spokespersons : Identify individuals who are authorized to speak on behalf of the company during a crisis. This helps maintain a unified voice and message.

Factual Updates : Provide regular, factual updates to keep stakeholders informed. Avoid speculation and commit to transparency.

Decision-Making Protocols : Implement decision-making protocols that are clear and allow for swift action. This includes having a chain of command and predefined criteria for making critical decisions.

Training and Simulations : Regularly train your crisis management team and conduct simulations to prepare for potential scenarios. This ensures that when a crisis does occur, your team is ready to act effectively.

By integrating these best practices into your BCP plan, you can maintain control during a crisis, make informed decisions, and communicate effectively with all parties involved. Remember, the goal is to protect your company’s operations, reputation, and stakeholder relationships during unexpected events.

Utilizing Business Continuity Plan Templates and Tools

When it comes to developing a robust business continuity plan (BCP), leveraging templates can offer a significant head start. These templates serve as a foundational framework that can be customized to align with the specific requirements of your business. Here’s why using BCP templates is advantageous:

Efficiency in Development : BCP templates provide a structured approach, ensuring that all critical elements are considered without starting from scratch. This saves valuable time and resources.

Consistency Across the Organization : Templates help maintain a uniform response strategy, which is crucial for coherent and coordinated action during a crisis.

Ease of Customization : While templates offer a general outline, they are designed to be adaptable. This means you can tailor them to reflect your business’s unique operational processes, risk profile, and recovery objectives.

Incorporating features like crisis response directions into your BCP template is essential. With Creately you can,

Visualize these procedures on an infinite canvas, ensuring clarity and accessibility for all team members.
Easily modify the plan as your business evolves, with the drag-and-drop functionality, making regular testing and adjustment a seamless process.
Create a central repository of information by having docs, links and attachments in the notes panel of any shape in your diagram.

Key Insights for Developing and Maintaining an Effective Business Continuity Plan

A robust business continuity plan (BCP) is not a ‘set it and forget it’ document; it requires ongoing attention and refinement. Here’s why regular testing, updates, and staff training are non-negotiables in business continuity:

Financial Protection : By regularly testing your BCP, you can identify and rectify gaps that could otherwise lead to significant financial losses during a crisis. It’s not just about having a plan, but ensuring it works effectively when you need it most.

Reputational Safeguarding : Your company’s reputation is on the line when disaster strikes. A well-rehearsed BCP means your team can respond swiftly and competently, preserving stakeholder trust and customer loyalty.

Customization for Evolving Threats : The threat landscape is constantly changing. Regular BCP reviews allow you to tailor your plan to new types of risks, ensuring your business remains resilient against the unforeseen.

Empowered Employees : Training staff on the BCP turns theory into practice. When every team member knows their role in a crisis, response times improve, and confusion is minimized.

Remember, a BCP is a living document. It thrives on the feedback loop created by regular drills and updates, ensuring that when a crisis does occur, your business is prepared not just to survive, but to continue operations with minimal disruption.

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How to craft an effective business continuity plan

Let me take you back in time to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Punk music was gaining popularity, and the Sex Pistols entered the punk rock scene with the force of a shooting star, capturing fans’ attention.

How To Craft An Effective Business Continuity Plan

But as quickly as they arrived, they quickly left the scene. When they broke up in 1978 after a period of internal conflicts, legal troubles, and their frontman’s imprisonment, fans were left both shocked and surprised.

Just like the Sex Pistols, plenty of companies experience rapid growth and success, only to face unexpected challenges and internal conflicts that result in their downfall.

In this article, we’ll draw inspiration from the Sex Pistols’ turbulent journey to explore the concept of business continuity planning (BCP). We’ll look at what a BCP is, why you need one and delve into the strategies and contingency measures that can help you maintain your rhythm and continuity, even when faced with the inevitable storms that can disrupt your operations.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan describes how you’ll continue your business when disaster hits. It is a structured strategy outlining how your organization will maintain essential functions when disaster strikes, to ensure minimal downtime and guarantee that operations continue.

Why do you need a BCP in place?

The BCP is crucial and revolves around ensuring your resilience and ability to continue operating in the face of unexpected disruptions, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or other emergencies.

Let’s look at it a bit closer, and understand some of the key reasons to have a BCP better:

Minimize downtime

Protect revenue and reputation, compliance and legal requirements, resource allocation, maintain customer service, employee safety.

A BCP helps you minimize downtime. It does this by providing a structured approach to quickly recover and resume your critical business functions.

Example: You’re a retail company with an extensive online presence. If your website experiences a cyberattack that takes it offline, a well-prepared BCP outlines the steps to take to mitigate the attack, get your website back up in no time, and allow you to continue serving your customers.

No one likes disruptions as they result in revenue loss and can damage your reputation. A BCP helps you protect against financial losses and keep customer trust.

Example: You’re the owner of a restaurant chain with multiple locations and one of your branches has a food safety crisis. A BCP can guide you in managing the crisis, ensuring food safety compliance, and communicating effectively with customers to maintain trust in the brand and other locations.

Some industries, like the financial, and pharma industries, have regulatory requirements that mandate businesses to have BCPs in place. Failure to do so has legal and financial consequences.

Example: You’re the owner of a FinTech company. You are required by regulators to have robust BCPs to ensure customer data security and financial system stability.

When a crisis hits you need the right resources to get you back up and running. A BCP helps allocate resources effectively during a crisis, ensuring that personnel, equipment, and materials are used efficiently to address the most critical needs.

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Example: You’re a manufacturing company hit by a sudden supply chain disruption because the Suez Canal is blocked again. You use your BCP to allocate available resources to meet customer demands and minimize production delays.

When all hell breaks loose you want to make sure customer experience takes a minimum blow. A BCP outlines measures to maintain customer service and communication, so customers receive timely updates and support.

Example: You run an airline and there is a labor strike. Your BCP tells you how to manage customer inquiries, rebook affected passengers, and maintain a level of service.

Let’s not forget about the well-being of your employees. During a crisis, this is a top priority. A BCP includes procedures for evacuations, remote work arrangements, and employee support.

Example: There is a fire at your workplace. The BCP outlines evacuation routes, assembly points, and contact information for employees to report their safety status.

Business continuity planning: Steps for success

That’s a lot of reasons, right? Now that we addressed the necessity and urgency of having BCP, let’s look at 5 steps to creating a successful one:

Analyze your company
Assess the risk
Create the procedures
Get the word out
Iterate and improve

1. Analyze your company

In this phase you conduct an analysis to identify critical activities, determine which activities must continue, which can be temporarily paused, and which can operate at a reduced capacity.

You then assess the financial impact of disruptions. This involves asking yourself the question, “How long can I operate without generating revenue and incurring recovery costs?”

As this step covers your whole company, it’s important to get key stakeholders involved from the beginning.

