The Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a mechanism that describes the possible effects of crisis scenarios, establishes plans to adapt to them, and helps companies recover so that they can operate as usual. BCP plan is usually generated in advance of a disaster and includes key stakeholders in the business. The fundamental goal of the BCP is to protect staff and properties, both during and after the outbreak.
Importance of Business Continuity Plan Matters
BCP plan are an essential part of various companies. Threats and accidents can lead to a loss of sales and higher costs, which in turn can affect productivity. Businesses cannot always depend on insurance on their own because insurance does not necessarily cover every expense associated with the accident. Benefits of Business continuity plan includes:
- The company should remain equipped to deal with unexpected events.
- The company must have a strategy to continue to have suitable after-disaster service.
- The organisation would help maintain its corporate integrity, logo and revenue stream.
A threat to the Business Continuity Plan
There are many disturbances that an organisation can face. Many businesses have industry-specific risks, but some incidents threaten almost any business, which includes the following threat:
- Worldwide Pandemics
Worldwide pandemics can create massive problems for businesses, namely by requiring workers to operate from home and creating a situation where the workforce of a company will relocate away rapidly and for an unspecified period. Under these cases, businesses must allow their business to communicate remotely with customers and with each other in the event of a quarantine requirement.
- Natural Disasters
Natural disasters involve any force of nature that poses a direct threat to human health and safety, properties or vital infrastructure. Natural hazards include other natural events such as wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, winter storms, flooding or earthquakes.
- Cyber Security threats
It applies to any danger to the technological assets of the organisation, such as the hacker. Cyber-security risks include information leakage, malware, SQL injection attacks, or denial of service attacks. Cyber-attacks typically cause significant harm to customers and companies alike.
Steps to Build a Business Continuity Plan
Don’t wait until catastrophe hits to establish a response plan. If your company does not have an efficient business continuity plan, now is the time to build one. Below are the five steps involved in the development of a clear business continuity plan for your company.
1.Business Continuity Management Team
The Business Continuity Department in the company establishes and implements a business continuity program. The composition of the team entirely depends on the scale of the organisation. Moreover, how you expect to carry out the system. At the very least, the business continuity team will include a manager, an assistant manager, and an administrative assistant from each department.
2.Critical Analysis of Business Impact
The second phase in business continuity preparation is to consider the organisational, financial and physical challenges that your companies may face in the event of a disruption. You can determine such risks through Business Impact Analysis (BIA).
3.Resources and Gap Analysis
Your business continuity team must conduct an impact analysis that identifies and documents potential hazards to your company in the aftermath of the disaster. Your review may reveal differences between the resources you have and the resources you still need. At this point, where your team will want to perform a “gap analysis.” The gap analysis identifies the company’s recovery requirements.
4.Recovery Strategies
Knowing the risks to your company is essential, but it is necessary to understand how to respond and recover from an unanticipated incident. Phase four in business continuity planning does precisely that; it describes recovery approaches for your company and explains how to execute them.
5.Results
A business continuity strategy is never fully finished because the challenges and conditions of an enterprise are not quite set in stone. Alternatively, they adjust and adapt as the company develops. It is also a good idea to check your business continuity plan to make sure it is successful, to analyse the outcomes and to make suggestions for change.
Conclusion
Having a comprehensive business continuity plan is a vital protection strategy in today’s corporate climate. There are many advantages, both internally and externally. Having a complex project in place will help create confidence and trust among employees and shareholders.
