Business Continuity Plan

Updating the organization’s business continuity management plan regularly to incorporate new constraints and challenges is a crucial component of the organization’s resiliency goal. Adapting the plan over a period of time and developing the capabilities to tackle and respond to disruptive hazards is the prime focus of the business continuity manager once the BCM lifecycle has been launched. This is an ongoing undertaking that requires an active level of involvement from BCM executives. The main reason for this is a high level of interaction between different and often disparate commercial and technical entities within the organization that need to collectively work towards common objectives.

Updating the BCM Plan to Incorporate New Challenges and Constraints

The approach adopted to maintain the BCM module’s relevance on a long term basis is defined in the enterprise’s BCM policy.

Staffing requirements will vary from company to company, depending on the business’ operational dimensions. Smaller companies can make do with a single employee who takes responsibility for supervising the entire business continuity management module. The expansive scale of operations in larger companies necessitates many employees who are grouped into teams that deal with specific focus areas. Operations in such enterprises have a hierarchical structure to streamline processes and optimize a greater level effectiveness and efficiency.

Procedural Framework

The upper management should:

• Delegate the supervision of the BCM module to a suitable executive with the relevant abilities
• Define the extent to which the BCM module can be improved upon
• Assess the budgetary requirements for upgrading existing systems and processes
• Establish metrics for evaluating management performance
• Analyze the impact of gaps in management performance on the effectiveness of the business continuity plan

Broadly outlined roles and responsibilities of the BCM executive or team include:

• Designing and approving a process for managing the business continuity plan
• Breaking down the management process into segments that address specific stages of the BCM lifecycle
• Establishing communication strategies that facilitate reciprocity between different interlinked teams and departments
• Streamlining the execution of the business continuity management module, both internally and externally
• Identifying ways to cut down on costs and manage the available budget in a manner that optimizes expenditure
• Archiving all the tasks and activities carried out through an extensive documentation plan
• Gathering intelligence on the response capabilities of other companies in the industry as of the current date along with business continuity requirements mandated by regulatory norms and compliance
• Keeping the leadership teams updated on the organization’s response capabilities as of the current date and the identified gaps when compared with those of other companies in the industry along with their monetary implications

The business continuity management team would need to outline a strategy for training and knowledge sharing so that the contextual relevance of skills and expertise levels of personnel is constantly maintained. Focus areas include:

• Establishing contact with teams and departments and coordinating all their business continuity related activities
• Identifying the impact of implementing a change in business continuity systems and processes on mainstream operations
• Establishing a protocol for process changes and improvisations
• Rehearsing plans periodically to identify gaps in execution
• Developing the capabilities to effectuate a full-fledged enterprise wide response when a crisis occurs

Execution Strategy

An organization can adopt a variety of managerial approaches to effectuate business continuity maintenance. Options include:

Takeaways and Evaluation

A framework has been created for the organization to constantly upgrade its business continuity management capabilities

Parameters for evaluation include:

• Efficiency of a process driven maintenance strategy that has been approved by the organization’s deciding authorities
• Frequency and effectiveness with which the organization revisits the purpose, goals and objectives of the business continuity management module in order to incorporate changes in its resiliency targets
• Alignment of protocols for managing the business continuity plan with the organization’s resiliency targets and industry standards
• Incorporation of the business continuity management component into the consolidated plan’s operational framework
• Strategic direction for business continuity
• Initiatives for generating more capital that can be directed towards business continuity management
• Effectiveness of documentation procedures, especially for knowledge transfer and training purposes during attrition and on-boarding of new staff
• Mechanism for triggering alerts, warnings, notifications, escalations and invocations in response to business disruptions

Effective management of a business continuity plan to optimize efficiency across its various tasks and activities has tangible implications for the organization’s overall resiliency. The periodicity with which plans are reviewed various from business to business and is largely dependent on the criticality of business operations and customer requirements.

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