Business Continuity Planning: Ensuring the Resilience of Your Organization

Let’s explore the intricacies of business continuity planning, from understanding its importance to implementing a robust strategy that safeguards your enterprise.

Published by Orgvue   November 20, 2023

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In an unpredictable world, the ability to sustain your business’s essential functions and operations, even in the face of disruptions, is paramount.

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Business continuity planning is the framework that ensures your organization can weather storms, both literal and metaphorical.

What is Business Continuity Planning?

At its core, business continuity planning is the process of developing a proactive strategy to ensure an organization’s critical functions and operations can continue in the face of unforeseen disruptions.

It encompasses a range of activities, from risk assessment to the creation of detailed recovery plans, with the ultimate goal of minimizing downtime and ensuring the organization’s resilience.

The Importance of Business Continuity Planning

The importance of being prepared for various external and internal factors cannot be overstated. While many businesses have a standard business plan, not all of them consider the potential disruptions caused by natural calamities, economic downturns, or other unexpected events. Business continuity planning is the key to ensuring a company’s sustained operation, regardless of the challenges it may face.

Business continuity planning goes beyond the traditional business plan. While a business plan outlines goals and strategies for growth, a continuity plan focuses on how the organization will continue to function in the face of adversity. It involves identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate and recover from them. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a cyberattack or an economic recession, having a well-thought-out strategic plan is essential for business survival.

One of the most significant threats to businesses is an economic downturn, such as a recession. During these challenging times, consumer spending often decreases, and businesses may face financial instability. A recession can have a ripple effect on companies of all sizes, causing decreased revenue, layoffs, and even closures.

For a detailed look at the impact of recessions on businesses, read how to prepare for a recession , which delves into strategies for navigating these challenging economic conditions.

Business strategy planning is not just about surviving during tough times; it’s also crucial for capitalizing on periods of growth. When businesses experience an upturn, they often need to scale rapidly to meet increased demand. Having a continuity plan in place allows for a smoother transition during periods of growth, ensuring that the infrastructure, resources and workforce can adapt effectively.

The financial consequences of not having a business continuity plan can be devastating. Without a plan in place, businesses are more vulnerable to unexpected disruptions, which can result in significant financial losses. These losses may come from increased downtime, lost revenue, legal liabilities, reputational damage and the costs associated with recovery efforts.

Considerations for Business Continuity Planning

Creating a robust business continuity plan is a complex task that involves a multitude of factors. Among these considerations, three key aspects stand out: cultural differences, limited resources and alignment with business objectives. A successful business strategy plan takes these factors into account to ensure that an organization can effectively respond to disruptions while maintaining its core values and strategic direction.

1. Cultural Differences

Cultural diversity is a significant consideration in business strategy planning, especially for multinational companies or organizations with a diverse workforce. Cultural differences can influence how employees perceive and respond to crises. When developing a business continuity plan, it is important to consider the following aspects:

  • Communication Styles : Different cultures have varying communication norms and hierarchies. Understanding how employees from various cultural backgrounds communicate during a crisis can help in crafting effective crisis communication strategies.
  • Decision-Making Processes : Some cultures prioritize consensus-driven decision-making, while others lean towards hierarchical authority. A business continuity plan should acknowledge these differences and provide flexibility in decision-making approaches during disruptions.
  • Crisis Response Expectations : Cultural expectations can shape how employees expect the organization to respond to a crisis. Your business strategy plan should be sensitive to these expectations and ensure that response strategies align with cultural norms.

2. Limited Resources

For many businesses, resource constraints are a reality. When developing a business continuity plan, it’s crucial to consider the organization’s resource limitations, such as budget, personnel and technology. Here are some key considerations:

  • Resource Allocation : Prioritize critical functions and allocate resources accordingly. Not all business processes are equally important, and a business continuity plan should identify and protect the most essential ones first.
  • Efficiency and Scalability : Develop strategies that focus on efficiency and scalability. Efficient resource use is critical, and a business strategy plan should outline how to adapt to changing resource constraints during a crisis.
  • Collaboration : Collaboration with external partners, such as suppliers, can be a resource-saving strategy. Establishing relationships with partners who can provide support during disruptions is a valuable aspect.

3. Business Objectives

A business continuity plan should align with the broader business objectives to ensure that it doesn’t hinder growth or innovation. Consider the following aspects:

  • Market Expansion:  If the organization’s objective is to expand into new markets, the business strategy plan should accommodate this goal. It should address the challenges and opportunities that come with market expansion, including regulatory compliance and logistical considerations.
  • Relocation or Migration : If there are plans to relocate or migrate operations, the business continuity plan should include strategies for a seamless transition. This may involve considerations such as data migration, employee relocation and continuity of customer service.
  • Competitive Landscape : Changes in the competitive landscape, such as the emergence of new competitors, can impact the organization’s continuity. The business strategy plan should be flexible enough to adapt to shifts in the competitive environment.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to adapt rapidly, with remote work becoming the norm for many, reshaping entire industries like healthcare and e-commerce.
  • The global recession of 2008 had long-lasting effects on financial institutions and prompted regulatory changes that influenced business operations.
  • The rise of the internet transformed countless businesses, from retail to media, and required adaptation to online platforms.
  • Looking ahead, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence have the potential to disrupt industries in unprecedented ways, with automation and data-driven decision-making reshaping the future of work. These events emphasize the critical importance of adaptable and comprehensive business continuity planning to navigate the unpredictable landscape of our ever-evolving world.

Developing a Strategic Business Plan

A well structured business plan serves as a roadmap for your organization, guiding actions and decisions while enabling effective response to a dynamic business environment.

  • Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the business.
  • Review financial statements, market positioning and operational performance.
  • Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
  • Evaluate the company’s internal resources and capabilities.
  • Analyze micro-environment factors such as competitors, customers, suppliers and regulatory changes.
  • Examine macro-environment factors like economic trends, technological advancements and political factors.
  • Use tools like PESTEL analysis and Porter’s Five Forces to assess the external business environment.
  • Clearly define short-term and long-term business objectives.
  • Make objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).
  • Align objectives with the company’s mission and vision.
  • Identify key operational processes that drive business success.
  • Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of these processes.
  • Prioritize improvements in critical areas to align with strategic objectives.
  • Plan for potential risks and uncertainties that could impact the business.
  • Create contingency and crisis management strategies.
  • Establish a risk management framework to mitigate and respond to unforeseen events.
  • Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress.
  • Regularly review and revise the business plan based on changing market conditions.
  • Adapt to emerging opportunities and challenges.
  • Ensure that the strategic plan is communicated effectively throughout the organization.
  • Secure buy-in and commitment from employees at all levels.
  • Ensure that all team members understand their roles in achieving the plan’s objectives.
  • Allocate resources, including finances and manpower, in alignment with the strategic priorities.
  • Develop a budget that reflects the financial requirements of the plan.
  • Monitor spending and adjust budgets as needed.
  • Develop a timeline and action plan for the execution of the strategic initiatives.
  • Assign responsibilities to specific teams or individuals.
  • Regularly review progress and make adjustments to stay on track.
  • Periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic plan.
  • Solicit feedback from employees, customers and stakeholders.
  • Use feedback to make continuous improvements and refine the plan.
  • Establish a system for measuring and reporting progress.
  • Create dashboards or reports to communicate key metrics to stakeholders.
  • Ensure that performance data aligns with the defined objectives.
  • Incorporate sustainability and responsible growth practices into the plan.
  • Address social and environmental impacts as part of corporate responsibility.
  • Seek opportunities for sustainable growth and innovation.
  • Develop scenarios that explore alternative future situations.
  • Consider various outcomes and their implications on the business.
  • Prepare for different scenarios to enhance adaptability.
  • Leverage technology for data analytics, automation, and efficiency.
  • Stay updated on emerging technologies that can support the strategic plan.
  • Integrate technology solutions to enhance business processes.

Implementing a Business Continuity Plan

why should a business create a business continuity plan

 Importance of Training and Awareness:

  • Awareness:  Create awareness about the business continuity plan across the organization to foster a culture of preparedness. This includes educating employees on the potential risks and the importance of the plan.

 Consistent Review of the Plan:

  • Conduct post-incident reviews to assess the BCP’s performance after a real event and make necessary adjustments.

 Address Cultural and Technological Issues:

  • Technological Challenges: Recognize and mitigate technological hurdles that can hinder the plan’s execution, such as infrastructure limitations or cybersecurity threats. Ensure that IT systems are resilient and can support the plan.

 Software Integration:

  • Organizational design software like Orgvue can assist in visualizing and optimizing the organizational structure, enabling efficient allocation of resources and responsibilities during a disruption.

