Business Continuity Plan

Business Continuity Plan
Business Continuity Planning Process Diagram - Text Version
When business is disrupted, it can cost money. Lost revenues plus extra expenses
means reduced profits. Insurance does not cover all costs and cannot replace
customers that defect to the competition. A business continuity plan to continue
business is essential. Development of a business continuity plan includes four steps:
 Conduct a business impact analysis to identify time-sensitive or critical business

functions and processes and the resources that support them.
 Identify, document, and implement to recover critical business functions and
processes.
 Organize a business continuity team and compile a business continuity plan to
manage a business disruption.
 Conduct training for the business continuity team and testing and exercises to
evaluate recovery strategies and the plan.
Information technology (IT) includes many components such as networks, servers,

desktop and laptop computers and wireless devices. The ability to run both office
productivity and enterprise software is critical. Therefore, recovery strategies for
information technology should be developed so technology can be restored in time to
meet the needs of the business. Manual workarounds should be part of the IT plan so
business can continue while computer systems are being restored.
Resources for Business Continuity Planning
 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity

Programs - National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600
 Professional Practices for Business Continuity Professionals - DRI International
(non-profit business continuity education and certification body)
 Continuity Guidance Circular - Federal Emergency Management Agency
 Open for Business® Toolkit - Institute for Business & Home Safety
Business Continuity Impact Analysis
Business continuity impact analysis identifies the effects resulting from disruption of
business functions and processes. It also uses information to make decisions about
recovery priorities and strategies.
The Operational & Financial Impacts worksheet can be used to capture this information

as discussed in Business Impact Analysis. The worksheet should be completed by
business function and process managers with sufficient knowledge of the business.
Once all worksheets are completed, the worksheets can be tabulated to summarize:
 the operational and financial impacts resulting from the loss of individual
business functions and process
 the point in time when loss of a function or process would result in the identified
business impacts
Those functions or processes with the highest potential operational and financial
impacts become priorities for restoration. The point in time when a function or process
must be recovered, before unacceptable consequences could occur, is often referred to
as the “Recovery Time Objective.”
Resource Required to Support Recovery Strategies
Recovery of a critical or time-sensitive process requires resources. The Business

Continuity Resource Requirements worksheet should be completed by business
function and process managers. Completed worksheets are used to determine the
resource requirements for recovery strategies.
Following an incident that disrupts business operations, resources will be needed to

carry out recovery strategies and to restore normal business operations. Resources can
come from within the business or be provided by third parties. Resources include:
 Employees
 Office space, furniture and equipment
 Technology (computers, peripherals, communication equipment, software and
data)
 Vital records (electronic and hard copy)
 Production facilities, machinery and equipment
 Inventory including raw materials, finished goods and goods in production.
 Utilities (power, natural gas, water, sewer, telephone, internet, wireless)
 Third party services
Since all resources cannot be replaced immediately following a loss, managers should
estimate the resources that will be needed in the hours, days and weeks following an
incident.
Conducting the Business Continuity Impact Analysis
The worksheets Operational and Financial Impacts and Business Continuity Resource

Requirements should be distributed to business process managers along with
instructions about the process and how the information will be used. After all managers
have completed their worksheets, information should be reviewed. Gaps or
inconsistencies should be identified. Meetings with individual managers should be held
to clarify information and obtain missing information.
After all worksheets have been completed and validated, the priorities for restoration of
business processes should be identified. Primary and dependent resource requirements
should also be identified. This information will be used to develop recovery strategies.
Recovery Strategies
If a facility is damaged, production machinery breaks down, a supplier fails to deliver or

information technology is disrupted, business is impacted and the financial losses can
begin to grow. Recovery strategies are alternate means to restore business operations
to a minimum acceptable level following a business disruption and are prioritized by the
recovery time objectives (RTO) developed during the business impact analysis.
Recovery strategies require resources including people, facilities, equipment, materials

and information technology. An analysis of the resources required to execute recovery
strategies should be conducted to identify gaps. For example, if a machine fails but
other machines are readily available to make up lost production, then there is no
resource gap. However, if all machines are lost due to a flood, and insufficient
undamaged inventory is available to meet customer demand until production is
restored, production might be made up by machines at another facility—whether owned
or contracted.
Strategies may involve contracting with third parties, entering into partnership or
reciprocal agreements or displacing other activities within the company. Staff with in-
depth knowledge of business functions and processes are in the best position to
determine what will work. Possible alternatives should be explored and presented to
management for approval and to decide how much to spend.
Depending upon the size of the company and resources available, there may be many
recovery strategies that can be explored.
Utilization of other owned or controlled facilities performing similar work is one option.
Operations may be relocated to an alternate site - assuming both are not impacted by
the same incident. This strategy also assumes that the surviving site has the resources
and capacity to assume the work of the impacted site. Prioritization of production or
service levels, providing additional staff and resources and other action would be
needed if capacity at the second site is inadequate.
Telecommuting is a strategy employed when staff can work from home through remote
connectivity. It can be used in combination with other strategies to reduce alternate site
requirements. This strategy requires ensuring telecommuters have a suitable home
work environment and are equipped with or have access to a computer with required
applications and data, peripherals, and a secure broadband connection.
In an emergency, space at another facility can be put to use. Cafeterias, conference

