What should a business continuity plan contain

You have to rigorously test a plan to know if it's complete and will fulfill its intended purpose. In fact, O'Donnell suggests you try to break it. This is the only way to improve. Also, ensure the objectives are measurable and stretching. Doing the minimum and 'getting away with it' just leads to a weak plan and no confidence in a real incident. Many organizations test a business continuity plan two to four times a year. The schedule depends on your type of organization, the amount of turnover of key personnel and the number of business processes and IT changes that have occurred since the last round of testing.

Common tests include table-top exercises, structured walk-throughs and simulations. Test teams are usually composed of the recovery coordinator and members from each functional unit. A table-top exercise usually occurs in a conference room with the team poring over the plan, looking for gaps and ensuring that all business units are represented therein.

In a structured walk-through , each team member walks through his or her components of the plan in detail to identify weaknesses. Often, the team works through the test with a specific disaster in mind. Some organizations incorporate drills and disaster role-playing into the structured walk-through. Any weaknesses should be corrected and an updated plan distributed to all pertinent staff. It's also a good idea to conduct a full emergency evacuation drill at least once a year.

This type of test lets you determine if you need to make special arrangements to evacuate staff members who have physical limitations. Lastly, disaster simulation testing can be quite involved and should be performed annually. For this test, create an environment that simulates an actual disaster, with all the equipment, supplies and personnel including business partners and vendors who would be needed. The purpose of a simulation is to determine if you can carry out critical business functions during the event.

During each phase of business continuity plan testing, include some new employees on the test team. Much effort goes into creating and initially testing a BC plan. Once that job is complete, some organizations let the plan sit while other, more critical tasks get attention. When this happens, plans go stale and are of no use when needed. Technology evolves, and people come and go, so the plan needs to be updated, too.

Bring key personnel together at least annually to review the plan and discuss any areas that must be modified. Prior to the review, solicit feedback from staff to incorporate into the plan. Ask all departments or business units to review the plan, including branch locations or other remote units.

If you've had the misfortune of facing a disaster and had to put the plan into action, be sure to incorporate lessons learned. Finally, there should be a review process to make sure that the plan is up to date. An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis which identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes.

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. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Accessed Sept. Business Essentials.

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Business Essentials Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions. Business Business Essentials. Key Takeaways Business continuity planning BCP is the process a company undergoes to create a prevention and recovery system from 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.

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