Business Continuity Plan

Definition

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a component of Business Continuity Management. It is a comprehensive written plan of action that sets out the procedures and systems necessary to continue or restore the operation of an organisation in the event of a Business Disruption . It documents procedures that guide the organization to respond, recover, resume and restore to a pre-defined level of operation following disruption.

BCP Objectives

Business continuity plans:

• establish the roles and allocate responsibilities for managing operational disruptions
• set out the decision-making authority and define the triggers for invoking the organisation’s Business Continuity Plan.
• provide clear guidance regarding the succession of authority in the event of a disruption that disables key personnel (Human Continuity)
• provide detailed guidance for implementing the Business Recovery Strategy

BCP Elements

Business Continuity Plans may include any of the following elements,:

• Defined crisis management organization and escalation protocols, and crisis communication strategies.
  • Business continuity management professionals.
• Business Impact Analysis
  • Description of Business
  • Identification of Critical Processes and Applications
• Business Continuity Contingency Arrangements
• Recovery Times Objectives and Recovery Point Objectives
• Infrastructure and Space Requirements
• Business Interdependencies
• Contact Information

BCP Design

A business continuity plan will be defining a number of concepts:

• Checklist
• Task List
• Procedure
• Urgent Activity
• Prioritization
• Corrective Action
• Decision Point

BCP Governance

• An annual, often independent, review of the BCP.
• Defined global and regional governance bodies and executive ownership of (responsibility for) business continuity management
• Accountability to the firm’s board of directors, reporting through the audit committee, risk committee or operating committee.
• Maintenance and review to respond to changing client requirements, emerging risks and changes to the firm.

Tools and Resources supporting the BCP

• A training and awareness program for all staff.
• A 24-hour monitoring system and network.
• Contingency Backup Sites (dedicated, fully operational etc). Instantaneous replication and off-site storage of data also stored on the in-house network. (Iincluding also periodic backup of critical information, with real-time storage in multiple secure locations for the most critical information)

See Also

• Business Continuity Guidelines, an overall organization of various approaches to Business Continuity
• Business Continuity Glossary, a compilation of terms grouped by Business Continuity topics
• Business Continuity Resources, collection of (external) resources around Business Continuity and Crisis Management