Business Continuity Planning

Forming a Continuity Plan for Your Business

Two very good reasons to a have a plan in place:

80% of businesses affected by a major incident close within 18 months
90% of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to shut down within two years

A business continuity plan can restore business to a minimum, then a normal level of operations as soon as possible.

Form the plan development team
Establish a leader and charge the team to develop the plan
Issue a mission statement defining the purpose of the plan and the authority and structure of the planning team
Set a project timeline and work within those planning deadlines
Conduct a hazard vulnerability survey to identify what hazards the business has been or could be affected by, both natural and man-made

Strategic Plan: Defines the vision, mission, goals, and objectives of the program
Emergency Operations / Response Plan: Assigns responsibilities to organizations and individuals for carrying out specific actions at projected times and places in an emergency or disaster
Mitigation Plan: Establishes short- and long-term actions to reduce or eliminate the effects of hazards
Recovery Plan: This component is developed using strategies based on short-term and long-term priorities, processes, vital resources, and acceptable time frames for restoration of services, facilities, programs, and infrastructure
Continuity Plan: Identify the critical and time-sensitive applications, vital records, processes, and functions that shall be maintained, as well as the personnel and procedures necessary to do so, while the damaged entity is being recovered