When making a business continuity plan, there are many aspects that you need to consider apart from just your solution for emergency situations, such as your customers, clients, employees, suppliers, creditors and the debts you owe.
Disasters can strike at any time; natural calamities such as storms, typhoons, bushfires, floods, earthquakes and crises such as blackouts, IT failures and infiltrations, cybercrime and robberies can all be devastating, so a proper business continuity plan is essential.
These are some things to consider when making your business continuity plan:
• Critical Business Functions
Identify all of the business processes and functions critical to your business operations on a day to day basis and try and determine in which order they come into importance of maintaining your business functionality as well as how they can mitigate the impact of a crisis
Try and identify the result of the disruption or loss of each critical business function so you can priorities the order in which these need to be reinstalled
• Essential Systems and Equipment
Safeguarding on site computer systems, data storage and critical information is vital as the loss of these can impact business and client relations as well as affect productivity and pose cybersecurity risks.
Identify all the other equipment that is crucial to your business such as irreplaceable software and special equipment
• Different Potential Threats and Risks
Forming your business continuity plan strategy involves looking at all the different possible risks or threats to your business, the area around your business and making different action plans for different scenarios and the effects they may have.
• Is your business predisposed to robbery or security attacks?
• Are you located in an area that could flood?
• Are you in an Earthquake zone?
• Are you exposed to typhoons or storms?
• What would happen with a terrorist attack or bombing in your area?
Emergency Contact Information
During an emergency, it’s often too late to search for emergency numbers and directions so have all these details on hand in case of emergencies.
• Disaster Recovery Teams
Make sure you have an effective disaster recovery team that includes personal from all levels of your business and they are well trained for different emergency situations with clearly assigned roles and responsibilities that relate to their expertise and abilities
• Emergency Drills
When you have identified all potential threats all personal need to practice and be informed about what to do during a different disaster situation, from evacuation plans to turning off equipment
• Data Back Up Planning
All critical data should be backed up in a safe location, such as cloud storage where it can be accessed in the event of a system failure or emergency to ensure business continuity
• Alternative Facilities
In the event, you need to evacuate your premises have an alternative venue you can work from and arrangements for employees to work from home and the devices they can use.
You need to assign an area as a safe rally point for everyone in your company and any guests so you can take account of everyone and take any appropriate action before, during and after a crisis or disaster.
Having a well planned business continuity plan can not only make it easier for your business to recover after a disaster, but can help minimise any loss or danger to human life or property.