The business continuity plan is one of the most straightforward though effective items you will draw up for your company. Incredible to think, then, that many people who run their own enterprises have no idea where to begin. This guide will help, highlighting the main important areas when putting this item together.
The first thing to clarify is exactly what a BCP does and is. The reason you need one is to plan out what happens and what everybody in the organisation does when a disaster or problem strikes that stops you from operating at normal productivity. The problems that can, potentially, hit you out of the blue are numerous and can come from anywhere. Do not assume that you know them all from past experience.
First off you need to think about your staff and who is most important to your company. Look at all workers and decide which ones you can simply not afford to lose at any time. These are the ones you need to have a plan for.
Now have a think about how they do their jobs. Mainly you want to decide how many of them can telecommute and how this will affect their workload. If they cannot do their current role on a telecommuting basis and you are particularly worried about a disaster striking that stops production, then consider how you can modify their role to allow telecommuting to take place.
Next you want to have a long think about the external personnel who are key to your success - IT consultants, accountants, suppliers, etc. Make up a list and detail all contact information, location and how often you need to meet with them. A disaster might strike that shuts down their business as well as yours. While you cannot write their BCP you can make sure to take such a possibility into consideration in your own.
Office and work equipment is the next step. It is difficult to imagine how a day of work can be done nowadays with no electrical equipment to hand but if a disaster strikes this may be exactly the situation you find yourselves in. If printing is central to how your business makes money you will need to plan for its absence.
The main part of your business continuity plan is going to be your what-to-do section. This is where everybody in the company is instructed in terms of how they react when a disaster strikes. Detailing this effectively and understandably will mean the business survives even large scale events that knock you off balance.
The first thing to clarify is exactly what a BCP does and is. The reason you need one is to plan out what happens and what everybody in the organisation does when a disaster or problem strikes that stops you from operating at normal productivity. The problems that can, potentially, hit you out of the blue are numerous and can come from anywhere. Do not assume that you know them all from past experience.
First off you need to think about your staff and who is most important to your company. Look at all workers and decide which ones you can simply not afford to lose at any time. These are the ones you need to have a plan for.
Now have a think about how they do their jobs. Mainly you want to decide how many of them can telecommute and how this will affect their workload. If they cannot do their current role on a telecommuting basis and you are particularly worried about a disaster striking that stops production, then consider how you can modify their role to allow telecommuting to take place.
Next you want to have a long think about the external personnel who are key to your success - IT consultants, accountants, suppliers, etc. Make up a list and detail all contact information, location and how often you need to meet with them. A disaster might strike that shuts down their business as well as yours. While you cannot write their BCP you can make sure to take such a possibility into consideration in your own.
Office and work equipment is the next step. It is difficult to imagine how a day of work can be done nowadays with no electrical equipment to hand but if a disaster strikes this may be exactly the situation you find yourselves in. If printing is central to how your business makes money you will need to plan for its absence.
The main part of your business continuity plan is going to be your what-to-do section. This is where everybody in the company is instructed in terms of how they react when a disaster strikes. Detailing this effectively and understandably will mean the business survives even large scale events that knock you off balance.
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If you are in need of a good business continuity plan take a look at Evergreen Data Continuity. We offer business continuity software for many purposes and more info is at the home page.
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