To discuss Business Impact Analysis (BIA) without addressing the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is nearly impossible, as both contribute to creating a Plan B or a plan for what to do in cases of crisis or, as the name suggests, a business continuity plan.
It’s a process that can provide a company with a sufficient level of operational functioning after business interruptions. It’s crucial for preventing disasters or, in case prevention is not possible, preparing the company and employees to minimize the impacts of the crisis on activities through alternative processes.
Using a company that has had its data stolen after a hacker invasion as an example, let’s establish a contingency plan. First, we need to identify possible flaws to mitigate them and prevent further data exposure. Then, we must ensure a way for operations to continue despite this and, finally, consider ways to recover the data.
If you had to do all of this after receiving the news of the data theft, what would be the reaction time? How long would it take to restore operations? Would customers be impacted? Would you focus first on the solution or on finding someone to blame?
There are many variables to consider in a short amount of time, but if your company already has a Business Continuity Plan, you would only need to execute it, and the impacts would be minimized.
Prerequisites for Developing a Business Continuity Plan
Consider that a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) is a set of actions and procedures that are part of crisis management. Therefore, strategies and tactical plans should be developed preventively and in accordance with the organization’s goals and premises of the Strategic Planning.
The main questions that will guide the elaboration of the plan from start to finish are: 1) What are the risks and threats to the company’s operations? 2) Are there critical processes for your business? 3) If the answer to the second question is positive, list what these processes are.
Establish a person responsible for analyzing the risks of this plan; they should have a deep understanding of Strategic Planning, master essential tools for this plan like the BIA Analysis, and also have project management skills to lead the other stakeholders and establish clear and objective actions.
How to Organize All Information?
Analyses, reports, actions, tests, and many other pieces of information are encompassed in the Business Continuity Plan, and to avoid getting lost amidst so many things, it’s ideal to structure 4 sub-plans, separated according to their themes.
In the Operational Continuity Plan, the objective is to restore the functioning of the assets necessary for operation, reducing impacts caused in case of incidents.
The Crisis Management Plan will outline the responsibilities of each team involved in contingency actions.
With the Disaster Recovery Plan, we’ll establish the necessary actions for the company to resume its original operation after controlling contingency and minimizing the crisis.
And finally, in the Contingency Plan, all the needs for immediate actions to be taken in case the previous ones fail will be listed. It should only be used in case of emergency.
Advantages of Having a BCP
The Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has a very clear benefit, which is to assist companies in keeping their operations running even after a crisis or incidents. But it’s not just that; it also significantly increases the likelihood of the company’s survival.
After all the analyses and assessments, leaders will have access to information that promotes a clearer and broader understanding of operations, enabling continuous improvement. Critical processes can also be identified to minimize possible negative impacts on the organization’s assets and other stakeholders.
The creation of alternative processes can become a business opportunity, potentially turning them into standard processes and opening doors for innovation.
Keeping the team trained is also one of the advantages, ensuring that, especially those involved, are aware of the plan and know what to do when it’s necessary to activate the plan. The more teams involved, the greater the success of execution and preparedness for unforeseen events.
Situations to Consider
So far, we’ve talked a lot about unforeseen events, natural disasters, incidents… But what can we classify in these situations?
As mentioned earlier, it’s everything that represents some risk to your company, such as mass resignations, high leadership turnover, economic crises in the sector, fires, floods, loss of critical customer data, increased customer churn, etc.
Now that you’re ready to start your Business Continuity Plan, a tip that will facilitate the process is Interact’s solution specifically tailored for these prevention plans.
Comprising the SA Governance Manager, SA Risk Manager, and SA Document Manager modules, the solution has everything you need to ensure your company’s continuity according to ISO 22301 requirements.
Visit our website to learn more.
thor:
Bianca Wermann
Journalist, Communication and Marketing Analyst at Interact Solutions