2. Assess the risk

Now you have a good overview of your critical processes and the impact of disruption. At this point, pivot your attention to the risks they face, how well you can handle when things don’t work as usual, and how long you can manage if things go wrong.

The goal here is to understand what could go wrong and find ways to avoid, reduce, or transfer them. This assessment will help you strengthen your preparedness and resilience.

3. Create the procedures

Once you analyze and assess, you need to create procedures.

Develop detailed, step-by-step procedures to minimize risks to your organization’s people, operations, and assets. This can include changes to your operating model, such as using alternative suppliers or implementing remote work options.

4. Get the word out

A plan is just a plan and no one will know how to act if you don’t communicate.

This step is all about communication. Integrate the BCP into your operations, policies, and company culture, and train, test, and communicate with your employees.

And don’t forget that communication is not limited to your company only. Communicate with external stakeholders, customers, suppliers, and so forth.

5. Iterate and improve

Before implementing your BCP ensure its effectiveness.

Don’t worry there are plenty more options to test your BCP. Consider involving external stakeholders or vendors as it makes exercises more realistic. Frequently train those who are accountable for executing the BCP.

After experiencing a real incident or conducting a training exercise, update your plan to improve its ability to protect your business. Keep in mind that both your organization’s development and the circumstances you operate in change, so a regular review isn’t a luxury but a necessity.

How to structure your continuity plan

Now you have a high-level understanding, let’s look at how to structure your business continuity plan.

You can find a copy of the template I use here .

Make sure to include the following sections in your BCP:

Version history

Executive summary, functions and process prioritization, plan activation, governance and responsibilities, recovery plans, crisis communication plan, emergency location and contents, review and testing.

This section shows the revision history. It includes the version numbers of the changes made, by whom, when, and who approved the changes. The revision history allows anyone reading the BCP to understand how it has evolved over time.

The executive summary provides a brief summary of the key objectives, goals, scope, and applicability of the BCP.

This chapter outlines the critical functions and processes in scope of continuation in case of a disastrous event.

This section refers to the risk and business impact assessment outcome. Its aim is to set out what triggers the activation of the plan.

Governance and responsibilities talks about who has to act when the BCP is activated. It includes the members, a description of their responsibilities, contact details of the BCP team, and the chain of command during a crisis.

This section builds upon the business continuity strategies, specifically the one chosen when a disaster occurs. It describes the detailed recovery plans for each critical function, the procedures for restarting operations, resource allocation, and recovery time objectives (RTOs).

Here you cover the internal and external communication strategies. You also address employee awareness and training activities.

Now there is a good chance the disaster will require your crucial activities to temporarily continue at a different location. This section covers all details about the location and what needs to be available at the location.

The BCP is to be tested to reduce the risk of missing things or even worse failing. Here jot down the testing procedures and document results and lessons learned.

This section includes all appendices. Think about the following

Supporting documents, such as contact lists, maps, and technical specifications
References to external standards, guidelines, or regulations
Training programs for BCP team members
Review of insurance policies
Financial reserves and funding for recovery efforts
Procedures for keeping the BCP documentation up to date

Business continuity plan example

Earlier this year, the Koninklijke Nederlands Voetbal Bond (KNVB), which is the Royal Dutch Football Association, was hit by ransomware. The cyberattackers threatened to share personally identifiable information captured and the KNVB paid over one million euros to avoid this from happening.

What could have been done to mitigate the ransomware attack risk?

The Risk of the attack to succeed could have been mitigated with:

Regular data backups
Segmentation of networks
Intrusion detection systems

How to ensure business continuity in case of ransomware?

In response to the ransomware incident, and to allow for continued business as usual as soon as possible, steps could include:

Isolating affected systems
Activating backups
Notifying law enforcement
Engaging with a cybersecurity incident response team

Key takeaways

A business continuity plan (BCP) is like a safety net for your business when things go haywire. It helps you keep going, avoiding downtime, revenue loss, and reputation hits. On top of that, it’s a legal must in certain industries.

To make a solid BCP, just follow five steps: figure out what’s crucial for your business, spot the risks, plan how to bounce back, make sure everyone knows the plan, and keep fine-tuning it.

Structurally, your BCP should have sections like history, a quick guide, what’s most important, when to activate it, who’s in charge, the nitty-gritty recovery plans, how communication is done, where to go in a crisis, how to test the BCP works, and some extra info.

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What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? Purpose, Template & Examples

Marie Laure Troadec Legal Counsel
August 29, 2023

Key Takeaways

1. A business continuity plan is an essential risk management tool that helps organizations proactively prepare for unexpected disruptions and events, ensuring the continuity of critical operations.

2. By identifying and assessing potential risks and threats to their operations, businesses can develop appropriate response strategies to prevent or minimize disruption during challenging times.

3. Businesses should avoid certain pitfalls to successfully implement their business continuity plan. These include a lack of employee engagement, an over-reliance on technology, and a failure to test their plans.

4. By proactively addressing these areas, businesses can increase the chances of successful implementation and execution of their business continuity plans.

Ensuring business continuity is a topic high on the agenda for most businesses and one that has become increasingly paramount in light of recent events: Few things have focused attention on the need to have a contingency plan more than the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential disruption caused by a pandemic, or indeed any other unforeseen event, to a business’s operations can have significant financial, legal, and reputational ramifications that can be mitigated or even prevented if appropriate measures are put in place.

This article delves into the essential elements of a business continuity plan (BCP) and provides valuable guidance on avoiding common pitfalls to help your business implement and execute a robust plan that safeguards your operations.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is a risk management strategy that a business implements to protect its operations in the face of an unexpected event or disruption such as a natural disaster, cyberattack, or technological failure. By anticipating and preparing for potential crises or unplanned eventualities, businesses can take preemptive measures to ensure they remain operational and maintain a sense of normalcy despite interruptions.

The business continuity planning process enables businesses to assess potential threats to their operations and identify vulnerabilities that could impact their ability to function effectively. Through the implementation of a business continuity plan, business leaders can swiftly respond to emergencies, minimizing any potential downtime and mitigating the negative effects on their operations. This proactive approach can help businesses navigate challenging situations with relative ease and resilience, ensuring minimal impact on their productivity and profits.

Main Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

A robust and effective business continuity plan will comprise the following key elements that facilitate business resilience and preparedness during uncertain times.

Business impact analysis
During this phase, a business will identify and assess potential risks and threats to their organization’s operations. A business impact analysis (BIA) assesses the potential consequences of disruptions in critical business functions. This allows businesses to prioritize resources, allocate budgets, and develop strategies to minimize downtime and facilitate recovery.
Recovery strategies
This step addresses the risks identified in the BIA by developing appropriate responses to prevent or minimize disruption. Recovery strategies outline the immediate actions required following an incident, those responsible for implementing them and coordinating the allocation of resources.
Plan development
The plan development phase involves developing the framework of the business continuity plan by establishing the relevant recovery teams, establishing communication channels, creating relocation plans, and gaining management buy-in.
Testing and maintenance
This phase involves training and testing the relevant teams and systems by conducting exercises to measure the effectiveness of the business continuity plan and identifying areas for improvement. Processes are also established for regularly reviewing and updating the business continuity plan to account for changes in technology, previous incidents, and evolving threats and risks.

