A single source of reference for BCM professionals across every discipline of business continuity management.
The BCM Institute put together a set of standardized BCM definitions and practices in the BCM Body of Knowledge (BCMBoK) Guide — covering a wide range of topics including crisis management, crisis communication, and disaster recovery. Released in 2009, it provides organizations across industries a consistent framework for business continuity management.
The purpose and objectives of the BCMBoK run parallel to those of ISO 22301. The document provides organizations and BCDR professionals a single source of reference while developing a resiliency capability. Because BCM is a vast field covering diverse topics, BCMBoK compiles the essential aspects of each discipline into one body of work.
Completion grants the Planner certification — entry level BCM qualification
Completion grants the Specialist certification — BCM Audit begins at this level (Auditor)
Completion grants the Expert or Lead Auditor certification
Each subdivision defines the minimum knowledge requirements for BCM professionals across every stage of the continuity management lifecycle.
Outlines minimum project management requirements for a BCM professional — synchronizing executive management, establishing achievable expectations, delegating roles, creating work plans with deadlines, and estimating project budgets.
Covers analyzing organizational risks from a BCM perspective, detecting threats from internal and external sources, implementing risk treatment activities (avoidance, reduction, transference, acceptance), and obtaining leadership approval for risk strategies.
Defines prerequisites for BIA — establishing scope, deploying a BIA process, gathering data on critical business functions and processes, determining inter/intra dependencies, and establishing resource requirements for continuity.
Covers establishing recovery strategies for all business units, conducting cost-benefit assessments for chosen strategies, selecting backup locations and alternate sites, and compiling a list of mission-critical process recovery plans for leadership approval.
Details a sequentially ordered series of tasks for mitigating incident impacts — documenting mission-critical operations, developing user-friendly templates for BC/CC/CM/DR, managing recovery team staffing, and establishing protocols for official and external agencies.
Establishes minimum requirements for testing and exercising plans — ensuring objectives, policies, and responsibilities are clearly defined, prioritizing process effectiveness and resource access, and presenting findings to leadership for review and action.
The final subdivision outlines minimum requirements for keeping plans current, aligned with international standards, and embedded into organizational culture.
Create a formal framework for maintaining plans — ensuring they are kept up to date, accurate, and aligned with the organization's current operational reality.
Maintain awareness among personnel across the organization — incorporating BCM objectives into organizational culture so resilience becomes a shared responsibility.
Incorporate resiliency capabilities into mainstream commercial objectives — making resilience a deciding factor while formulating overall business strategy.
Align the organization's BC, CC, CM, and DR capabilities with international standards — creating an objective framework for evaluating the feasibility and completeness of all plans.
Audit plans periodically to detect glitches and identify areas for improvement — ensuring the program remains effective and responsive to evolving threats and organizational changes.
Embed a culture of continuous improvement — so BCM is not a one-time project but an ongoing organizational capability that strengthens over time.
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