Business continuity planning is not merely a precaution but a strategic imperative for any organization. It provides a structured approach to safeguarding business operations in the face of unforeseen disruptions, thereby minimizing downtime and potential financial losses.

By fostering a culture of preparedness, training employees, regularly reviewing and adapting the plan, addressing cultural and technological issues, and leveraging software solutions like Orgvue for organizational design, businesses can ensure their resilience and adaptability in an ever-changing landscape.

For businesses with specific 1-5 year plans, the integration of business strategy planning is paramount. It aligns seamlessly with forward-looking strategies by fortifying the organization’s ability to execute those plans in the face of unexpected events.

By weaving business continuity considerations into your strategic framework, you not only protect your investments but also demonstrate your commitment to long-term success, customer trust and stakeholder confidence. The benefits of such foresight extend far beyond mitigating risk; they empower your business to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world. Therefore, it is recommended that businesses of all sizes prioritize and integrate business continuity planning as an integral part of their strategic vision and ongoing operations.

Business Continuity Plan FAQs

● where does business continuity planning belong in an organization.

Depending on the organization’s culture, the department your business continuity plan falls under varies. IT is usually one of the most vital components of any business strategy plan, in which case it could belong under the IT department. Or, if financial impacts are your organization’s main concern, the finance department may need to run the plan.

● Who Is Responsible For the Business Continuity Plan?

The business continuity plan usually falls under the responsibility of a dedicated role or department, often led by a Business Continuity Manager, who reports to senior leadership. This individual or team is responsible for creating, implementing, and regularly updating the plan to ensure the organization’s resilience in the face of disruptions.

● Is Business Continuity Planning a Legal Requirement?

It is not always a legal requirement, but certain industries and jurisdictions may have regulations or standards that mandate organizations to have such plans in place to ensure operational resilience and preparedness for emergencies.

● What Role Can Business Continuity Planning Play In Recovering From an Incident?

It plays a crucial role in helping organizations recover from incidents by providing a structured framework to assess, respond to and mitigate the impact of disruptions, minimizing downtime and financial losses. It outlines clear procedures and responsibilities, ensuring that essential operations can resume swiftly and efficiently, thus safeguarding the organization’s reputation and maintaining stakeholder trust.

● When Should a Business Continuity Plan Be Activated?

A business continuity plan should be activated as a preventative measure in the event a disruptive incident occurs. Triggers may include natural disasters, cyberattacks, supply chain disruptions or any event that threatens the continuity of critical business functions.

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Why You Need a Reliable Business Continuity Plan

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You’ve likely heard that nearly half of all new businesses fail . According to the Small Business Association (SBA), 50 percent of businesses fail during the first five years. Over a 10-year span, the percentage increases to 66. But what can be done to avoid this? A business continuity plan. While it’s difficult to determine the percentage of businesses that have a continuity plan in place, one thing is certain: it’s better to have one than not.

A business continuity plan is a process by which businesses can prepare themselves to weather the potential threats that are always on the horizon, keeping their project plans, schedules and processes intact. Before we dive into what is a business continuity plan and how to write one, let’s quickly define business continuity planning.

What Is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the process by which companies can overcome potential threats that can affect their ability to continue. Business continuity planning consists in creating recovery strategies, improving business processes and defining a recovery time objective.

ProjectManager is an online project and work management software that allows you to track time, costs, tasks and budgets. Our real-time dashboard gives you a high-level view of six metrics, a great tool to help you manage the implementation of your business continuity plan. Get started for free.

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What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a plan to assist a business when and if there’s an emergency or potential threat to its solvency. These can be any number of risks including natural disasters such as fires and earthquakes to man-made risks such as cyberattacks. All of these are outside of normal business operating conditions.

In other words, business continuity is exactly as it sounds: maintaining business functions or responding quickly to resuming them if there’s a major disruption to that business. A business continuity plan is not the same as a business plan, which contains the executive summary , company info, market research and strategies, etc.

Why Do I Need a Business Continuity Plan?

The importance of a business continuity plan should be clear, but some business owners might be overworked by simply running operations and ensuring solvency. The problem with such thinking is that it’s reactive. You’re never in a position to profit from good business and grow your company as you’re always chasing fires and putting them out.

Remaining competitive is key for business success, and to lose operational capacity due to an act of nature removes you from the marketplace either temporarily or forever. It’s not a risk that can be ignored, which is why there’s a strong need to create a plan of action.

Key Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan varies from one company to another as they’re tailored to the needs of a particular business. However, there are basic elements that should always be included. Here are the five most commonly used elements of a business continuity plan.

Critical Business Areas & Processes

The first step in business continuity planning (BCP) is to analyze your business operations and identify the business units, business areas and business processes that are important to your company. You’ll need to identify which of those require improvements and which can be cut from your continuity plan.

Business Data

Once you’ve identified the business areas and processes that’ll be part of your BCP, you’ll need to look for all of the business data you can find. Data analysis is the only way to accurately understand what aspects of your business are successful and which aren’t.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is a critical element of a business continuity plan. To help your business continue to grow, you need to identify every potential risk that could stop you. It’s suggested that you use a risk register to list the potential risks along with risk mitigation strategies to implement if needed.

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

A business continuity impact analysis is done to determine the consequences of a sudden loss of business operations, units or processes. By conducting a business continuity impact analysis, you can determine the business impact in terms of costs, time frames and affected dependencies.

Recovery Time Objective

A business continuity plan is meant to be an actionable document that helps companies overcome difficulties and natural disasters. The recovery time objective is an estimated point in time by which you believe your business continuity planning strategies will take effect.

How to Create a Reliable Business Continuity Plan in 7 Steps

When working on a business continuity plan, there are several steps that must be taken to ensure that it’s reliable, all of which are outlined below.

1. Analyze Organizational Threats

You can’t prepare for what you don’t know. There will always be aspects of potential risks that are beyond your control so it’s important to do the due diligence. Make a comprehensive list of what threats are the most likely to impact your business. Then, dig deeper into each threat to see how it would impact your operations.

By analyzing your organizational threats, you’ll have an idea of what you need to do in order to respond. Consider using a risk register template to keep track of each risk.

2. List Primary Tasks to Stay Operational

Once you know what might happen, you have to devise a strategy to respond so the business can keep its doors open. That means prioritizing your list to include only top-level items that address the livelihood of the business.

Other points on your list are important, of course, but you can’t do everything, especially in an emergency. Pick what must be done and complete the rest once the dust has settled.

3. Safeguard Contacts

What if your facility is damaged or what if your IT is compromised? What if you lose contact information for executives and managers who are crucial to the smooth operation of the business? This is why it’s important to keep a list of management and their contacts in a safe or in multiple places so they’re easily accessible.

In case of an emergency, you need to reach the important stakeholders in your organization immediately. There’s no time to search for this information; it needs to always be at your fingertips.

4. Direct Personnel

Depending on the situation, there might not be anyone in a position of authority to explain what personnel should do and where they should go. This is a recipe for chaos, which only adds another problem on top of an already problematic situation.

That’s why it’s important to have a plan for where personnel needs to be if and when a disaster happens. You want to keep them out of harm’s way and place them in a position to carry on with operations if that’s a possibility.

5. Backup Data

Although this is second nature for many, it still bears repeating. Information is one of the most important assets for many businesses, and it must be protected from a potential breach or compromise of IT.

That data must be backed up in more than one place and there should be backups both on-site and off-site in case there is a localized catastrophic event. Online project management software offers you cloud storage for your data, creating an additional safeguard.

6. Collaborate Across the Organization

Businesses are collections of many different departments and the coordination of these elements is critical in getting operations up and running or running as normal. This is why a collaboration plan that includes all facets of the business must be in place to ensure these different departments are working together, not against one another.

7. Get Buy-In on Your BCP

For any business continuity plan to work, it must be distributed to everyone in the business so they understand their part in the process is. But even more than that, every person, from the top to the bottom of the business, must buy into the plan.

Anyone who doesn’t buy into your business continuity plan is a weak link that will break the chain you created to protect the business during this challenging period.

Creating a business continuity plan is like creating any plan. You need to have the tools to plan one, share it and then track it to make sure it’s progressing as planned. That requires robust project management software with the scheduling features you need to facilitate the process. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management tool that lets you manage and control even major changes to keep your business operational. See how it can help your business by taking this free 30-day trial.

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  • Business Continuity Plan Basics
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Business Continuity Plan FAQs

The Bottom Line

What is a business continuity plan (bcp), and how does it work.

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? 

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

Key Takeaways

  • Business continuity plans (BCPs) are prevention and recovery systems for potential threats, such as natural disasters or cyber-attacks.
  • BCP is designed to protect personnel and assets and make sure they can function quickly when disaster strikes.
  • BCPs should be tested to ensure there are no weaknesses, which can be identified and corrected.