Common Business Continuity Plan Pitfalls

To ensure the efficacy of their response during unexpected events or disruptions, organizations should be mindful of common mistakes encountered in the business continuity planning process.

An awareness of the following issues can help businesses avoid certain pitfalls which could hinder their efforts in this area:

1. Lack of employee engagement

The success of any business continuity plan hinges on an organization’s ability to execute it successfully as even the most comprehensive and detailed plan will fall flat if it is ineffective in real-world situations.

The successful execution of a business continuity plan goes beyond senior management. To ensure business continuity in times of trouble it is essential that those on the ground have also been briefed on contingency measures and are ready to step into action accordingly. Without adequate employee training and awareness, organizations run the risk of compromising critical business functions leading to further disruptions and losses.

By prioritizing employee engagement and involvement in the business continuity plan, organizations can strengthen and streamline their response efforts ensuring a robust and resilient response to potential disruptions, while fostering a culture of confidence and preparedness within their organization.

2. Overreliance on technology

While technological solutions play a crucial role and should be a feature of any robust business continuity plan, an overreliance on digital services and technical infrastructure can pose potential challenges for organizations.

Sole or heavy reliance on this area increases the risk of a single point of failure. This is especially pertinent at a time when cyberattacks and data breaches are prevalent creating vulnerabilities in a business’ technological systems, and thereby undermining the effectiveness of its business continuity plan. Unforeseen events such as natural disasters which can lead to infrastructure damage and power outages can also severely compromise an organization’s ability to function effectively during a crisis.

To counter these problems, organizations should incorporate a diverse range of technological and non-technological solutions into their business continuity plan, taking into account manual processes and alternatives that are not solely dependent on digital services. Data backup options should also be put in place to help businesses restore swift operations and minimize extended downtime.

3. Failure to test

Without proper testing, the effectiveness of a business continuity plan remains theoretical rather than proven in practice. Regular testing enables businesses to identify and address any gaps or limitations in their plan, avoiding the risk of critical business functions being left vulnerable in an actual crisis situation.

Through drills, real-life simulations, and tabletop exercises, organizations can learn from real-world incidents, gaining practical insight into the feasibility of their business continuity plans and identifying any areas that require improvement. Regular testing plays a crucial role in helping businesses to optimize their response strategies and ensure resilience and readiness in the face of difficult or unforeseen circumstances.

By proactively addressing and avoiding these common pitfalls, businesses can develop comprehensive business continuity plans that help to bolster their resilience, minimize disruptions, and ensure the continuity of their operations during challenging times.

BCP Template

The precise content of your BCP will depend on the nature of your business. However, below is a useful template for a typical business:

1. Introduction

Purpose: Outline the purpose of the BCP.
Scope: Specify which parts of the organization this BCP covers.
Assumptions: State any assumptions made during the BCP’s creation.

2. Business Continuity Policy

Outline the company’s policy regarding business continuity. This can include the company’s commitment to employee safety, client service, data protection, etc.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

List the key personnel responsible for executing the BCP:

Business Continuity Manager/Coordinator
Crisis Communication Team
Emergency Response Team
IT Recovery Team
Employee Assistance Team

4. Risk Assessment

Identify potential risks and threats:

Natural disasters
Technological failures
Security breaches

5. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Identify the potential impacts of each threat:

Financial impacts
Reputational impacts
Operational impacts
Legal/Regulatory impacts

6. Business Continuity Strategies

Outline strategies for:

Data backup and recovery
Alternate work locations
Communication protocols
Supply chain management

7. Incident Response Plan

Details the immediate actions to be taken following an incident:

Alert and notification procedures
Evacuation procedures
Safety checks

8. Recovery Plans

For each critical department/function, provide a detailed plan on how to resume operations:

IT systems recovery
Resumption of critical business functions
Communication with stakeholders

9. Training and Testing

Outline how the plan will be tested and how often, as well as any training programs for employees:

Tabletop exercises
Full-scale drills
Employee training sessions

10. Maintenance and Review

Describe how the plan will be kept current:

Regularly scheduled reviews
Updates following any changes in the business environment or operations
Feedback loop from testing

11. Communication Protocols

Specify how communication will be maintained:

Emergency contact lists
Communication methods (phone, email, etc.)
External communication (with media, stakeholders, etc.)

12. Appendices

Resource lists
Vendor contacts
Floor plans
Backup data locations

Business Continuity Plan Examples

If you are looking for some other examples of well-designed BCPs and BCP templates, check out the following:

Durham County Council’s BCP
Chisholm & Winch (UK Construction Company)
Ready (US Government Disaster Response Resource).

Developing and implementing business continuity plans

Expertise in critical business functions such as compliance, HR management, and global payroll solutions ensures your business can confidently navigate through unexpected challenges or crises.

Contact us today to learn how we can support your business continuity efforts and provide the stability and peace of mind you need in an ever-changing world.

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Business Continuity Plan Basics
Understanding BCPs
Benefits of BCPs
How to Create a BCP
BCP & Impact Analysis
BCP vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

Business Continuity Plan FAQs

The Bottom Line

What is a business continuity plan (bcp), and how does it work.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

Key Takeaways

Business continuity plans (BCPs) are prevention and recovery systems for potential threats, such as natural disasters or cyber-attacks.
BCP is designed to protect personnel and assets and make sure they can function quickly when disaster strikes.
BCPs should be tested to ensure there are no weaknesses, which can be identified and corrected.

Understanding Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)

BCP involves defining any and all risks that can affect the company's operations, making it an important part of the organization's risk management strategy. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—and cyber-attacks . Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include:

Determining how those risks will affect operations
Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks
Testing procedures to ensure they work
Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an important part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition. It is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel.

Business impact analysis, recovery, organization, and training are all steps corporations need to follow when creating a Business Continuity Plan.

Benefits of a Business Continuity Plan

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic. Business continuity planning is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of major disasters such as fires. BCPs are different from a disaster recovery plan, which focuses on the recovery of a company's information technology system after a crisis.

Consider a finance company based in a major city. It may put a BCP in place by taking steps including backing up its computer and client files offsite. If something were to happen to the company's corporate office, its satellite offices would still have access to important information.

An important point to note is that BCP may not be as effective if a large portion of the population is affected, as in the case of a disease outbreak. Nonetheless, BCPs can improve risk management—preventing disruptions from spreading. They can also help mitigate downtime of networks or technology, saving the company money.

How To Create a Business Continuity Plan

There are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid BCP. They include:

Business Impact Analysis : Here, the business will identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive. (More on this below.)
Recovery : In this portion, the business must identify and implement steps to recover critical business functions.
Organization : A continuity team must be created. This team will devise a plan to manage the disruption.
Training : The continuity team must be trained and tested. Members of the team should also complete exercises that go over the plan and strategies.

