how to create a business continuity plan
there are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid bcp they include companies may also find it useful to come up with a checklist that includes key details such as emergency contact information a list of resources the continuity team may need where backup data and other required information are housed or stored and other important personnel along with testing the continuity team the company should also test the bcp itself it should be tested several times to ensure it can be applied to many different risk scenarios this will help identify any weaknesses in the plan which can then be corrected in order for a business continuity plan to be successful all employees even those who aren t on the continuity team must be aware of the plan business continuity impact analysisan important part of developing a bcp is a business continuity impact analysis it identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes it also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies fema provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis the worksheet should be completed by business function and process managers who are well acquainted with the business these worksheets will summarize the following completing the analysis can help companies identify and prioritize the processes that have the most impact on the business s financial and operational functions the point at which they must be recovered is generally known as the recovery time objective 2business continuity plan vs disaster recovery planbcps and disaster recovery plans are similar in nature the latter focuses on technology and information technology it infrastructure bcps are more encompassing focusing on the entire organization such as customer service and supply chain bcps focus on reducing overall costs or losses while disaster recovery plans look only at technology downtimes and related costs disaster recovery plans tend to involve only it personnel which create and manage the policy however bcps tend to have more personnel trained on the potential processes frequently asked questions