There can be business disruptions that affect an organization and companies need to be able to react quickly and methodically to avoid any financial losses. The response level needs to ensure business continuity for the future. All parts of the business need to be evaluated and protected beforehand with a business continuity plan.
The way to create a successful business continuity plan is to understand the impact of a disaster on the business and then create policies as a response to the impact. It is an outline made to protect the company against damage, maintain productivity in the company as well as have options for recovery in case of a calamity.
A business continuity plan involves the identification of all possible threats like fires and any possible social engineering attacks and then planning for what employees can do in this situation to get the organization back on track. It should be made of strategies to put in place for all emergency management procedures required. This helps in preventing panic and uncertainty in the case of uncertainty by creating effective responses.
These plans are necessary for any business so that they can maintain business continuity, regardless of the size of the organization so that there is no business disruption.
The Biggest Threats to Business Continuity
There are industry-specific threats to all companies, but they also face certain events that can threaten them such as:
Global Pandemics
A worldwide pandemic can lead to big disruptions in the economy and the market and it can also be the cause of big problems for companies. The organization’s employees will not be able to come into the office to work and they will be forced to work from home. This creates a situation where the company’s workforce needs to be adaptable to successfully go remote quickly, and continue to do so for an indefinite period of time. Companies should be well equipped so there is no lack of communication between them and the customers even when they are operating remotely in the middle of a quarantine.
Natural Disasters:
Any natural disaster is a force of nature that can act as a significant threat to the human condition and health and safety. It also includes threats to property and critical infrastructure. Natural phenomena are considered to be natural disasters such as:
- Wildfires
- Tornadoes
- Hurricanes
- Winter storms
- Floods
- Earthquakes
Man-Made Disasters
A man-made disaster can be considered to be any catastrophe that takes place because of human negligence, or any mistakes or even large-scale accidents. These man-made disasters can be any of the following:
- Chemical explosions
- Gas leaks
- Oil spills
- Factory fires
- Hazardous material spills
- Improper disposal of waste
Utility Failures
Utility failures take place when utility providers do not follow through when it comes to providing service for some reason. Utility failures can include instances such as:
- Electricity or power failure
- Loss of communication lines
- Disruption of water service
Intentional Sabotage
This threat to business continuity includes various acts that people can commit with the sole intention of putting an organization’s business at risk, Sabotage can come in many forms such as:
- A bomb threat
- A financial information leak
- Arson
If companies see any disgruntled employees or ex-employees they need to involve human resources to solve the problem so that they can eliminate any chances of intentional sabotage both internally and externally.
Cybersecurity Attacks
Any attack on an organization’s technical assets or their servers by someone like a hacker is a cybersecurity attack. These threats can be, but are not limited to:
- Information leaks
- Ransomware
- SQL injection attacks
- Denial of service attacks
A cybersecurity attack can lead to causing a lot of harm to the business as well as its customers. This can start a proper investigation of security protocols at data centers in the company. The implications of attacks like these ones can be felt way past the Information Technology (IT) department.
The Main Steps to Business Continuity Planning
Due to the varying nature of these threats, companies need to create an effective business continuity plan. The organization should follow the steps mentioned below:
Risk Assessment
Out of the 75% of organizations that have created and implemented a business continuity plan, the main lesson they learned from doing the same was that they had not trained their employees enough across the organization. With proper training, they will be able to assess the risks effectively.
The processes in the risk assessment phase include evaluating the company’s total risks and exposures and then assessing the potential impact of all these risks that could be business disruptions. After this, the employees determine which scenarios are the most likely threats. Then companies assess all the recovery options and then prioritize their findings to create a proper roadmap.
Business Impact Analysis
56% of organizations do not have a proper program to help them assess the business continuity readiness when it comes to third parties. This is why conducting a business impact analysis is important. In this phase, all information related to Recovery assumptions, which includes Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) is collected. There is also information collected on the critical processes of the business as well as workflows and other supporting applications used for production. Then all interdependencies are researched and all information on the critical staff is gathered.
Business Continuity Plan Development
The business continuity plan includes getting a sign-off on all the information gathered in the business impact analysis and then combining the information gathered with the risk assessment to make an actionable plan for business continuity. The plan should have developing department level, division level, as well as site-level plans. These plans need to be reviewed by key stakeholders.
Strategy and Plan Development
All recovery times need to be validated according to the business continuity plan to ensure that they are aligned with the objectives of the business impact analysis. These plans need to be accessible to all staff easily, especially in terms of a business disruption. Once the plan is created, it needs to be reviewed by an executive or management team.
Final Thoughts
After the creation of the plan, the only way it can be a success is if it is continuously reviewed by the employees. To ensure its success, all the employees need to be properly trained in all the practices and processes of the business continuity plan as well.
