Business Continuity (BCP)
Business continuity is concerned with keeping the business running or getting back up and running as quickly as possible to minimize impacts. Disaster recovery helps restore a given service back into production. Either way, IT is responsible for making sure the business can access its data and applications in the wake of manmade or natural disaster.
The Business Continuity Proess as defined in the Disaster Recovery Planning Template is a multi-step activity. All of these activities are covered in the Disaster Recovery Business Continuity template.
Stage 1 - Risk Management
Assess the threats of disaster, existing vulnerabilities, potential disaster impact, and risk controls options. This includes
- Risks, threats, exposures, impacts, and risk assessment methods
- Risk management method: risk assessment, risk control options assessment, risk controls cost-benefit comparison
Stage 2 - Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
Identify mission critical business processes and their recovery requirements.
- Analyze the impact to business if these processes are interrupted.
- Compare the BIA and risk assessment BIA responsibilities
- Identigy BIA: Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD), Recovery Time Objective (RTO), Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Work backlog, and Data Loss Method for conducting BIA
- Create BIA report
Stage 3 - Business Continuity Strategy
Develop a business continuity strategy for timely and cost-effective recovery from potential business disruptions.
- Identify business continuity strategy for therecovery scope and define recovery alternatives and options
- Conduct cost-benefit assessment of available recovery options
- Develop recommendations for recovery service contracts
Stage 4 - Business Continuity Plan
Develop a document describing the plan for maintaining business continuity (BC).
- Define the objectives and scope of BC plan document Role of BIA and BC strategy in BC plan
- Define roles and responsibilities of BC plan implementation teams BC plan implementation phases: initial response and notification, problem assessment, disaster declaration, recovery and resumption, and restoration Tasks and procedures for each BC plan implementation phase Crisis communication plan Emergency response plan
- Define change control procedures for a BC plan
Stage 5 - Business Continuity Plan Implementation
Implement and test the DR BC.
- Use various failure points to test the plan
- Create program to test and audit the plan on a schedule that ensures its functionality
Stage 6 - Business Continuity Plan Maintenance
Maintain the business continuity plan in a constant ready state for implementation.
- Communicate the importance of BC plan maintenance
- Define and create a plan to maintain all of the components including: change management, periodic testing, regular training, and periodic auditing
- Deliverables from each component of BC plan maintenance
- Recommendations for effective BC plan change management
Business Continuity Management
- Detailed overview of business continuity management
- Relationship between business continuity program phases and plan development Business continuity and resilience program office
- Business continuity program audit methodology
Business Resilience, Continuity, and Disaster Recovery
- Evolution of business continuity to business resilience
- Limitations of business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Business resilience concepts and model
- Business resilience management
- Business resilience strategy
- Enterprise risk management
Disaster Events
