Business Continuity Planner
Recovering from a business devastation is not good Business. Many companies lack a business continuity planner. Many claim to have a continuity plan in place but in reality what they have is a recovery plan, often meaning that they have off site temporary premises to operate from and off site back up of all their files in an event of a total disruption of operation. Business continuity extends beyond the technology aspect of their business. A successful business is a sum of its parts. So what are the parts of a successful business:
1 The Staff: without the staff the business ceases to exist. How do you replace the knowledge and experienced your staff brings to the table in a matter of days? How much will your company lose by not having the key personnel to run your operation. Where is there a pool of people you can draw from to help keep your business afloat should any of your key staff members become unable to work with permanently or temporarily?
2 Equipment: Can all your equipment be easily replaced or is there some significant machinery that requires customization and lead time? Can you operate with shoe string equipment? Software and data: have all systems and data been backed up to off site server?
3 Paper trail: have all paperwork been duplicate and stored at off site facilities? The first step in testing your plan would be to develop a business continuity group for your business, consisting of representatives from every main business areas, including top personnel in the finance department, facilities department and IT department. Once the business continuity group is established you must be consisting in maintain it and in testing it regularly. Your test for recovery from a disaster should not only be that your IT systems operate effectively from a remote area. Just like insurances follow a risk management approach so should your business continuity plan. The purpose can be three fold: Your plan should be consistent and a mirror of your business. Exact duplicate, no deviation. By implementing a plan that has your business operating at another facility exactly how it operates now and testing it, this makes it easier to identify the areas that require no testing and the areas that require further testing to assure that there is not lag in operation in learning curve and adjustment by personnel to any new protocol or systems. Test test and test some more. Your testing should consist of on paper and physical testing. Every time a physical testing is completed, like a fire drill, the continuity group should meet to review every process and determine what adjustments must be done if any and have the physical plan adjusted and updated and legible enough for the alternates to follow. A paper walk through should be done for some businesses on a weekly basis where a physical walk through are for business should be done on a monthly basis. As your business grows, your needs and demand for the least amount of turnaround time grows, you will need to adjust your plan accordingly. Therefore, the need to review and test your continuity plan often is a must for survival and minimizing your loss if any. Physical testing is just that of a fire drill. You must test the following:
1- Communications test. What is the chain of communication? What is the mode of communication? Can everyone who requires notification in case of a problem be reached?
2- Physical testing: the IT systems completely updated to the last second of operation before the disaster occurred?
3- The transportation and operation of the off site facility where your business is going to operate from temporarily. All these tests must be tested to assure efficiency and reduce panic and to make sure that your plan works.
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