Business Continuity Management (BCM) planning focuses on assuring continuous business processes and is a major factor in an organization's survival during and after a disruption. BCM is a key component of Comprehensive Emergency Management. Companies that don't have good business continuity plans often fail to survive a business disruption. Good continuity planning can make the difference -- and in the long run make you more profitable.
There are many risks that may threaten your organization by disrupting your business processes. These risks include traditional emergencies like fires, floods, earthquakes and tornados as well as risks form physical and cyber terrorism, cybercrime, computer and telecommunications failures, theft, employee sabotage, and labor strife. Any one of these can all be very disruptive for your business.
BCM efforts are likely to make money for your firm as they serve to minimize disruptions and financial loss during even minor events. These means increased reliability and productivity for your company. These means competitive advantage and increased market share.
Business Continuity Management is a relatively new term that is often thought of as another way to say "disaster recovery" but it means so much more. Business Continuity Management includes disaster recovery, business recovery, business resumption, contingency planning, and crisis management.
What is Business Continuity Management?
A Definition of Business Continuity Management
Business Continuity Management means ensuring the continuity or uninterrupted provision of operations and services. Business Continuity Management is an on-going process with several different but complementary elements. Planning for business continuity is a comprehensive process that includes disaster recovery, business recovery, business resumption, and contingency planning as shown below.
As described above, Business Continuity Management is meant to have a very broad meaning and is often used as an all-encompassing term to describe an integrated and enterprise-wide process that should include the following in alphabetical order:
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accident prevention
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business recovery
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business resumption planning
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exercising and training
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information security
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mitigation planning
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project management and quality control
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risk control
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risk financing and insurance
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risk management
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safety and security
Business Continuity Management therefore, is a comprehensive process to ensure the continuation and improvement of business in the face of whatever challenges your firm may face. Continuity planning requires that these many processes be used together, to create a complete continuity plan. The plan must be maintained and updated as business processes change. Continuity plans must be tested. Table top drills and functional exercises are generally used to make sure that to ensure that they will work.
The first step in the planning process is to conduct a risk assessment and a business impact assessment. The next step is to decide what measures can be put in place to prevent risks becoming reality and to minimize damage if a disaster does occur. Not all risks are preventable, but steps can be taken to minimize the likelihood that they will happen.
See the complete Business Continuity Planning Process.
Conclusion
There is a lot of ground to cover in performing comprehensive Business Continuity Management. This web site strives to provide information in most of these areas. Pages on many of the planning areas are provided that will describe the issues and provide information and resource to assist you in your BCM efforts.
PPBI Glossary - this combined glossary of disaster recovery, business continuity and emergency management terms has been created as a first step towards forging a common language that will represent and unite the private and public sectors.
Continuity Central - a business continuity portal
B2B Business Continuity - a Business 2 Business tool, linking Corporations, Government and other organizations to Certified Business Continuity Planners.
Business Continuity Considerations for Research and Development Organizations (Word Document)
Software Management - the risks in using warez
Global Continuity - UK-based Business Continuity Portal
Business Continuity Plan Model from Disaster Recovery Journal
University of Wisconsin - Disaster Management Center
The Natural Hazards Center, located at the University of Colorado
Dr. George Head's "Broadening the Definition of Risk"
The Definitive Guide to Business Continuity Management: comprehensive conceptual and practical guidance for managers and businesses who want to establish a strategy for protecting their organization from disruption and disaster.
Avoiding Disaster: How to Keep Your Business Going When Catastrophe Strikes By John Laye. Five stars! A must read for everyone who wants to ensure the protection and the continuity of their business.
Business Continuity Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide with Planning Forms & Diskette. A logical and plain-English step-by-step guide to business continuity planning.
Disaster Recovery Planning - this book examines the causes of computer system failures, and explains how to create a disaster recovery plan to prevent disasters or minimize the impact of disasters that cannot be avoided. It provides a detailed analysis of disaster avoidance systems and also covers the politics of disaster recovery planning.
Disaster Planning and Recovery : A Guide for Facility Professionals. A hands-on guide to disaster planning, this book provides strategies, tools, and techniques for helping your company plan for, cope with, and recover from cataclysmic events. Disaster Planning and Recovery shows facility professionals how to prepare for, cope with, and rebound from a disaster.
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