Companies may also find it useful to come up with a checklist that includes key details such as emergency contact information, a list of resources the continuity team may need, where backup data and other required information are housed or stored, and other important personnel.

Along with testing the continuity team, the company should also test the BCP itself. It should be tested several times to ensure it can be applied to many different risk scenarios . This will help identify any weaknesses in the plan which can then be corrected.

In order for a business continuity plan to be successful, all employees—even those who aren't on the continuity team—must be aware of the plan.

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis. It identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis. The worksheet should be completed by business function and process managers who are well acquainted with the business. These worksheets will summarize the following:

The impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and process
Identifying when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts

Completing the analysis can help companies identify and prioritize the processes that have the most impact on the business's financial and operational functions. The point at which they must be recovered is generally known as the “recovery time objective.”

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

BCPs and disaster recovery plans are similar in nature, the latter focuses on technology and information technology (IT) infrastructure. BCPs are more encompassing—focusing on the entire organization, such as customer service and supply chain.

BCPs focus on reducing overall costs or losses, while disaster recovery plans look only at technology downtimes and related costs. Disaster recovery plans tend to involve only IT personnel—which create and manage the policy. However, BCPs tend to have more personnel trained on the potential processes.

Why Is Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Important?

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic and business continuity plans (BCPs) are an important part of any business. BCP is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of threats and disruptions. This could result in a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition.

What Should a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Include?

Business continuity plans involve identifying any and all risks that can affect the company's operations. The plan should also determine how those risks will affect operations and implement safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks. There should also be testing procedures to ensure these safeguards and procedures work. Finally, there should be a review process to make sure that the plan is up to date.

What Is Business Continuity Impact Analysis?

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis which identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis.

These worksheets summarize the impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and processes. They also identify when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts.

Business continuity plans (BCPs) are created to help speed up the recovery of an organization filling a threat or disaster. The plan puts in place mechanisms and functions to allow personnel and assets to minimize company downtime. BCPs cover all organizational risks should a disaster happen, such as flood or fire.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15 - 17.

Ready. “ IT Disaster Recovery Plan .”

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15-17.

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What Is Business Continuity?

Learn about Business Continuity Plans and discover how your business can plan and implement effective strategies when faced with disruptive events

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Business continuity is a process of advanced preparation and planning embarked on by an organization to ensure that it will be able to run its critical business operations during an emergency event.

Business Continuity Planning will make provision for events such as natural disasters, utility failures, a business crisis, pandemic, workplace violence, cyber-attacks, supply shortages, or any disruptive event that can affect business operations.

It is vital that planning and preparation must cater for events that will stop operations completely as well as those that may partially impact operations.

What Does Business Continuity Strategy Look Like?

A Business Continuity Strategy usually comprises a checklist. This checklist provides information about supplies, equipment, data backups, and backup site locations. Moreover, the strategy identifies the plan administrators and provides contact information for emergency responders, key personnel, and backup site providers.

It also gives guidance on detailed strategies on how business operations can continue in the event of a disruption.

Business Continuity Plans are complex and unique documents. They are developed based on the needs of each organization and its clients. Business Continuity Plans should include the following:

Scope and purpose
Goals and objectives
List of essential tasks required for operations
Roles and responsibilities of the recovery team and staff
Contact details for management and key staff
Maintenance protocols
Site and data backup information
Details on emergency protocol
Coordination protocol with emergency personnel

Key Elements Of A Business Continuity Plan

Essentially, there are three key elements of a Business Continuity Plan.

An organization must increase their resilience by developing critical functions and systems that cater to the different types of disruptive events that may occur. This must comprise staff rotations, information redundancy, and preserving a surplus of capacity.

Incorporating resilience into different disruptive event scenarios will help to maintain essential services on location and off-site.

It is essential to make provisions for a swift recovery in order to restore business operations after a disruptive event. Businesses need to prioritize which elements must be recovered first. To do this, they can forecast recovery time objectives (RTOs) for various systems, networks, or applications.

Recovery protocols must also entail resource inventories, contracts with third parties, and the use of converted spaces for key operations.

Contingency

An effective contingency plan will make provision for a number of external circumstances. These will include a chain of command that allocates responsibilities within the organization.

Such responsibilities will involve hardware replacement, leasing emergency office spaces, damage evaluation, and enlisting third-parties, like an MSP , for assistance.

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Business Continuity Strategy

An effective Business Continuity Strategy means understanding all operational, financial, and physical risks that your organization may encounter. These risks can be identified through a Business Impact Analysis that will help to identify specific risks and threats to:

Financial performance
Organizational reputation
Employees of the organization
Supply chains

A Business Impact Analysis is a fantastic technique used for risk identification and evaluation. Once an organization has created a list of potential risks, they then need to analyze how these risks could affect operations and to what extent.

Business Impact Analyses are complex and detailed. They will help organizations to identify:

Essential business procedures
Collaboration among stakeholders
Supply chain dependencies
Minimum time required for recovery
Minimum staff need to support critical operations

Once the Business Impact Analysis is complete, there will be discrepancies between the resources available and the resources that are needed.

A gap analysis is the next step in this process. It identifies an organization’s recovery requirements compared to its current resources. It also discloses recovery options and strategies. Once this gap analysis is concluded, the organization can finalize how to put recovery strategies in place.

Recovery Teams

The organization’s recovery team applies and executes the Business Continuity Plan. The composition of this team depends on the size of the organization and how the plan is expected to be executed. The recovery team should include a manager, assistant manager, and/or supervisor from each department in an ideal scenario.

This team will prepare the criteria for the project, train team members, and identify ways to streamline the execution of the plan.

Recovery Procedures

Once an organization understands the risks that it faces, it is able to react and recover effectively with a good Business Continuity Plan in place. This is crucial for Business Recovery after an unexpected disruptive event.

Some typical concerns that Business Continuity Plans address are:

How do we maintain operations in the event of equipment failure?
How do we continue to meet the demand for products and services in the event of a cyber-attack ?
If our location is inaccessible due to a disruptive event, can we continue operations at a different location or work remotely?
How do we safely evacuate staff and conduct a roll call in the event of an emergency?
Do we have provision to get all departments operational after a disruptive event so that we can remain profitable?

Solutions to these concerns are typically detailed in the Business Continuity Plan. For each disruptive event scenario in the Business Impact Analysis, there will be a detailed guide on recovery procedures.

Accurate floor plans and building information are critical elements of Business Continuity Planning. This material must be shared with local emergency personnel if they ever need access to the organization’s building during an emergency.

It is also wise for organizations to invest in a data collection service and asset mapping software. These will both be helpful in the event of a disaster or disruptive event.

For more in-depth info regarding Disaster Recovery, check out our resource .