Understanding Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)

BCP involves defining any and all risks that can affect the company's operations, making it an important part of the organization's risk management strategy. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—and cyber-attacks . Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include:

  • Determining how those risks will affect operations
  • Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks
  • Testing procedures to ensure they work
  • Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an important part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition. It is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel.

Business impact analysis, recovery, organization, and training are all steps corporations need to follow when creating a Business Continuity Plan.

Benefits of a Business Continuity Plan

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic. Business continuity planning is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of major disasters such as fires. BCPs are different from a disaster recovery plan, which focuses on the recovery of a company's information technology system after a crisis.

Consider a finance company based in a major city. It may put a BCP in place by taking steps including backing up its computer and client files offsite. If something were to happen to the company's corporate office, its satellite offices would still have access to important information.

An important point to note is that BCP may not be as effective if a large portion of the population is affected, as in the case of a disease outbreak. Nonetheless, BCPs can improve risk management—preventing disruptions from spreading. They can also help mitigate downtime of networks or technology, saving the company money.

How To Create a Business Continuity Plan

There are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid BCP. They include:

  • Business Impact Analysis : Here, the business will identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive. (More on this below.)
  • Recovery : In this portion, the business must identify and implement steps to recover critical business functions.
  • Organization : A continuity team must be created. This team will devise a plan to manage the disruption.
  • Training : The continuity team must be trained and tested. Members of the team should also complete exercises that go over the plan and strategies.

Companies may also find it useful to come up with a checklist that includes key details such as emergency contact information, a list of resources the continuity team may need, where backup data and other required information are housed or stored, and other important personnel.

Along with testing the continuity team, the company should also test the BCP itself. It should be tested several times to ensure it can be applied to many different risk scenarios . This will help identify any weaknesses in the plan which can then be corrected.

In order for a business continuity plan to be successful, all employees—even those who aren't on the continuity team—must be aware of the plan.

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis. It identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis. The worksheet should be completed by business function and process managers who are well acquainted with the business. These worksheets will summarize the following:

  • The impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and process
  • Identifying when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts

Completing the analysis can help companies identify and prioritize the processes that have the most impact on the business's financial and operational functions. The point at which they must be recovered is generally known as the “recovery time objective.”

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

BCPs and disaster recovery plans are similar in nature, the latter focuses on technology and information technology (IT) infrastructure. BCPs are more encompassing—focusing on the entire organization, such as customer service and supply chain. 

BCPs focus on reducing overall costs or losses, while disaster recovery plans look only at technology downtimes and related costs. Disaster recovery plans tend to involve only IT personnel—which create and manage the policy. However, BCPs tend to have more personnel trained on the potential processes. 

Why Is Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Important?

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic and business continuity plans (BCPs) are an important part of any business. BCP is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of threats and disruptions. This could result in a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition.

What Should a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Include?

Business continuity plans involve identifying any and all risks that can affect the company's operations. The plan should also determine how those risks will affect operations and implement safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks. There should also be testing procedures to ensure these safeguards and procedures work. Finally, there should be a review process to make sure that the plan is up to date.

What Is Business Continuity Impact Analysis?

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis which identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis.

These worksheets summarize the impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and processes. They also identify when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts.

Business continuity plans (BCPs) are created to help speed up the recovery of an organization filling a threat or disaster. The plan puts in place mechanisms and functions to allow personnel and assets to minimize company downtime. BCPs cover all organizational risks should a disaster happen, such as flood or fire.  

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15 - 17.

Ready. “ IT Disaster Recovery Plan .”

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ." Pages 15-17.

why should a business create a business continuity plan

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5 reasons why business continuity management is important

You never need a business continuity plan until you do. Here are 5 reasons you should start yours today.

Read time: 6 minutes

...updated 12/12/2023...

Organizations often underestimate the importance of a business continuity plan. No one ever notices its absence – until disaster strikes. By then, it’s too late.

Any unplanned interruption of normal business processes can create immense hurdles and costly setbacks. Operations suffer. Revenue may suffer even more. 

Unplanned interruptions take many forms. It can be something as simple as a power outage. It could be a major hurricane. Ultimately, a disaster can be anything that disrupts normal business operations. Regardless of the cause, unplanned means unexpected.

With a business continuity plan in place, you position yourself to minimize the impact and damage of an unexpected event. In this article, we will discuss:

What constitutes business continuity planning and the difference between it and disaster recovery .

The top 5 reasons your organization needs a business continuity plan.

The importance of business continuity planning beyond simply restoring operations.

How to get started building a business continuity plan.

planning meeting

What is business continuity planning?

A business continuity plan gives an organization the ability to maintain essential processes before, during, and after a disaster.

Business continuity differs from disaster recovery in its holistic approach to the business.  Business continuity reflects a business-wide implementation plan to ensure the continuation of critical business functions should a disruptive event occur. Disaster recovery “recovers” an organization’s hardware, applications, and data after a technology disruption.

Learn more about Business continuity and disaster recovery solutions and services

disaster recovery planning

5 Reasons your organization needs a business continuity plan

While it takes time and effort to build and test a business continuity plan, you’ll find it well worth it should a disaster strike.

Here are 5 of the main reasons you need a business continuity plan:

Reason #1: Disaster recovery

As noted in the previous section, disaster recovery plays a significant role in the restoration of business operations.

Disasters happen. Their unexpected nature is what makes them so devastating. Being prepared may not prevent the disaster, but it does mitigate the impact on your business.

Research states that 40 percent of small businesses never recover from a disaster.¹ Larger organizations take major hits.

Often when we think of disasters, we think of major events like earthquakes, floods, and natural disasters. These, however, aren’t the only causes of downtime. Data deletion due to human error, poor security habits of users, and incompetent employees or accidents also rank among the prime reasons for IT downtime.

data center backup

Reason #2: Data shows backups are not enough

Most companies deploy some form of data backup. Having data backed up does you no good if you cannot access it, such as could occur in a power outage or need to leave an office site even on a temporary basis. 

Accessing data in the event of a disaster can prove a problem. After all, having a backup is different from accessing it.

It’s a question business continuity planning asks: How will you access that data in the event of an outage? 

For example, the average enterprise backup reaches over a petabyte or more. This pushes conventional storage to its limits. Even several terabytes of data backed up by a small to mid-sized business can strain capacity and bandwidth. And if you don’t have a data center or hardware prepared to handle this volume of data, it does you no good.

By deploying business continuity and disaster recovery solutions leveraging cloud technologies and virtual servers, organizations can run critical business applications from backup instances on virtual servers in the cloud. This approach enables you to effectively “flip a switch” and can keep your downtime to a minimum.

business man and woman meeting

Reason #3: Insurance does not protect your data

Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and successful every year. 

A 2018 study of companies that were attacked found that 68% of breaches took months or longer to discover.² And insurance doesn’t restore data due to data center, server, or backup loss, or even lost access to any of these. 

Insurance isn’t enough to cover all the damages of a disaster. Yes, it can cover the costs of repairs, but in terms of loss of revenue and business prospects due to downtime, it has little effect.

happy business woman

Reason #4: Competitive edge

You have a big advantage over your competitors if you can restore normal operations while they are still trying to figure it out. Getting your network back up and running fast, restoring access to your business data and documents, and reconnecting your employees to communicate with each other and support your customers allows for your organization to stand-out as a leader and one that can be trusted and relied upon.

working remotely

Reason #5: Business must go on

Keeping a business going is essential. Taking a very simple view, if you lose the ability to buy and sell, your business – for all practical purposes – ceases to function.

Business continuity makes this possible by establishing actions that must be taken to ensure operations remain active, no matter the nature of the disaster. For example:

If the power goes out without certainty of when it will be restored, can you switch to a server or network located in a functioning data center?

If you experience a server failure, do you have a backup server (or virtual server) ready to go?

If your office location becomes inaccessible for any reason, can your employees work remotely?

When building your business continuity plan, you consider all the possible disruptions you might encounter. Loss of power or an office location is one of the biggest reasons offsite and redundant backup remains one of the most important aspects of IT reliability.

Your business simply cannot afford downtime. A solid business continuity plan can mean the difference between being back up and running in a matter of minutes versus days or even weeks.

customer support rep

The importance of a business continuity plan

A business continuity plan positions your organization to survive serious disruption. It eliminates confusion common to every disaster, providing a clear blueprint for what everyone should do.

More importantly, your business continuity plan supports:

Communication between employees and customers

Workflow operations essential to business activity

Customer service response, especially if you are a service provider

Business security, keeping your data and information secured wherever you and your team find yourself working

The flow of information and documents

Beyond business operations, your business continuity plan helps people. By keeping operations going, you are better positioned to keep your employees working, protecting the jobs that support them and their families. You also continue to meet the needs of your customers, impacting their lives, and if you are in a B2B business, the lives of their customers.

business meeting

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We have helped many businesses develop and implement business continuity plans.

