Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
What Is a Business Continuity Plan?
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a set of procedures and policies that help protect a company’s assets from natural or human-made threats that could disrupt business operations.
Creating a BCP involves identifying any potential risks that could interfere with company operations and developing a strategy for preventing them (if possible), dealing with them, and recovering from them.
These risks may include natural disasters, such as fires, floods, wind damage, and other weather-related events, as well as supply chain interruptions and cyber attacks.
What Are the Components of a Business Continuity Plan?
A BCP should be succinct and direct. Small businesses may have a plan that is only a page or two. The larger the business operation, the more information the document should include.
After defining the possible risks to which a company can be exposed, a BSP should address the following details:
- how each risk could affect business operations
- step-by-step procedures and safeguards could mitigate potential risk
- a testing and training protocol to ensure the plan works
- a review process to maintain and update the plan as needed.
The goal of the BCP is to minimize the financial impact of unexpected business disruptions and speed up the recovery process after an incident.
Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan
Both business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans are critical to the business recovery process. However, the two programs have slight differences.
The main difference is that a disaster recovery plan focuses on a company’s information technology (IT) infrastructure, including any technology downtime. On the other hand, a BCP addresses problems that could impact the entire organization.
As a result, a disaster recovery plan involves only IT personnel, while BCPs affect and require more personnel in terms of training and implementation.
Importance of Business Continuity Planning
A disruption in business can lead to significant revenue loss. Unfortunately, a company’s business insurance may not cover all these losses. Depending on the size, model and scope of the business, multiple strategies may be needed to reduce risk and develop a successful BSP.
Ideally, a trusted employee or a committee will be in charge of the plan development and its oversight. The BCP should include assigned responsibilities and strategies for each stage of the emergency, including the following:
- Response: This step details how a business responds to a disruptive event within the initial hours.
- Relocation: This stage includes the activation of alternative facilities and the implementation of work-at-home policies.
- Recovery: The BCP also should include damage assessment and specific objectives for business recovery.
- Restoration: When work can return to the original site (or an alternate site), the BCP should include a thorough review process of how the plan worked and where it can be improved.
In recent years, the pandemic and the increased frequency of cyber threats and weather-related disasters have put a spotlight on the need for BCPs. The federal government also provides business continuity resources and worksheets to aid organizations in their preparations for disruptive events.
Businesses can make a BCP part of their overall business plan by using a business plan template. This allows an organization the flexibility to add specific details that are pertinent to its operations. However you choose to implement one, make sure your business is ready for potential disasters.
Helpful Resources:
TechTarget - What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?
Ready.gov - Business Continuity Plan
Ready.gov - Business Continuity Resource Requirements
Investopedia - What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and How Does It Work?
What Is a Business Continuity Plan?
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a set of procedures and policies that help protect a company’s assets from natural or human-made threats that could disrupt business operations.
Creating a BCP involves identifying any potential risks that could interfere with company operations and developing a strategy for preventing them (if possible), dealing with them, and recovering from them.
These risks may include natural disasters, such as fires, floods, wind damage, and other weather-related events, as well as supply chain interruptions and cyber attacks.
What Are the Components of a Business Continuity Plan?
A BCP should be succinct and direct. Small businesses may have a plan that is only a page or two. The larger the business operation, the more information the document should include.
After defining the possible risks to which a company can be exposed, a BSP should address the following details:
- how each risk could affect business operations
- step-by-step procedures and safeguards could mitigate potential risk
- a testing and training protocol to ensure the plan works
- a review process to maintain and update the plan as needed.
The goal of the BCP is to minimize the financial impact of unexpected business disruptions and speed up the recovery process after an incident.
Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan
Both business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans are critical to the business recovery process. However, the two programs have slight differences.
The main difference is that a disaster recovery plan focuses on a company’s information technology (IT) infrastructure, including any technology downtime. On the other hand, a BCP addresses problems that could impact the entire organization.
As a result, a disaster recovery plan involves only IT personnel, while BCPs affect and require more personnel in terms of training and implementation.
Importance of Business Continuity Planning
A disruption in business can lead to significant revenue loss. Unfortunately, a company’s business insurance may not cover all these losses. Depending on the size, model and scope of the business, multiple strategies may be needed to reduce risk and develop a successful BSP.
Ideally, a trusted employee or a committee will be in charge of the plan development and its oversight. The BCP should include assigned responsibilities and strategies for each stage of the emergency, including the following:
- Response: This step details how a business responds to a disruptive event within the initial hours.
- Relocation: This stage includes the activation of alternative facilities and the implementation of work-at-home policies.
- Recovery: The BCP also should include damage assessment and specific objectives for business recovery.
- Restoration: When work can return to the original site (or an alternate site), the BCP should include a thorough review process of how the plan worked and where it can be improved.
In recent years, the pandemic and the increased frequency of cyber threats and weather-related disasters have put a spotlight on the need for BCPs. The federal government also provides business continuity resources and worksheets to aid organizations in their preparations for disruptive events.
Businesses can make a BCP part of their overall business plan by using a business plan template. This allows an organization the flexibility to add specific details that are pertinent to its operations. However you choose to implement one, make sure your business is ready for potential disasters.
Helpful Resources:
TechTarget - What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?
Ready.gov - Business Continuity Plan
Ready.gov - Business Continuity Resource Requirements
Investopedia - What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and How Does It Work?