The Bottom Line

Disruptive events can lead to a loss in revenue and higher costs for organizations. Business Continuity Plans benefit organizations as they help prepare for unexpected disruptive events. This enables business operations to continue during and after the disruptive event.

Having a good plan in place leads to a stronger foundation on which a business can maintain its reputation, image, and revenue.

Make sure to review and update your plan annually or whenever you make major changes. The most important things are to effectively plan for all types of disruptions, choose a strong recovery team, and always be prepared!

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Key Elements of Business Continuity Management

February 24, 2022

Business continuity management elements include; establishing a BCM program, risk assessment, business impact analysis, programme training. Testing and updating the plan which includes the BCM and Communication plan.

(BCM) is a term that is used in a variety of ways, but at its core it is the process of ensuring that an organization can continue to function during and after a disruptive event. While there are many elements to BCM, some key components include business impact analysis (BIA), risk assessment, recovery planning, and testing and exercises. By taking these steps, organizations can reduce the chances of major disruptions and ensure that they can still meet their goals even in times of crisis.

Business Continuity Management

Building a successful business takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and planning. But what happens when something unexpected happens? How do you make sure your business can keep going despite any challenges that come up? By implementing a sound business continuity management plan , you can help ensure your company’s survival in the face of disaster. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some key elements of effective BCM and explain why it’s so important for businesses to have a plan in place.

In order to keep a business running smoothly, it is important to have a business continuity management (BCM) plan in place. This plan outlines how the company will continue to operate in the event of an unexpected disruption. There are several key elements that should be included in a BCM plan. In this blog post, we will discuss some of those key elements and provide tips for creating a successful BCM plan.

In order for a company to be successful, it is important that it has a plan in place for continuity in the event of an emergency. Business continuity management (BCM) is a process that helps organizations ensure that critical functions can continue during and after an incident. There are several key elements to BCM, and each one is essential for creating a comprehensive plan. In this blog post, we will discuss the three most important components of BCM.

Business Continuity Management Process

A business continuity management (BCM) process is a series of steps or activities that are followed to ensure that critical business functions can continue in the event of a disaster or emergency. The BCM process begins with risk assessment and identification of key business functions, and then proceeds with development and implementation of continuity plans for those functions.

In order for a BCM plan to be effective, it must be regularly tested and updated to reflect changes in the business environment. The BCM process should also include regular communication and training for employees so that everyone is aware of their role in maintaining continuity of operations.

The business continuity management process is designed to help an organization prepare for, prevent, mitigate the effects of and respond to disasters. The four phases of this process are:

– Preparation phase – This includes identifying potential threats and hazards that could affect your organization’s operations as well as preparing your response plans .

– Mitigation phase – In this stage you will work on reducing any harm done by the disaster or hazard before it occurs. This may include things like closing off access points or removing hazardous materials from a location.

– Recovery phase – Here you will focus on getting back to normal operations as quickly as possible after a disaster has occurred.

Key Elements of Business Continuity Management

Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning (BCP) is a set of measures aimed at ensuring the continuation of an organization’s essential operations in the event of a disaster or emergency. It includes planning for both short-term and long-term disruptions, and can include provisions for dealing with both manmade and natural disasters .

Essential operations may be defined as those that are necessary to preserve life, protect property, ensure public safety, or maintain critical infrastructure. They may also include key business functions such as financial transactions or the provision of goods and services.

BCP involves creating a plan that will allow an organization to continue operating despite facing disruptions. This plan should identify which essential operations need to be maintained, how these operations will be supported and maintained.

A BCP typically includes processes for assessing risk , identifying critical functions and resources, developing backup plans and testing them to ensure readiness.

The following procedures should be followed in business continuity planning:-

Establish realistic recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) . These represent the maximum amount of time and data loss that your company can tolerate.
Document all essential business functions and processes. This will help you identify which systems and data are most critical to your organization’s ongoing operations.
Create a disaster recovery plan , outlining the steps needed to restore essential systems and data in the event of a disruption.
Test your plan regularly, rehearsing both minor disruptions (e.g., server outage) and major disasters (e.g., natural disaster).

Standard on Disaster/emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs

The ISO 22301:2019 standard establishes a best-practice BCMS. A BCMS aids businesses in managing events that affect all business-critical processes and activities, from the failure of a single server to the loss of an entire facility.

The standard covers everything you need to know about establishing, maintaining, and improving a management system to avoid, minimize the chance of, prepare for, react to, and recover from disruptions as they occur.

The requirements outlined in this paper are simply defined and intended to be applied to all organizations, regardless of type, size, or complexity. The degree to which these standards are applied is determined by the organization’s operating environment and policies.

It builds on previous regional standards like British Standard BS 25999 and others. It’s intended to shield your company from downtime due to natural disasters, fire, floods, earthquakes, theft, IT outage, staff sickness, or terrorist attack. Extreme weather events like storms and blizzards are

The ISO 22301 management system allows you to identify potential threats to your company’s vital business functions, as well as put precautions in place ahead of time to prevent your company from coming to a halt.

Importance of ISO 22301 business continuity management

Recognize and manage current and potential dangers to your company.
Take a proactive approach to mitigating the impact of incidents.
At times of crises, maintain crucial activities operational.
Minimizing downtime during incidents, as well as speeding up recovery time,
Demonstrate your ability to withstand the demands of clients, suppliers and procurement requests.

Elements of Business Continuity Management

The key elements of business continuity management (BCM) are as follows:

Establishing a BCM plan – This should include the organization’s objectives, strategies , and procedures for recovering from a disruption. The emergency planning team might include veterinarians, practice managers , and supervisors depending on the size of an organization. At smaller businesses, the selection committee may include every member of staff.
Risk assessment : This identifies and evaluates potential risks that could cause a disruption. It comprises two options i.e. threat assessment and vulnerability assessment. This assesses the likelihood and severity of threats that could affect the organization(threat)and vulnerability identifies weaknesses in systems or processes that could leave the organization vulnerable to attack or disaster.
Business impact analysis (BIA) : This involves assessing the potential impacts to the organization if a disruption occurs.
Programme management : The BCM programme should be managed by a dedicated team with clear roles and responsibilities . The organization should mitigate risks that jeopardize the organizations’ operations, assets, or the environment by lowering the risk to an acceptable level after the BIA.
Ensuring the availability of essential resources – These include people, technology , data, and facilities. Develop the strategies of disaster preparedness. Develop a business continuity management plan for the whole organization and critical processes.
Training employees on how to respond to disruptions – Employees need to be familiar with the BCM plan and know what actions to take in the event of a disruption. Train employees with significant responsibilities and assignments in the company continuity, disaster recovery, and incident response processes.
Testing and updating the BCM plan regularly – The BCM plan should be tested regularly to ensure that it is effective and up-to-date. The process of testing is referred to as test planning and execution, system rehearsing with coworkers, and technical infrastructure testing to demonstrate business continuity .
Communications plan : This outlines how information will be communicated within and outside of the organization in the event

Business continuity management is essential for all businesses, large and small. By establishing a BCM plan, conducting risk assessments , business impact analysis (BIA), and programme management, you can ensure the continued operation of your business in the event of a disruption. Essential resources must be secured and employees must be trained on how to respond to disruptions. The BCM plan should be regularly tested and updated to reflect changes in the business environment . A communication plan is also necessary to keep stakeholders informed during and after a disruption. Implementing these key elements of BCM will help you protect your business from potential disruptions .