In addition to consulting services like these, our IT services can remove the burden of monitoring and managing your data infrastructure to help give you increased reliability, reduced risk and a comprehensive business continuity plan in the event of a disaster.

Our IT services include: 

Server & network management

Device & desktop management

Managed cybersecurity services

End user communication services

Managed cloud services

Data center services

Disaster recovery and backup

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We know that your business is unique and has its own needs. In every engagement, you can be confident that we’ll work together to create a business continuity plan and if needed, a technology infrastructure built specifically for you.

Frequently asked questions.

A business continuity plan is crucial for ensuring an organization's resilience during unexpected disruptions, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, or economic downturns. It helps maintain essential functions and minimizes downtime.

A business continuity plan typically includes risk assessments, recovery strategies, communication plans, and testing. These components help businesses prepare for and respond to emergencies effectively, minimizing the impact on operations.

To assess your needs, identify critical functions, potential risks, and the resources required for recovery. A tailored plan should address your organization's unique vulnerabilities and objectives.

While a business continuity plan can significantly improve an organization's chances of survival, it does not guarantee it. Common challenges include resource constraints, resistance to change, and the need for regular updates to stay effective.

A business continuity plan should be reviewed at least annually or after significant changes to business operations, technology, or personnel. External events, such as major industry shifts, emerging threats, or regulatory updates, can also trigger revisions to ensure the plan remains relevant and effective.

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why should a business create a business continuity plan

Don’t underestimate the importance of a business continuity plan

Here’s how to protect your people, practices, and technology.

Jacob Shepard

Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Enterprise

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When disruption is unacceptable, business continuity is critical. Threats such as cyberattacks and natural phenomena can strike without warning, and business continuity is all about maintaining (or quickly resuming) business functions across all business lines – from HR and IT to marketing and sales – when the unexpected comes to pass. A comprehensive business continuity plan should be embedded as part of your organizational strategy; without it, you run a high risk of negatively impacting your productivity, reputation, revenue, and more. However, it is key to recognize that there’s more nuance to business continuity than you might think – read on for a brief overview and a deeper dive into this critical strategy.

Preparing for a crisis

Based on findings from a recent survey, PWC recommends three ways companies can better prepare for a crisis. – Design a strategic crisis response plan to mobilize swiftly, stabilize business operations and respond effectively to the shockwaves of disruption. – Break down silos – creating an integrated program is key to delivering a successful crisis response and to building resilience during everyday practices. – Prioritize and build organizational resilience into the fabric of your organization.

Business continuity is more than just disaster recovery

When people think of business continuity, they typically think of disaster recovery and traditional IT service outages. While IT infrastructure and operations are important components, you also need to ensure that your business continuity plan encompasses your people and practices. Many incidents outside of your technology can create the need for a business continuity plan, including lack of access to physical workspace, reputational crisis, or loss of key company individuals. To be able to appropriately respond to a wide range of issues, organizations should be set up in a way that enables its people to make impactful decisions without being hindered by bureaucracy – not to mention having strong practices in place.

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Case in point

We can look to the COVID-19 pandemic as a recent example of the urgent need for a comprehensive business continuity plan. Throughout the pandemic, business continuity planning has been critical – and it had nothing to do with the traditional IT outage. Organizations had to act quickly in order to continue business as usual and deliver the quality service their customers had come to expect. Disruption (in one form or another) was inevitable as teams scrambled to shift their approach to work and maintain the status quo. As teams continue to adapt in these unprecedented times, remote work has risen drastically, requiring businesses to implement new practices, rely more on agile methodologies, and assess their tooling to get work done. Click below to learn IT best practices that Atlassian implemented for a remote workforce

But what about my technology?

Atlassian Cloud Enterprise: What it is & why we made it

Atlassian Cloud Enterprise: What it is & why we made it

While it’s key to recognize and protect your organization from the variety of factors that could lead to disruption and crisis, the topic of technology – outages, downtime, and loss of data – seems to occupy the majority of our mental real estate. Your tools are critical to your success, and failure to access them and the data they store can spell crisis. Choosing software that can safeguard your company is a no-brainer.

Atlassian cloud products remove a large piece of responsibility, and headache, from your business continuity plan. Leveraging Atlassian cloud opens up the time and freedom for your organization to focus on other practices and organizational needs. Atlassian cloud maintains the highest standards of reliability, with a guaranteed 99.95 percent uptime SLA and built-in business continuity and disaster recovery frameworks.

For organizations that need to maintain control via a self-managed environment, Disaster recovery for Data Center products ensures availability in the event that your primary instance becomes unavailable.

Other benefits of Atlassian cloud products and the virtualization of your software help mitigate future possible disruptions. When you don’t have to worry about physical infrastructure, that’s one less treason to panic over the possibility of physical destruction (think fire, flood, or earthquake) or the inability to get to a physical location for service (whether that’s due to damaged infrastructure or a pandemic).

We know that by choosing Atlassian products, you’re counting on us to assist in your business continuity plan holistically. Organizations run mission-critical projects and operations on Atlassian products, and we’re utterly devoted to delivering products, applications, and networks that are stable and secure at scale.

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What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]

Swetha Amaresan

Published: December 30, 2022

When a business crisis occurs, the last thing you want to do is panic.

executives discussing business continuity plan

The second-to-last thing you want to do is be unprepared. Crises typically arise without warning. While you shouldn't start every day expecting the worst, you should be relatively prepared for anything to happen.

A business crisis can cost your company a lot of money and ruin your reputation if you don't have a business continuity plan in place. Customers aren't very forgiving, especially when a crisis is influenced by accidents within the company or other preventable mistakes. If you want your company to be able to maintain its business continuity in the face of a crisis, then you'll need to come up with this type of plan to uphold its essential functions.

Free Download: Crisis Management Plan & Communication Templates

In this post, we'll explain what a business continuity plan is, give examples of scenarios that would require a business continuity plan, and provide a template that you can use to create a well-rounded program for your business.

Table of Contents:

What is a business continuity plan?

  • Business Continuity Types
  • Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery

Business Continuity Plan Template

How to write a business continuity plan.

  • Business Continuity Examples

A business continuity plan outlines directions and procedures that your company will follow when faced with a crisis. These plans include business procedures, names of assets and partners, human resource functions, and other helpful information that can help maintain your brand's relationships with relevant stakeholders. The goal of a business continuity plan is to handle anything from minor disruptions to full-blown threats.

For example, one crisis that your business may have to respond to is a severe snowstorm. Your team may be wondering, "If a snowstorm disrupted our supply chain, how would we resume business?" Planning contingencies ahead of time for situations like these can help your business stay afloat when you're faced with an unavoidable crisis.

When you think about business continuity in terms of the essential functions your business requires to operate, you can begin to mitigate and plan for specific risks within those functions.

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Crisis Communication and Management Kit

Manage, plan for, and communicate during your corporate crises with these crisis management plan templates.

  • Free Crisis Management Plan Template
  • 12 Crisis Communication Templates
  • Post-Crisis Performance Grading Template
  • Additional Crisis Best Management Practices

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning is the process of creating a plan to address a crisis. When writing out a business continuity plan, it's important to consider the variety of crises that could potentially affect the company and prepare a resolution for each.

Business Continuity Plan

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Business Continuity Planning

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Organize a business continuity team and compile a  business continuity plan  to manage a business disruption. Learn more about how to put together and test a business continuity plan with the videos below.

Business Continuity Plan Supporting Resources

  • Business Continuity Plan Situation Manual
  • Business Continuity Plan Test Exercise Planner Instructions
  • Business Continuity Plan Test Facilitator and Evaluator Handbook

Business Continuity Training Videos

The Business Continuity Planning Suite is no longer supported or available for download.

feature_mini img

Business Continuity Training Introduction

An overview of the concepts detailed within this training. Also, included is a humorous, short video that introduces viewers to the concept of business continuity planning and highlights the benefits of having a plan. Two men in an elevator experience a spectrum of disasters from a loss of power, to rain, fire, and a human threat. One man is prepared for each disaster and the other is not.

View on YouTube

Business Continuity Training Part 1: What is Business Continuity Planning?

An explanation of what business continuity planning means and what it entails to create a business continuity plan. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about what business continuity planning means to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 2: Why is Business Continuity Planning Important?

An examination of the value a business continuity plan can bring to an organization. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about how business continuity planning has been valuable to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: What's the Business Continuity Planning Process?

