Business Continuity Planning

Businesses need to be planned not only for today, but also for tomorrow, that is, for the future which implies business continuity. Write the importance of business continuity planning. Explain any two strategies for business continuity planning.

Meaning of Business Continuity Planning: An extension of strategic planning is business continuity planning. This is a recent development in policy and strategic management. It essentially deals with the damages due to a disaster to a business – natural or man-made. Appropriate planning and strategies are required to handle such damages or disasters. Implementation issues are also involved.

Importance: As indicated in the definition, businesses today can be exposed to different types of threats – natural or man-made. Major threats are:

• Natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes or accidents;
• Man-made threats like sabotage or terrorism;
• Financial crisis or disaster can be partly man-made and partly due to environmental factors.

Strategies for Business Continuity Planning: There are five different strategies which are developed for five different situations/actions. These are:

• Prevention
• Response
• Resumption
• Recovery
• Restoration

1. Prevention: Conventionally, prevention is the best strategy; this means taking steps or actions to prevent or minimize the chances of occurring of a disaster. Companies can adopt many preventive control measures as safeguards. Common preventive control measures are:
2.  Response: Prevention is a preemptive measure; response is a reactive step. If prevention is not possible, fast response is the next best alternative strategy. After an interruption or damage has taken place, the BCP team should immediately inform the management and the Damage Assessment Team. Two other teams would also be involved: the Technical Team and the Operations Team.
The Damage Assessment Team would assess the nature and magnitude of the damage. More specifically, the team should investigate into:

• The cause of disruption or damage;
• The scope for preventing additional damage;
• What can be salvaged
• What repairs, restorations and replacements are required?

BCP prepares companies to prevent or respond to such situations so that the damages or losses are minimized and the business or company survives. Thus, BCP plays a critical role in a business – its survival and sustainability.

Here, I describe only two of the above strategies:

Security controls: These involve controls by setting up barriers to protect the site and prevent unauthorized entry into the premises. This means, in other words, manned surveillance at the location.

Infrastructure controls: These include appropriate infrastructural facilities like UPS/back-up power, smoke/fire detectors, fire extinguishers, weather forecasting systems, etc.

Personnel controls: Skilled/trained personnel are posted to moan sensitive zones where key or critical resources may be located.

Software controls: These involve modern methods of controls through computerized systems or software. These include authentication, encryption, firewall, intrusion detection systems, etc.

Based on the report of the Damage Assessment Team, the Technical Team and Operations Team should get into action. The Technical Team is the key decision maker for further actions of the BCP and the Operations Team executes the actual damage control operations of BCP.