A business continuity plan is a set of proactive strategies that are created to avoid disasters and other disruptions that are unexpected. These plans help companies avoid financial, regulatory and reputational consequences that could damage their value in the marketplace or undermine confidence among consumers. Creating and managing a business continuity plan requires a significant amount of resources and knowledge. Employees from other departments including marketing, human resources, accounting and legal, have to be involved in this process.
A well-designed business continuity plan is one that provides a thorough analysis of the organization’s key functions. This analysis can help identify which processes are most crucial and what they rely on for success. The analysis should include an evaluation 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 crucial tasks.
After the analysis of business continuity is completed, the organization must come up with and implement its business continuity plan. The process is often complicated because of the need to balance the demands of the business with the constraints of a limited resource.
The business continuity plan should be regularly tested and updated. Conducting these tests that range from easy as tabletop exercises, or as complex as workplace simulations and confirms that the plan works and efficient. Testing can also help to identify areas where theoretical solutions may not work in real-world situations which allows the organization to modify its procedures accordingly. Additionally, regular plan review and updates ensure that the business continuity plan is in line with the organization’s current technologies, processes and staff.