An overview of the business continuity planning process. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company about its process of successfully implementing a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 1

The first of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “prepare” to create a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 2

The second of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “define” their business continuity plan objectives.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 3

The third of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “identify” and prioritize potential risks and impacts.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 4

The fourth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “develop” business continuity strategies.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 5

The fifth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should define their “teams” and tasks.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 6

The sixth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “test” their business continuity plans. View on YouTube

Last Updated: 12/21/2023

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How to create an effective business continuity plan

A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an event.

Professional Meeting: Senior Businesswoman and Colleague in Discussion

The tumultuous events of the past several years have impacted practically every business. And with the number of extreme weather events, cyberattacks, and geopolitical conflicts continuing to rise, business leaders are bracing for the possibility of increasingly more frequent impactful incidents their organizations will need to respond to.

According to PwC’s 2023 Global Crisis and Resilience Survey , 96% of 1,812 business leaders said their organizations had experienced disruption in the past two years and 76% said their most serious disruption had a medium to high impact on operations.

It’s little wonder then that 89% of executives list resilience as one of their most important strategic priorities.

Yet at the same time, only 70% of respondents said they were confident in their organization’s ability to respond to disruptions, with PwC noting that its research shows that too many organizations “are lacking the foundational elements of resilience they need to be successful.”

A solid business continuity plan is one of those foundational elements.

“Every business should have the mindset that they will face a disaster, and every business needs a plan to address the different potential scenarios,” says Goh Ser Yoong, head of compliance at Advance.AI and a member of the Emerging Trends Working Group at the professional governance association ISACA.

A business continuity plan gives the organization the best shot at successfully navigating a disaster by providing ready-made directions on who should do what tasks in what order to keep the business viable.

Without such as a plan, the organization will take longer than necessary to recover from an event or incident — or may never recover at all.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic playbook created to help an organization maintain or quickly resume business functions in the face of disruption, whether that disruption is caused by a natural disaster, civic unrest, cyberattack, or any other threat to business operations.

A business continuity plan outlines the procedures and instructions that the organization must follow during such an event to minimize downtime, covering business processes, assets, human resources, business partners, and more.

A business continuity plan is not the same as a disaster recovery plan , which focuses on restoring IT infrastructure and operations after a crisis. Still, a disaster recovery plan is part of the overall strategy to ensure business continuity, and the business continuity plan should inform the action items detailed in an organization’s disaster recovery plan. The two are tightly coupled, which is why they often are considered together and abbreviated as BCDR.

Why business continuity planning matters

Whether you operate a small business or a large corporation, it’s vital to retain and increase your customer base. There’s no better test of your capability to do so than right after an adverse event.

Because restoring IT is critical for most companies, numerous disaster recovery solutions are available. You can rely on IT to implement those solutions. But what about the rest of your business functions? Your company’s future depends on your people and processes. Being able to handle any incident effectively can have a positive effect on your company’s reputation and market value, and it can increase customer confidence.

Moreover, there are increasing consumer and regulatory expectations for both enterprise security and continuity today. Consequently, organizations must prioritize continuity planning to prevent not only business losses, but financial, legal, reputational, and regulatory consequences.

For example, the risk of having an organization’s “license to operate” withdrawn by a regulator or having conditions applied (retrospectively or prospectively) can adversely affect market value and consumer confidence.

Building (and updating) a business continuity plan

Whether building the organization’s first business continuity plan or updating an existing one, the process involves multiple essential steps.

Assess business processes for criticality and vulnerability: Business continuity planning “starts with understanding what’s most important to the business,” says Joe Nocera, principle in the cyber risk and regulatory practice at PwC, a professional services firm.

So the first step in building your business continuity plan is assessing your business processes to determine which are the most critical; which are the most vulnerable and to what type of events; and what are the potential losses if those processes go down for a day, a few days, or a week.

“This step essentially determines what you are trying to protect and what you are trying to keep up for systems,” says Todd Renner, senior managing director in the cybersecurity practice at FTI Consulting.

This assessment is more demanding than ever before because of the complexity of today’s hybrid workplace, the modern IT environment, and the reliance on business partners and third-party providers to perform or support critical processes.

Given that complexity, Goh says a thorough assessment requires an inventory of not only key processes but also the supporting components — including the IT systems, networks, people, and outside vendors — as well as the risks to those components.

This is essentially a business impact analysis.

Determine your organization’s RTO and RPO: The next step in building a business continuity plan is determining the organization’s recovery time objective (RTO), which is the target amount of time between point of failure and the resumption of operations, and the recovery point objective (RPO), which is the maximum amount of data loss an organization can withstand.

Each organization has its own RTO and RPO based on the nature of its business, industry, regulatory requirements, and other operational factors. Moreover, different parts of a business can have different RTOs and RPOs, which executives need to establish, Nocera says.

“When you meet with individual aspects of the business, everyone says everything [they do] is important; no one wants to say their part of the business is less critical, but in reality you have to have those challenging conversations and determinations about what is actually critical to the business and to business continuity,” he adds.

Detail the steps, roles, and responsibilities for continuity: Once that is done, business leaders should use the RTO and the RPO, along with the business impact analysis, to determine the specific tasks that need to happen, by whom, and in what order to ensure business continuity.

“It’s taking the key components of your analysis and designing a plan that outlines roles and responsibilities, about who does what. It gets into the nitty-gritty on how you’re going to keep the company up and running,” Renner explains.

One common business continuity planning tool is a checklist that includes supplies and equipment, the location of data backups and backup sites, where the plan is available and who should have it, and contact information for emergency responders, key personnel, and backup site providers.

Although the list of possible scenarios that could impact business operations can seem extensive, Goh says business leaders don’t have to compile an exhaustive list of potential incidents. Rather, they should compile a list that includes likely incidents as well as representative ones so that they can create responses that have a higher likelihood of ensuring continuity even when faced with an unimagined disaster.

“So even if it’s an unexpected event, they can pull those building blocks from the plan and apply them to the unique crisis they’re facing,” Nocera says.

The importance of testing the business continuity plan

Devising a business continuity plan is not enough to ensure preparedness; testing and practicing are other critical components.

Renner says testing and practicing offer a few important benefits.

First, they show whether or how well a plan will work.

Testing and practicing help prepare all stakeholders for an actual incident, helping them build the muscle memory needed to respond as quickly and as confidently as possible during a crisis.

They also help identify gaps in the devised plan. As Renner says: “Every tabletop exercise that I’ve ever done has been an eye-opener for everyone involved.”

Additionally, they help identify where there may be misalignment of objectives. For example, executives may have deprioritized the importance of restoring certain IT systems only to realize during a drill that those are essential for supporting critical processes.

Types and timing of tests

Many organizations test a business continuity plan two to four times a year. Experts say the frequency of tests, as well as reviews and updates, depends on the organization itself — its industry, its speed of innovation and transformation, the amount of turnover of key personnel, the number of business processes, and so on.

Common tests include tabletop exercises , structured walk-throughs, and simulations. Test teams are usually composed of the recovery coordinator and members from each functional unit.

A tabletop exercise usually occurs in a conference room with the team poring over the plan, looking for gaps and ensuring that all business units are represented therein.

In a structured walk-through, each team member walks through his or her components of the plan in detail to identify weaknesses. Often, the team works through the test with a specific disaster in mind. Some organizations incorporate drills and disaster role-playing into the structured walk-through. Any weaknesses should be corrected and an updated plan distributed to all pertinent staff.

Some experts also advise a full emergency evacuation drill at least once a year.

Meanwhile, disaster simulation testing — which can be quite involved — should still be performed annually. For this test, create an environment that simulates an actual disaster, with all the equipment, supplies and personnel (including business partners and vendors) who would be needed. The purpose of a simulation is to determine whether the organization and its staff can carry out critical business functions during an actual event.

During each phase of business continuity plan testing, include some new employees on the test team. “Fresh eyes” might detect gaps or lapses of information that experienced team members could overlook.

Reviewing and updating the business continuity plan should likewise happen on an ongoing basis.

“It should be a living document. It shouldn’t be shelved. It shouldn’t be just a check-the-box exercise,” Renner says.

Otherwise, plans go stale and are of no use when needed.

Bring key personnel together at least annually to review the plan and discuss any areas that must be modified.

Prior to the review, solicit feedback from staff to incorporate into the plan. Ask all departments or business units to review the plan, including branch locations or other remote units.

Furthermore, a strong business continuity function calls for reviewing the organization’s response in the event of an actual event. This allows executives and their teams to identify what the organization did well and where it needs to improve.

How to ensure business continuity plan support, awareness

One way to ensure your plan is not successful is to adopt a casual attitude toward its importance. Every business continuity plan must be supported from the top down. That means senior management must be represented when creating and updating the plan; no one can delegate that responsibility to subordinates. In addition, the plan is likely to remain fresh and viable if senior management makes it a priority by dedicating time for adequate review and testing.