BCM is a critical process for all organizations, and by implementing the key components we’ve outlined, you can reduce the chances of major disruptions and ensure that your business can continue to meet its goals during times of crisis.

It should be tailored to the specific needs of each organization . The key components we’ve outlined are a good starting point, but every business will have different risks and needs that need to be considered. By taking the time to map out a comprehensive BCM plan, you can rest assured that your business will be able to weather any storm. Have you put together a BCM plan for your organization? If not, now is the time to start!

Chris Ekai is a Risk Management expert with over 10 years of experience in the field. He has a Master’s(MSc) degree in Risk Management from University of Portsmouth and is a CPA and Finance professional. He currently works as a Content Manager at Risk Publishing, writing about Enterprise Risk Management, Business Continuity Management and Project Management.

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9 Essential Elements for Any Business Continuity Plan

Blog Articles
By Gene Whaley
on Wed, Feb 2 2021

If the year 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the world can change at the drop of a hat. As a business owner, you’re likely feeling pressure to be ready when (not if) disaster strikes.

To accomplish this, you’ll need a trusted partner to help you prepare your vital IT infrastructure for when that proverbial hat… drops. That’s where we come in. With Keystone’s Business Continuity planning, the key technological components of your organization will never be at risk – giving you and your team complete peace of mind, 24/7/365.

What is a Business Continuity Plan and what should go into it?

Keystone Technology Consultants in Akron, Ohio provides expert business continuity solutions that are fully comprehensive and ready to be deployed the instant a crisis arises. Each of our plans include the following essential elements:

A set of definitions: This important document, which is usually maintained by the IT department, may contain terms such as “Active Data Systems”, or “Reduced Performance.” Efforts should be undertaken to ensure that these terms are defined in a way that a business leader will understand. This will allow key players in your organization to assess the cost and capabilities of your disaster recovery process.
A network diagram : This is an important tool utilized by your IT personnel to see what systems are in play, along with their locations and characteristics. By including specific details like location, the team can quickly assess and respond to a local issue such as a fire or flooding and pinpoint where that issue is taking place.
A list of locations : In conjunction with the network diagram, this shows the specific location (address, room #, etc.) of all your major technological assets.
A flowchart of the process to be enacted when a disaster occurs : This includes common tasks which are often overlooked, like communication, equipment provisioning, and system restore points.
Communication and Operations Plan : This crucial planning document describes each system (where system is an application that the organization uses regardless of server), and what the plan will be for various periods of downtime. This is normally viewed across multiple time lines of unavailability, such as 0-4 hours, 4-24 hours, etc. For example, if the shipping system is unavailable for 0-4 hours, the plan may be to hold shipments in staging area, but after 4 hours to use a manual process to continue shipping. The business personnel who “own” each system should also be identified and engaged with as these periods are experienced.
Key Personnel: A list of all key personnel with contact info, this is useful when initiating and communicating during a disaster. It should also include the systems they would be responsible for where applicable.
Backup and Restore Plans: A list of all systems which details when they are backed up, how and where they are backed up, and approximately how long each backup will take to complete. A solid backup and restore plan is extremely helpful when troubleshooting system performance issues. It should also include a comprehensive restore plan.
Reporting and Review : A description of how backup systems report results, and who reviews them for errors and resolution. Backups are of no value unless that can be restored when needed.
Key Vendor Contacts : Often disasters are either caused by vendors, or resolved by them. For example, your internet access may be lost, so having the contact information is essential.

Keystone’s Business Continuity plans are tailored to your unique situation, provide a comprehensive way for you to understand the risks your business faces, and to restore business operations quickly and seamlessly when the need arises. These plans are typically 15-20 pages in length and are a valuable asset to your organization for many reasons, including the following:

They are essential when a disaster occurs. As previously mentioned, it’s far too late to start planning for disaster when the middle of one. With a business continuity plan you can rest assured, knowing that your business is safe and protected.
They are great risk assessment tools. This is important because mitigating risk has a cost, and the best way to manage that cost is to view it as an investment against loss of access. Keystone’s plans allow you to do this in a way that you (not just your IT team) can understand.
They can reduce your insurance costs. Business insurance providers often look for a comprehensive plan, and provide lower costs when they see one.

Keystone Technology Consultants offers your organization a complete, comprehensive set of fully managed IT services, including your Business Continuity plan. We can be your sole IT provider or can work in conjunction with your existing IT department – whatever suits your business best.

Contact Keystone today by submitting the form below to see how we can improve your Business Continuity capabilities. We look forward to speaking with you!

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The 10 Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity is essential in ensuring that the operations of a company do not get interrupted even in emergencies. Learn more about the components of a Business Continuity Plan here.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and reliant on technology, the importance of having a robust business continuity plan (BCP) in place is more important than ever. Many organizations think they are prepared for an emergency simply because they have insurance, but this is only a small part of the puzzle. A comprehensive BCP must address all aspects of the organization, from people and facilities to processes and technology. In this article, we will explore the 10 key components of a business continuity plan and more.

.css-706nk0{position:absolute;margin-left:-2em;margin-top:3px;font-size:0.5em;color:#22445F;opacity:0;} .css-14nvrlq{display:inline-block;line-height:1;height:1em;background-color:currentColor;-webkit-mask:url(https://assets.xometry.com/fontawesome-pro/v6/svgs/light/link.svg) no-repeat center/contain content-box;mask:url(https://assets.xometry.com/fontawesome-pro/v6/svgs/light/link.svg) no-repeat center/contain content-box;-webkit-mask:url(https://assets.xometry.com/fontawesome-pro/v6/svgs/light/link.svg) no-repeat center/contain content-box;aspect-ratio:640/512;vertical-align:-15%;}.css-14nvrlq:before{content:"";} What Is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is the ability of an organization to keep its operations running in the event of an interruption. The goal of business continuity is to minimize the disruption to the organization and to ensure that it can resume its operations as quickly as possible. While business continuity is often thought of in terms of natural disasters, it can also apply to other types of disruptions, such as power outages, cyberattacks, and pandemics.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a document that outlines how an organization will continue to function during and after an emergency or major disruptive event. The goal of a BCP is to help the organization minimize downtime and maintain its core functions and operations. Tasks that are typically included in a BCP are: maintaining customer service, keeping the lights on, and ensuring safety. A well-executed BCP will help to minimize the financial and reputational impact of an emergency. A BCP is not a static document; it should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in the organization, such as new facilities, processes, or technology.

