6 Essential Elements of an Effective Business Continuity Plan

It’s impossible to predict the future, but ensuring your business will be able to push through with its operations even amid challenges and changes is very important. Whether these challenges come in the form of natural calamities, economic troubles, cyberattacks, or a global pandemic, a business continuity plan is the best way to avoid the adverse effects of prolonged downtime.

A business continuity plan (BCP) involves designing a process that focuses on preventing and recovering from potential threats to your operations. The ultimate goal of a robust BCP is to limit disruptions in personnel activities, assets, and technology.

Keep on reading to learn more about the essential things to include to create an effective business continuity plan.

1. Scope of the Plan

First, you should identify the objectives of your BCP. Think about how detailed the plan should be and which milestones you should take note of. If the business has multiple locations and many different departments, consider the extent of coverage, as well. Ultimately, think about what outcome you want to achieve at the end of your BCP.

2. Key Business Functions

In crafting the details of your BCP, you should also take into account your industry. For instance, in the technology niche, you have to prioritize failsafes for your technological infrastructure. In contrast, a retail business must ensure that the physical stores and inventory are in check.

3. Designated Team Responsibilities

As a business continuity plan looks at the unexpected, you must establish an Incident Response Team. These are the people who will know every component of your disaster recovery plan, so choosing the right team members who’ll be able to handle responsibilities is crucial.

First, find a project leader who can execute the plan effectively. Then, assign a stakeholder and first responders for every department and backups for every position. Collect everyone’s contact information, and list down what they have to do in case of an emergency.

4. Critical Functions and Strategies

Now that you have people in charge of critical business functions, it’s time to develop strategies for each of them. Assign individual plans for each department—consider every team, every piece of software, and every physical and digital asset. When these plans are put in place, you get a robust business continuity plan.

5. Communication

For a business continuity plan to succeed, communication is of the utmost importance. Everyone in the organization must be aware that such a plan is in place, and they must be familiar with their roles and responsibilities in case of a crisis.

Documentation must be thorough, and critical employees must have an accessible copy of the plan at all times. Additionally, the team must have SMS and phone tree established as a form of communication. This will ensure a quicker response time to any emerging threats and issues.

6. Testing

Finally, the company must look into testing the plan. Testing will give insights if the program is effective at all, and it also ensures that the plan is always relevant to constant changes in the business.

Final Thoughts

Disaster can strike at any moment, so businesses must always be prepared. A plan of action will help companies cope with a crisis and avoid extended downtime and serious issues that will take a lot of money to reverse.

If your company needs help in business continuity planning, Bracer offers IT service solutions for you. Our services will ensure you have a solid backup of your digital assets, regardless of what life may bring to your business. Book an appointment today to learn more about our managed IT services.