Management is also key to promoting user awareness. If employees don’t know about the plan, how will they be able to react appropriately when every minute counts?

Although plan distribution and training can be conducted by business unit managers or HR staff, have someone from the top kick off training and punctuate its significance. It’ll have a greater impact on all employees, giving the plan more credibility and urgency.

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How to Write a Business Continuity Plan Step-by-Step: Our Experts Provide Tips

By Andy Marker | October 21, 2020 (updated August 17, 2021)

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In order to adequately prepare for a crisis, your company needs a business continuity plan. We’ve culled detailed step-by-step instructions, as well as expert tips for writing a business continuity plan and free downloadable tools.  

Included on this page, find the steps to writing a business continuity plan and a discussion of the key components in a plan . You’ll also find a business continuity plan quick-start template  and a disruptive incident quick-reference card template for print or mobile, and an expert disaster preparation checklist .

Step by Step: How to Write a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan refers to the steps a company takes to help it continue operations during a crisis. In order to write a business continuity plan, you gather information about key people, tools, and processes, then write the plan as procedures and lists of resources. 

To make formatting easy, download a free business continuity plan template . To learn more about the role of a business continuity plan, read our comprehensive guide to business continuity planning . 

  • Write a Mission Statement for the Plan: Describe the objectives of the plan. When does it need to be completed? What is the budget for disaster and recovery preparation, including research, training, consultants, and tools? Be sure to detail any assumptions about financial or other resources, such as government business continuity grants.
  • Set Up Governance: Describe the business continuity team. Include names or titles and role designations, as well as contact information. Clearly define roles, lines of authority and succession, and accountability. Add an organization or a functional diagram. Select one of these free organizational chart templates to get started.
  • Write the Plan Procedures and Appendices: This is the core of your plan. There's no one correct way to create a business continuity document, but the critical content it should include are procedures, agreements, and resources.Think of your plan as lists of tasks or processes that people must perform to keep your operation running. Be specific in your directions, and use diagrams and illustrations. Remember that checklists and work instructions are simple and powerful tools to convey key information in a crisis. Learn more about procedures and work instructions . You should also note who on the team is responsible for knowing plan details.

Michele Barry

  • Set Procedures for Testing Recovery and Response: Create test guidelines and schedules for testing. To review the plan, consider reaching out to people who did not write the plan. Put together the forms and checklists that attendees will use during tests.

Alex Fullick

A business continuity plan is governed by a business continuity policy. You can learn more about creating a business continuity policy and find examples by reading our guide on developing an effective business continuity policy .

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

Creating a business continuity plan (BCP) involves gathering a team, studying risks and key tasks, and choosing recovery activities. Then write the plan as a set of lists and guidelines, which may address risks such as fires, floods, pandemics, or data breaches.

According to Alex Fullick, your best bet is to create a simple plan. “I usually break everything down into three key categories: people, places, and things. If you focus on a couple of key pieces, you will be a lot more effective. That big binder of procedures is absolutely worthless. You need a bunch of guidelines to say what you do in a given situation: where are our triggers for deciding we’re in a crisis and we have to stop doing XYZ, and just focus on ABC.” 

“Post-pandemic, I think new managers will develop more policies and guidelines of all types than required, as a fear response,” cautions Michele Barry. 

Because every company is different, no two approaches to business continuity planning are the same. Tony Bombacino, Co-Founder and President of Real Food Blends , describes his company’s formal and informal business continuity approaches. “The first step in any crisis is for our nerve center to connect quickly, assess the situation, and then go into action,” he explains. 

Tony Bombacino

“Our sales manager and our marketing manager might discuss what’s going on, and say, ‘Are we going to say anything on social media? Do we need to reach out to any of our customers? The key things, like maintaining stock levels or what if somebody gets sick? What if there's a recall?’ Those plans we have laid out. But we're not a 5,000-person multi-billion-dollar company, so our business continuity plan is often in emails and Google Docs.” 

Mike Semel

“I've done planning literally for hundreds of businesses where we've just filled out basic forms,” says Mike Semel, President and Chief Compliance Officer of Semel Consulting . “For example, noting the insurance company's phone number — you know, on the back of your utility bill, which you never look at, there's an emergency number for if the power goes out or if the gas shuts off. We've helped people gather all that information and put it down. Even if there's no other plan, just having that information at their fingertips when they need it may be enough.”

You can also approach your business continuity planning as including three types of responses:

  • Proactive Strategies: Proactive approaches prevent crises. For example, you may buy an emergency generator to keep power running in your factory, or install a security system to prevent or limit loss during break-ins. Or you may create a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy and offer training for remote workers to protect your network and data security.
  • Reactive Strategies: Reactive strategies are your immediate responses to a crisis. Examples of reactive methods include evacuation procedures, fire procedures, and emergency response strategies.
  • Recovery Strategies: Recovery strategies describe how you resume operations to produce a minimum acceptable level of service. The recovery plan includes actions to stand up temporary processes. The plan also describes the longer-term efforts, such as relocation, data restoration, temporary workaround processes, or outsourcing tasks. Recovery strategies are not limited to IT and data recovery.

Quick-Start Guide Business Continuity Plan Template

Business Continuity Quick Start Guide and template

If you don’t already have a business continuity plan in place, but need to create one in short order to respond to a disruption, use this quick-start business continuity template. This template is available in Word and Google Docs formats, and it’s simply formatted so that you can focus on brainstorming and problem-solving. 

Download Quick-Start Guide Business Continuity Plan Template

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For other most useful free, downloadable business continuity plan (BCP) templates please read our "Free Business Continuity Plan Templates" article.

Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Your company’s complete business continuity plan will have many details. Your plan may differ from other companies' plans based on industry and other factors. Each facility or business unit may also conduct an impact analysis and create disaster recovery and continuity plans . Consider adding these key components to your business plan:

  • Contact Information: These pages include contact information for key employees, vendors, and critical third parties. Locate this information at the beginning of the plan. 
  • Business Impact Analysis: When you conduct business impact analysis (BIA), you evaluate the financial and other changes in a disruptive event (you can use one of these business impact templates to get started). Evaluate impact in terms of brand damage, product failure or malfunction, lost revenue, or legal and regulatory repercussions.
  • Risk Assessment: In this section, assess the potential risks to all aspects of the organization’s operations. Look at potential risks related to such matters as cash on hand, stock levels, and staff qualifications. Although you may face an infinite number of potential internal and external risks, focus on people, places, and things to keep from becoming overwhelmed. Then analyze the effects of any items that are completely lost or need repairs. Also, understand that risk assessment is an ongoing effort that works in tandem with training and testing. Consider adding a completed risk matrix to your plan. You can create one using a downloadable risk matrix template . 
  • Critical Functions Analysis and List: As a faster alternative to a BIA, a critical functions analysis reveals what processes are critical to keeping your company running. Examples of critical functions include payroll and wages, accounts receivable, customer service, or production. According to Michele Barry, with a values-based approach to critical functions, you should consider who you really are as a company. Then decide what you must continue doing and what you can stop doing. 
  • Trigger and Disaster Declaration Criteria: Here, you should detail how your executive management will know when to declare an emergency and initiate the plan.
  • Succession Plan: Identify alternate staff for key roles in each unit. Schedule time throughout the year to observe alternates as they make important decisions and complete recovery tasks.
  • Alternate Suppliers: If your goods are regulated (i.e., food, toy, and pharmaceutical manufacturing), your raw resources and parts must always be up to standard. Source suppliers before a crisis to ensure that regulatory vetting and approval do not delay supplies. 
  • Operations Plan: Describe how your organization will resume and continue daily operations after a disruption. Include a checklist with such items as supplies, equipment, and information on where data is backed up and where you keep the plan. Note who should have copies of the plan. 
  • Crisis Communication Strategy: Detail how the organization will communicate with employees, customers, and third-party entities in the event of a disruption. If regular communications systems are disabled, make a plan for alternate methods. Download a free crisis communication strategy template to get started on this aspect. 
  • Incident Response Plan: Describe how your organization plans to respond to a range of likely incidents or disruptions, and define the triggers for activating the plan. 
  • Alternate Site Relocation: The alternate site is the location that the organization moves to after a disruption occurs. In the plan, you can also note the transportation and resources required to move the business and the processes you must maintain in this facility.
  • Interim Procedures: These are the critical processes that must continue, either in their original or alternate forms.
  • Restoration of Critical Data: Critical data includes anything you must immediately recover to maintain normal business functions.
  • Vendor Partner Agreements: List your organization’s key vendors and how they can help you maintain or resume operations.
  • Work Backlog: This includes the work that piles up when systems are shut down. You must complete this work first when processes start again.
  • Recovery Strategy for IT Services: This section details the steps you take to restore the IT processes that are necessary to maintain the business.
  • Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO): RTO refers to the maximum amount of time that a company can stop its processes and the length of time without access to data before productivity substantially drops. Determine RTOs for each unit, factoring in people, places, and things. 
  • Backup Plans: What if plans, processes, or resources fail or are unavailable? Determine alternatives now, so you don't have to scramble. Decide on a backup roster for personnel who are unavailable.
  • Manual Workarounds: This section details how a business can operate by hand, should all failsafe measures break down.
  • External Audit Details: For regulated organizations, external audits may be compulsory. Your scheduled internal audits will prepare you for external audits.
  • Test and Exercise Plan: Identify how and when you will test the continuity plan, including details about periodic tabletop testing and more complex real-world scenario testing.
  • Change Management: Note how you will incorporate learnings from tests and exercises, disseminate changes, and review the plan and track changes.