Importance of a Business Continuity Plan

A high-quality business continuity plan helps to ensure that the organization is prepared to respond quickly and efficiently to an emergency, minimizing the damage to its reputation. Some of its benefits include:

Helps to ensure the safety of employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
Helps to minimize downtime and maintain operations.
Helps to protect the organization’s reputation.
Helps to minimize the financial impact of an emergency.

The Components of a Business Continuity Plan

To have an effective business continuity plan, the following components must be present:

.css-2xf3ee{font-size:0.6em;margin-left:-2em;position:absolute;color:#22445F;} 1. Business Impact Analysis

The first step in creating a business continuity plan is to conduct a business impact analysis (BIA). This is a process of identifying and assessing the potential impact of an interruption to critical business operations. The BIA will help you to identify which business processes are critical to the survival of the organization and which can be interrupted without major consequences.

2. Risk Assessment

Once you have identified the business processes that are critical to the organization, the next step is to assess the risks that could potentially disrupt those processes. This includes natural disasters, power outages, cyberattacks, and pandemics. Risk assessment will help you to prioritize the relevant business processes and create a plan to mitigate the risks.

3. Business Continuity Strategy

The business continuity strategy outlines the steps that will be taken to keep the organization running in the event of an interruption. The strategy should be tailored to the specific needs of the organization and should address all aspects of the business continuity plan, from people and facilities to processes and technology.

4. Recovery Team

The recovery team is responsible for implementing the business continuity plan. The team should be made up of key personnel from all departments of the organization. The team should meet regularly to review the business continuity plan and to identify any changes that need to be made.

5. Training

All members of the business recovery team should be trained in their roles and responsibilities. Training should also be provided to all employees, so they know what to do in the event of an emergency.

6. Business Continuity Exercises

Business continuity exercises are simulations of an interruption to business processes. They are conducted to test the business continuity plan and to identify any weaknesses. Exercises should be conducted regularly and should be adapted to reflect changes in the organization.

7. Communication

Communication is essential for keeping employees, customers, and other stakeholders informed during an interruption. The business continuity plan should include a communication plan that outlines who will be responsible for communicating with different groups of people. The communication plan should also include a method for distributing information, such as email, text message, or social media.

8. Backup Locations and Physical Assets

In the event of an interruption, it may be necessary to relocate business processes to a different location. The business continuity plan should include a list of backup locations and contact information for those locations. The plan should also include a list of physical assets, such as computer equipment, that will be needed to continue business processes at the backup location.

9. Periodic Review and Recommendations

The business continuity plan should be reviewed regularly, and changes should be made as needed. The plan should also be reviewed after any major changes to the organization, such as a merger or acquisition. Business continuity professionals can help to review and update the business continuity plan. They can also provide recommendations for improvements to the plan.

10. Technology

Technology is a critical part of business continuity. The business continuity plan should include a plan for maintaining access to critical systems in the event of an interruption. This could include things like data backup, emergency power, and redundant systems. As technology evolves, the business continuity plan should be updated to reflect changes in the organization. Also, employees should be trained on how to use the technology that is critical to business continuity.

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

The following steps can be taken to get started on a BCP:

The risk profile of the organization should be determined.
Business processes that are critical to the organization should be identified.
A strategy should be developed to keep the organization running in the event of an interruption.
Key products, services, or functions should be documented.
The business-continuity-plan objectives, scope, and assumptions should be documented.
Contact lists should be organized.
A business continuity plan should be continuously reviewed and kept up to date.

What Are the 5 Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan?

Having a business continuity plan isn’t just about getting through tough times – it’s about showing your customers and competitors that you can handle anything. By acting like a safety net, it can give you the confidence to keep pushing your business forward. But how exactly can you create one that can effectively get you through a wide range of disruptions that might come your way? Below, we’ll break down the essential elements for a solid business continuity plan to help you bounce back from challenges and grow stronger.

Why You Should Have a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic document that outlines the standard procedures for enabling important business functions to continue even during disruptive events. By creating a structure for keeping essential processes, services, and systems running, a BCP allows you to have a solid game plan to minimize disruptions and keep your operations on track. Business continuity planning allows you to stay in control during emergencies – effectively guiding your team through responses and allowing you to resume operations quickly. And because it ensures minimal downtime, you can protect your reputation, revenue streams, and customer relationships. Ultimately, a well-crafted BCP helps strengthen your company’s ability to successfully handle situations that are filled with uncertainty.

The Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Creating a business continuity plan can be either straightforward or more involved, depending on the size and complexity of your business and the risks you face. For smaller companies, it might be relatively easy, while for bigger ones, it could take more effort. You can either do it in-house or get help from a service provider . Either way, these are the key components that a typical business continuity plan should cover:

1. Risk and Impact Analysis

When you have a clear picture of potential challenges, you’re better equipped to develop measures for prevention and mitigation. Risk assessment and impact analysis involve identifying different situations that might disrupt your business, estimating how likely they are, and studying the consequences they could have. By understanding the scope of possible disruptions, you can make smart choices when it comes to setting a recovery timeline and prioritizing your efforts. This way, your BCP becomes streamlined and well-organized throughout.

2. Recovery Strategies

Next comes the response plan. It should outline the specific strategies for recovering from your identified disruptions. These strategies should include practical steps to bringing systems back online, recovering data , resuming production, and other activities that ensure your business returns to normal operations. This part should also detail the timeframe and resources you need. It’s also a good idea to consider alternative approaches, such as backup systems or manual workarounds, if your main strategies don’t work. Having a clear roadmap for recovery makes it much easier to coordinate actions and minimize downtime effectively.

3. Team Assignments

Assigning roles and responsibilities is a crucial aspect of your business continuity plan. Choose specific people or teams who will take charge during disruptions. Clearly define their tasks, decision-making authority, and communication channels. Assignments include incident coordinators, communication liaisons, and recovery team leaders. By having well-defined assignments, you can ensure everyone knows their job. This reduces confusion and makes your response faster and smoother.

4. Communication Guidelines

When disruptive events happen, you need everyone on your team to be on the same page. This is why having effective communication guidelines is a must for creating a solid BCP. You must define how you’ll share information with your team, stakeholders, and the public. Specify who’s in charge of updates, which channels you’ll use, and how often you’ll communicate. Also, include how you’ll handle communication with the media and authorities to keep your message consistent and accurate. These simple guidelines help promote transparency. As a result, you’ll be able to maintain trust with your team, customers, suppliers, and partners.

5. Regular Testing and Training

The business landscape is always changing , as are the risks and challenges that come with it. With that in mind, your business continuity plan should stay relevant and effective. You can do this by consistently putting your plan through tests and simulations to help you identify gaps and areas for improvement. Of course, it’s also important to train your team on their roles and responsibilities during disruptions. This can help you ensure everyone can execute the plan smoothly when needed.