rooms and training rooms can be converted to office space or to other uses when
needed. Equipping converted space with furnishings, equipment, power, connectivity
and other resources would be required to meet the needs of workers.
Partnership or reciprocal agreements can be arranged with other businesses or

organizations that can support each other in the event of a disaster. Assuming space is
available, issues such as the capacity and connectivity of telecommunications and
information technology, protection of privacy and intellectual property, the impacts to
each other’s operation and allocating expenses must be addressed. Agreements should
be negotiated in writing and documented in the business continuity plan. Periodic review
of the agreement is needed to determine if there is a change in the ability of each party
to support the other.
There are many vendors that support business continuity and information technology
recovery strategies. External suppliers can provide a full business environment
including office space and live data centers ready to be occupied. Other options include
provision of technology equipped office trailers, replacement machinery and other
equipment. The availability and cost of these options can be affected when a regional
disaster results in competition for these resources.
There are multiple strategies for recovery of manufacturing operations. Many of these
strategies include use of existing owned or leased facilities. Manufacturing strategies
include:
 Shifting production from one facility to another

 Increasing manufacturing output at operational facilities
 Retooling production from one item to another
 Prioritization of production—by profit margin or customer relationship
 Maintaining higher raw materials or finished goods inventory
 Reallocating existing inventory, repurchase or buyback of inventory
 Limiting orders (e.g., maximum order size or unit quantity)
 Contracting with third parties
 Purchasing business interruption insurance
There are many factors to consider in manufacturing recovery strategies:
 Will a facility be available when needed?

 How much time will it take to shift production from one product to another?
 How much will it cost to shift production from one product to another?
 How much revenue would be lost when displacing other production?
 How much extra time will it take to receive raw materials or ship finished goods to
customers? Will the extra time impact customer relationships?
 Are there any regulations that would restrict shifting production?
 What quality issues could arise if production is shifted or outsourced?
 Are there any long-term consequences associated with a strategy?
Resources for Developing Recovery Strategies
 Professional Practices for Business Continuity Professionals - DRI International

(non-profit business continuity education and certification body)
 The Telework Coalition (America’s leading nonprofit telework education and
advocacy organization)
Manual Workarounds
Telephones are ringing and customer service staff is busy talking with customers and
keying orders into the computer system. The electronic order entry system checks
available inventory, processes payments and routes orders to the distribution center for
fulfillment. Suddenly the order entry system goes down. What should the customer
service staff do now? If the staff is equipped with paper order forms, order processing
can continue until the electronic system comes back up and no phone orders will be
lost.
The order forms and procedures for using them are examples of “manual workarounds.”
These workarounds are recovery strategies for use when information technology
resources are not available.
Developing Manual Workarounds

Identify the steps in the automated process - creating a diagram of the process can
help. Consider the following aspects of information and work flow:
Internal Interfaces (department, person, activity and resource requirements)
 External Interfaces (company, contact person, activity and resource

requirements)
 Tasks (in sequential order)
 Manual intervention points
Create data collection forms to capture information and define processes for manual
handling of the information collected. Establish control logs to document transactions
and track their progress through the manual system.
Manual workarounds require manual labor, so you may need to reassign staff or bring in
temporary assistance

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What are the four steps in developing a business continuity plan?

What are the four steps in developing a business continuity plan?

What information should be included when identifying critical business functions and processes?

What information should be included when identifying critical business functions and processes?

Business Continuity Plan

Business Continuity Planning Process Diagram - Text Version

 Conduct a business impact analysis to identify time-sensitive or critical business

Information technology (IT) includes many components such as networks, servers,

Resources for Business Continuity Planning

 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

The Operational & Financial Impacts worksheet can be used to capture this information

Resource Required to Support Recovery Strategies

Recovery of a critical or time-sensitive process requires resources. The Business

Following an incident that disrupts business operations, resources will be needed to

Conducting the Business Continuity Impact Analysis

The worksheets Operational and Financial Impacts and Business Continuity Resource

If a facility is damaged, production machinery breaks down, a supplier fails to deliver or

Recovery strategies require resources including people, facilities, equipment, materials

In an emergency, space at another facility can be put to use. Cafeterias, conference

Partnership or reciprocal agreements can be arranged with other businesses or

 Shifting production from one facility to another

There are many factors to consider in manufacturing recovery strategies:

 Will a facility be available when needed?

Resources for Developing Recovery Strategies

 Professional Practices for Business Continuity Professionals - DRI International

Developing Manual Workarounds

Internal Interfaces (department, person, activity and resource requirements)

 External Interfaces (company, contact person, activity and resource

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