Key Resources for Business Continuity

To fix problems, restore operations, or submit an insurance claim, you need readily available details of the human resources and other groups that can assist with business continuity. (Your organization's unique situation may also require specific types of resources.) Add this information to appendices at the back of your continuity plan.

Fullick suggests broadening the definition of human assets. "People are our employees, certainly. But we forget that the term ‘people’ includes executive management. Management doesn't escape pandemics or the flu or a car crash. Bad things can happen to them and around them, too." 

Use the following list as a prompt for recording important information about your organization. Your unique situation may require other types of information.

  • Lists of key employees and their contact information. Also, think beyond C-level and response team members to staff with long-term or specialized knowledge
  • Disaster recovery and continuity team contact names, roles, and contact information
  • Emergency contact number for police and emergency services for your location
  • Non-emergency contact information for police and medical
  • Emergency and non-emergency contact numbers for facilities issues
  • Board member contact information
  • Personnel roster, including family or emergency contact names and numbers for the entire organization
  • Contractors for any repairs
  • Client contact information and SLAs
  • Insurance contacts for all plans
  • Key regulatory contacts.
  • Legal contacts
  • Vendor contact information and partner agreements and SLAs
  • Addresses and details for each office or facility
  • Primary and secondary contact and information for each facility or office, including at least one phone number and email address
  • Off-site recovery location
  • Addresses and access information for storage facilities or vehicle compounds
  • Funding and banking information
  • IT details and data recovery information, including an inventory of apps and license numbers  
  • Insurance policy numbers and agent contact information for each plan, healthcare, property, vehicle, etc.
  • Inventory of tangibles, including equipment, hardware, supplies, fixtures, and fittings (if you are a supplier or manufacturer, include an inventory of raw materials and finished goods)
  • Lease details
  • Licenses, permits, other legal documents
  • List of special items that you use regularly, but don't order frequently
  • Location of backup equipment
  • Utility account numbers and contact information (for electric, gas, telephone, water, waste pickup, etc.)

Activities to Complete Before Writing the Business Continuity Plan

Before you write your plan, take these preliminary steps to assemble a team and gather background information. 

  • Incident Commander: This person is responsible for all aspects of an emergency response.
  • Emergency Response Team: The emergency response team refers to the group of people in charge of responding to an emergency or disruption.
  • Information Technology Recovery Team: This group is responsible for recovering important IT services.
  • Alternate Site/Location Operation Team: This team is responsible for maintaining business operations at an alternate site.
  • Facilities Management Team: The facilities management team is responsible for managing all of the main business facilities and determining the necessary responses to maintain them in light of a disaster or disruption.
  • Department Upper Management: This includes key stakeholders and upper management employees who govern BCP decisions.
  • Conduct business impact analysis or critical function analysis. Understand how the loss of processes in each department can affect internal and external operations. See our article on business continuity planning to learn more about BIAs.
  • Conduct risk analysis. Determine the potential risks and threats to your organization.
  • Identify the scope of the plan. Define where the business continuity plan applies, whether to one office, the entire organization, or only certain aspects of the organization. Use the BIA and risk analysis to identify critical functions and key resources that you must maintain. Set goals to determine the level of detail required. Set milestones to track progress in completing the plan. "Setting scope is essential," Barry insists. "You need to define the core and noncore aspects of the business and the minimum requirements for achieving continuity."
  • Strategize recovery approaches: Strategize how your business should respond to a disruption, based on your risk assessment and BIA. During this process, you determine the core details of the BCP, add the key components and resources, and determine the timing for what must happen before, during, and after a disruptive event.

Common Structure of a Business Continuity Plan

Knowing the common structure should help shape the plan — and frees you from thinking about form when you should be thinking about content. Here is an example of a BCP format:

  • Business Name: Record the business name, which usually appears on the title page.
  • Date: The day the BCP is completed and signed off. 
  • Purpose and Scope: This section describes the reason for and span of the plan.
  • Business Impact Analysis: Add the results of the BIA to your plan.  
  • Risk Assessment: Consider adding the risk assessment matrix to your plan.
  • Policy Information: Include the business continuity policy or policy highlights.
  • Emergency Management and Response: You can detail emergency response measures separately from other recovery and continuity procedures.
  • The Plan: The core of the plan details step-by-step procedures for business recovery and continuity.
  • Relevant Appendices: Appendices can include such information as contact lists, org charts, copies of insurance policies, or any supporting documents relevant in a crisis.

Keep in mind that every business is different — no two BCPs look the same. Tailor your business continuity plan to your company, and make sure the document captures all the information you need to keep your business functioning. Having everything you need to know in an emergency is the most crucial part of a BCP.

Disruptive Incident Quick-Reference Card Template

Disruptive Incident Quick Reference Cad Template

Use this quick-reference card template to write the key steps that employees should take in case of an emergency. Customize this template for each business unit, department, or role. Describe what people should do immediately and in the following days and weeks to continue the business. Print PDFs and laminate them for workstations or wallets, or load the PDFs on your mobile phone. 

Download Disruptive Incident Quick-Reference Card Template 

Expert Disaster Preparation Checklist

Business continuity and disaster planning aren’t just about your buildings and cloud backup — it’s about people and their families. Based on a document by Mike Semel of Semel Consulting, this disaster checklist helps you prepare for the human needs of your staff and their families, including food, shelter, and other comforts.

Tips for Writing a Business Continuity Plan

With its many moving parts and considerations, a business continuity plan can seem intimidating. Follow these tips to help you write, track, and maintain a strong BCP:

  • Take the continuity management planning  process seriously.
  • Interview key people in the organization who have successfully managed disruptive incidents.
  • Get approval from leadership early on and seek their ongoing championship of continuity preparedness.
  • Be flexible when it comes to who you involve, what resources you need, and how you achieve the most effective plan.
  • Keep the plan as simple and targeted as possible to make it easy to understand.
  • Limit the plan to practical disaster response actions.
  • Base the plan on the most up-to-date, accurate information available.
  • Plan for the worst-case scenario and broadly cover many types of potential disruptive situations. 
  • Consider the minimum amount of information or resources you need to keep your business running in a disaster. 
  • Use the data you gather in your BIA and risk analysis to make the planning process more straightforward.
  • Share the plan and make sure employees have a chance to review it or ask questions. 
  • Make the document available in hard copy for easy access, or add it to a shared platform. 
  • Continually test, review, and maintain your plan to keep it up to date. 
  • Keep the BCP current with organizational and regulatory changes and updates.

Empower Your Teams to Build Business Continuity with Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

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Understanding the Essentials of a Business Continuity Plan

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In the face of unforeseen disruptions, a robust business continuity plan (BCP) is essential to preserve the trust of stakeholders. If you are able to seamlessly continue operations even in the face of sudden challenges, stakeholders are reassured of the company’s resilience and commitment to their interests.

In this blog post, we offer a comprehensive guide to business continuity planning, how it can benefit organizations and share key insights into Developing and Maintaining an Effective business continuity plan.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is an essential blueprint that outlines how a company will continue operating during an unplanned disruption in service. It’s more than just a reactive strategy; it’s a proactive measure to ensure that critical business functions can continue during and after a crisis. The purpose of a BCP is to provide a systematic approach to mitigate the potential impact of disruptions and maintain business operations at an acceptable predefined level.

The role of a BCP is crucial in maintaining operations during unforeseen events such as natural disasters, cyber-attacks, or any other incident that could interrupt business processes. By having a well-structured business continuity plan, organizations can:

  • Minimize downtime and ensure that essential functions remain operational
  • Protect the integrity of data and IT infrastructure
  • Maintain customer service and preserve stakeholder trust

Why is a Business Continuity Plan Important

Immediate Response : A BCP ensures that there is a predefined action plan, minimizing downtime and demonstrating control over the situation.

Transparent Communication : Keeping stakeholders informed during a crisis promotes transparency and maintains confidence in the company’s management.