Business disruptions aren’t just roadblocks; they also provide opportunities for growth. By ensuring your business continuity plan covers all the essential components, you’ll always be ready to turn disruptive events around and use them as stepping stones toward long-term success. To learn more about dealing with risks and threats that can disrupt your business operations, get a free assessment today .

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How to create an effective business continuity plan?
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7 Stages of a Business Continuity Plan
😀 Components of a business continuity plan. Upgrading Your Business

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COMMENTS

7 Elements and Components of a Business Continuity Plan
6. A Detailed Response Plan. Once you've completed the aforementioned key components of your business continuity plan, it's time to create the plan itself. As one of the most important elements of a business continuity plan, your response should be exhaustive and take into account every risk, vulnerability and impact you've identified.
6 Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
According to ISO 22301, a business continuity plan is defined as "documented procedures that guide organizations to R espond, R ecover, R esume, and R estore to a pre-defined level of operations following disruption.". Disaster recovery is a subset of the overall BCP because, without your data, you are at the mercy of whatever disruption ...
What does a business continuity plan include? 5 key elements
While every organization's BC plan approach will be unique, it's important to consider the following aspects when designing your plan. 2. Develop response strategies if key resources are unavailable. Effective BC plans must include well-defined strategies and actions for responding in the event that key resources become unavailable.
Business Continuity Plan: Key Elements of a BCP
A business continuity plan has several key elements. These include: Business impact analysis: A fundamental section of the plan for any business continuity program, the BIA assesses how business disruption hurts a company from a financial perspective. Disruptions covered by the BIA include physical damage to buildings and office space, data ...
All about Business Continuity Planning
A business continuity plan includes guidelines and procedures to guide a business through disruption. The efforts to create a plan are the same for large or small organizations. A simple plan is better than no plan. The basic steps for writing a business continuity plan are as follows: Create a governance team.
Understanding the Essentials of a Business Continuity Plan
A business continuity plan (BCP) is an essential blueprint that outlines how a company will continue operating during an unplanned disruption in service. It's more than just a reactive strategy; it's a proactive measure to ensure that critical business functions can continue during and after a crisis. The purpose of a BCP is to provide a ...
How to craft an effective business continuity plan
A business continuity plan describes how you'll continue your business when disaster hits. It is a structured strategy outlining how your organization will maintain essential functions when disaster strikes, to ensure minimal downtime and guarantee that operations continue. ... Key takeaways. A business continuity plan (BCP) is like a safety ...
What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]
A BIA is a key part of the final business continuity plan. This is where you summarize your findings regarding costs against benefits to further underscore what gets prioritized. ... Your teams should review the elements of your business continuity plan bi-annually to make sure all the responses still apply to your current status. In addition ...
What is a Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]
Key Takeaways. 1. A business continuity plan is an essential risk management tool that helps organizations proactively prepare for unexpected disruptions and events, ensuring the continuity of critical operations. ... This article delves into the essential elements of a business continuity plan (BCP) and provides valuable guidance on avoiding ...
Business Continuity Plan: Example & How to Write
Step 2: Identify key products, services, or functions. Step 3: Establish the business continuity plan objectives. Step 4: Evaluate the potential impact of disruptions to the business and its workers. Step 5: List actions to protect the business. Step 6: Organize contact lists.
What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and How Does It Work?
Business Continuity Planning - BCP: The business continuity planning (BCP) is the creation of a strategy through the recognition of threats and risks facing a company, with an eye to ensure that ...
What are the 5 key components of a business continuity plan?
This can help you to keep customer dissatisfaction at bay, give your team confidence and reduce recovery timescales. In order to achieve this, every business continuity plan needs to incorporate five key elements. 1. Risks and potential business impact. Any business continuity plan worth its salt will be based on a business impact analysis ...
Business Continuity Plans: A Comprehensive Guide
Key Elements Of A Business Continuity Plan. Essentially, there are three key elements of a Business Continuity Plan. Resilience. An organization must increase their resilience by developing critical functions and systems that cater to the different types of disruptive events that may occur. This must comprise staff rotations, information ...
What is Business Continuity? Key Elements of Plan and Tools
Key Elements of Business Continuity Plan. An effective plan contains three key components, namely resilience, recovery, and contingency. Resilience can be improved by building the core operation processes around the idea of potential threats. For example, there could be spare hardware for quick maintenance, permutable personnel, etc. Business ...
What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a document that consists of the critical information an organization needs to continue operating during an unplanned event. The BCP states the essential functions of the business, identifies which systems and processes must be sustained, and details how to maintain them.
Key Elements Of Business Continuity Management
The key elements of business continuity management (BCM) are as follows: Establishing a BCM plan - This should include the organization's objectives, strategies, and procedures for recovering from a disruption. The emergency planning team might include veterinarians, practice managers, and supervisors depending on the size of an organization.
Fundamental Components of a Business Continuity Plan
Having the right plans and procedures in place for dealing with crises is only half the battle. The fundamental components of a business continuity plan must include workspace recovery, cyber resilience, change management, and several other elements. Additionally, sharing a business continuity plan with the essential personnel and educating them on how to handle disasters is another vital ...
9 Essential Elements for Any Business Continuity Plan
That's where we come in. With Keystone's Business Continuity planning, the key technological components of your organization will never be at risk - giving you and your team complete peace of mind, 24/7/365. ... Each of our plans include the following essential elements:
The 10 Components of a Business Continuity Plan
To have an effective business continuity plan, the following components must be present: 1. Business Impact Analysis. The first step in creating a business continuity plan is to conduct a business impact analysis (BIA). This is a process of identifying and assessing the potential impact of an interruption to critical business operations.
What is business continuity and why is it important?
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.
What Are the 5 Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan?
Either way, these are the key components that a typical business continuity plan should cover: 1. Risk and Impact Analysis. When you have a clear picture of potential challenges, you're better equipped to develop measures for prevention and mitigation. Risk assessment and impact analysis involve identifying different situations that might ...
The 6 Elements of An Effective Business Continuity Plan
That said, most small and medium-size businesses will benefit by creating a business continuity plan that includes the following 6 elements: 1. ASSESSMENT OF RISK POTENTIAL. Because businesses are different, they face different risks in the event a disaster occurs. Before writing your continuity plan, you need to carefully assess not the risks ...
PDF FEMA National Continuity Programs
Figure 2: Continuity Mitigation Options and Key Elements A MYSP with short and long-term goals and objectives serves as a framework for making decisions and provides a basis for planning. Putting together a strategic plan can provide the insight needed to keep an organization's continuity program on track by setting goals and measuring

7 Elements and Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – The Differences

What are the Elements of a Business Continuity Plan?

1. A Dependable Business Continuity Team

2. Contact Information

3. An Effective Crisis Communications Plan

4. An In-Depth Risk Assessment

5. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

6. A Detailed Response Plan

7. Testing Your Business Continuity Plan

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