Business Continuity Planning

A business continuity plan is a set of proactive strategies designed to avoid disasters or other unexpected interruptions. These plans help businesses avoid regulatory, financial, and reputational consequences that can otherwise harm their market value or damage confidence of customers. Making and managing a business continuity plan requires a lot of resources and expertise. Other employees such as marketing human resources, accounting, and legal, have to be involved in this process.

A solid business continuity strategy includes a thorough analysis of the company’s primary functions. This analysis helps determine the processes that are most important and what they rely on to be successful. The analysis should include an assessment of the impact a natural disaster could impact these functions. In the ideal scenario, the business continuity plan should contain recovery procedures for each of these vital tasks.

After the analysis of business continuity is completed, the company will have to formulate and implement an action plan for business continuity. The process can be complicated due to the need to strike an appropriate balance between the company’s needs and the constraints of its limited resources.

The https://happyboardroom.com/20-role-of-the-board-in-business-continuity-planning/ business continuity plan should be regularly tested and updated. Conducting these tests which could be as simple as tabletop exercises or as complex as simulations of workplaces confirms that the plan is practical and efficient. Testing can also reveal areas instances where the theoretical solutions don’t work in real-world scenarios, and allow the organization to adapt the procedures accordingly. Regular review and update of the plan will ensure that the business continuity plan is aligned with the organization’s technology, processes and personnel.