How Business Continuity Planning Can Help Your Company Weather a Crisis

Your organization can suffer from a number of negative consequences when disaster strikes. Customers could leave, suppliers could withdraw support, and investors or capital sources could stop funding. This can place pressure on managers to ensure that their operations are running smoothly. A well-planned business continuity plan can help your company survive any crises.

A business continuity plan identifies critical functions that must continue functioning in the event an emergency, and outlines the resources required to run these functions. The first step is to conduct a business impact analysis (BIA) and a risk assessment (RA).

Then, the company must decide what to do in response to every danger that is discovered and how much downtime is acceptable for each essential task. The next step is to formulate an emergency response plan. This is a thorough document with step-by-step instructions. The plan should include contact details for emergency services and recovery strategies along with detailed steps to take.

It’s a good idea, as well, to test and update your business continuity plans regularly. You can test your plan using tabletop exercises, simulations, and other types testing during this period of time. These tests can also highlight areas that need improvement. It is essential to keep your business continuity plan in good condition, especially when your technology, processes and employees change. Regularly reviewing and testing can ensure that your plan is prepared to deal with any eventuality.

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