Inclusive Planning : Involve stakeholders in the business continuity plan development process. Their insights can enhance the plan’s effectiveness and ensure their needs are addressed.

Consistency in Service : By prioritizing critical operations, a BCP helps maintain the quality and consistency of services or products, which is important for customer retention.

The absence of a business continuity plan can lead to a domino effect of negative outcomes, including a tarnished reputation and the potential loss of future business. Stakeholders remember how a company responds in a crisis, and a well-executed BCP can be the difference between a temporary setback and a long-term impact on the company’s image and relationships.

Elements of a Business Continuity Plan

When exploring various business continuity plan examples, certain common elements emerge as critical for their effectiveness. These elements serve as the backbone for a robust BCP plan, ensuring that businesses can maintain operations and protect their reputation during unforeseen events. Here are some of the key components found in successful BCP examples:

Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis : Identifying potential threats and assessing their impact on business operations is a foundational step in any BCP plan.

Crisis Communication Plan : A clear communication strategy is essential to manage stakeholder expectations and maintain trust.

Recovery Strategies : Detailed procedures for restoring business functions and services post-disruption are indispensable.

Employee Training and Awareness : Ensuring staff are well-prepared and knowledgeable about the BCP plan is crucial for its successful implementation.

Case studies of successful BCP implementations often highlight how these elements are tailored to fit specific business models and industries. For instance, a financial institution may focus heavily on data security and regulatory compliance within their BCP, while a manufacturing business might prioritize supply chain alternatives and on-site safety protocols. Regular testing and adjustment of these plans are also a common thread, underscoring the importance of adaptability and continuous improvement in business continuity planning.

Business Continuity Plan Toolkit

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Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery

It’s important to distinguish between a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan. While both are vital, a BCP is broader and focuses on the continuity of the entire business, whereas a disaster recovery plan is more technical and concentrates on the recovery of specific operations, such as IT services. Understanding these differences helps organizations allocate resources effectively and ensures comprehensive preparedness for any type of disruption. Understanding when to activate a business continuity plan (BCP) versus a disaster recovery plan is crucial for maintaining operational resilience.

To ensure a comprehensive crisis management strategy, consider the following integration points:

Pre-emptive Planning : Establish clear triggers for when each plan is activated. For instance, a BCP might be initiated in the face of a supply chain disruption, while disaster recovery would come into play during a data breach or server failure.

Unified Communication : Both plans should have a coordinated communication strategy to inform stakeholders and employees about the status and steps being taken.

Regular Testing : Conduct joint drills that test both the BCP and disaster recovery plans to identify any gaps or overlaps in procedures.

Continuous Improvement : Use insights from drills and actual incidents to refine both plans, ensuring they evolve with the changing business landscape and technological advancements.

By integrating both plans, organizations can navigate crises with agility and confidence, minimizing downtime and protecting their reputation. Tools like Creately, with features such as real-time collaboration and visual project management, can help create and maintain these critical plans, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page and ready to act when necessary.

Crisis Communication Strategies within Business Continuity Planning

A business continuity plan (BCP) is not just about responding to the crisis at hand, but also about how you communicate during the disruptions and the decisions you make. Here are some best practices to ensure your crisis communication and decision-making processes effective:

Clear Communication Channels : Establish predefined channels for internal and external communication. This ensures that messages are consistent and reach all stakeholders promptly.

Designated Spokespersons : Identify individuals who are authorized to speak on behalf of the company during a crisis. This helps maintain a unified voice and message.

Factual Updates : Provide regular, factual updates to keep stakeholders informed. Avoid speculation and commit to transparency.

Decision-Making Protocols : Implement decision-making protocols that are clear and allow for swift action. This includes having a chain of command and predefined criteria for making critical decisions.

Training and Simulations : Regularly train your crisis management team and conduct simulations to prepare for potential scenarios. This ensures that when a crisis does occur, your team is ready to act effectively.

By integrating these best practices into your BCP plan, you can maintain control during a crisis, make informed decisions, and communicate effectively with all parties involved. Remember, the goal is to protect your company’s operations, reputation, and stakeholder relationships during unexpected events.

Utilizing Business Continuity Plan Templates and Tools

When it comes to developing a robust business continuity plan (BCP), leveraging templates can offer a significant head start. These templates serve as a foundational framework that can be customized to align with the specific requirements of your business. Here’s why using BCP templates is advantageous:

Efficiency in Development : BCP templates provide a structured approach, ensuring that all critical elements are considered without starting from scratch. This saves valuable time and resources.

Consistency Across the Organization : Templates help maintain a uniform response strategy, which is crucial for coherent and coordinated action during a crisis.

Ease of Customization : While templates offer a general outline, they are designed to be adaptable. This means you can tailor them to reflect your business’s unique operational processes, risk profile, and recovery objectives.

Incorporating features like crisis response directions into your BCP template is essential. With Creately you can,

  • Visualize these procedures on an infinite canvas, ensuring clarity and accessibility for all team members.
  • Easily modify the plan as your business evolves, with the drag-and-drop functionality, making regular testing and adjustment a seamless process.
  • Create a central repository of information by having docs, links and attachments in the notes panel of any shape in your diagram.

Key Insights for Developing and Maintaining an Effective Business Continuity Plan

A robust business continuity plan (BCP) is not a ‘set it and forget it’ document; it requires ongoing attention and refinement. Here’s why regular testing, updates, and staff training are non-negotiables in business continuity:

Financial Protection : By regularly testing your BCP, you can identify and rectify gaps that could otherwise lead to significant financial losses during a crisis. It’s not just about having a plan, but ensuring it works effectively when you need it most.

Reputational Safeguarding : Your company’s reputation is on the line when disaster strikes. A well-rehearsed BCP means your team can respond swiftly and competently, preserving stakeholder trust and customer loyalty.

Customization for Evolving Threats : The threat landscape is constantly changing. Regular BCP reviews allow you to tailor your plan to new types of risks, ensuring your business remains resilient against the unforeseen.

Empowered Employees : Training staff on the BCP turns theory into practice. When every team member knows their role in a crisis, response times improve, and confusion is minimized.

Remember, a BCP is a living document. It thrives on the feedback loop created by regular drills and updates, ensuring that when a crisis does occur, your business is prepared not just to survive, but to continue operations with minimal disruption.

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Hansani has a background in journalism and marketing communications. She loves reading and writing about tech innovations. She enjoys writing poetry, travelling and photography.

5 Step Guide to Business Continuity Planning (BCP) in 2021

A business continuity plan provides a concrete plan to maintain business cohesion in challenging circumstances. Click here for the key steps that can help you formulate a formidable BCP.

A business continuity plan (BCP) is defined as a protocol of preventing and recovering from potentially large threats to the company’s business continuity. This article explains what a business continuity plan is today, its key benefits, and a step-by-step guide to creating a formidable plan.

Table of Contents

What is a business continuity plan (bcp), key benefits of having a business continuity plan, step-by-step guide to building a formidable business continuity plan (bcp) in 2021.

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a protocol of preventing and recovering from potentially large threats to the company’s business continuity. Such a plan often aims to address the need for updated business norms and operational standards in unpredictable circumstances such as natural disasters, data breach/ exposures, large scale system failures etc. The goal of such a plan is to ensure continuity of business with no or little damage to regular working environments, including job security for its employees.

It covers everything from business processes, human resources details, and more. Essentially a BCP provides a concrete plan to the organization to maintain business continuity even in challenging circumstances. 

Below are key reasons why businesses need to have a BCP today:

  • BCP’s relevance has gone up considerably after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was also a major testing time for organizations that did have such a plan in place. The organizations which had a business continuity plan in place were better able to cope during these unprecedented circumstances better than those who did not have any such plans.
  • The recorded number of natural disasters has increased from 375 in 2016 to 409 in 2019 Opens a new window . Globally, the loss because of natural disasters was $232 billion in 2019, according to a study by Aon Opens a new window .
  • The number of cyberattacks has also increased in all geographies and all business verticals. MonsterCloud reported that cyberattacks have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. All this means that the organizations have to be better prepared to fight disasters. The importance of BCP can hardly be exaggerated in this context. Preparing a BCP is imperative for any enterprise, big or small, today. 

The end goal of a BCP is to ensure that the essential services continue to run in the event of an incident. For instance, if there is an earthquake where your customer service representatives operate from, your BCP will be able to tell you who will handle customer calls until the original office is restored.

Also Read: What Is Disaster Recovery? Definition, Cloud and On-premise, Benefits and Best Practices

Difference between a business continuity plan (BCP) and disaster recovery plan (DCP)

A BCP is often confused with a disaster recovery (DR) plan. While a DR plan is primarily focused on restoring the IT systems and infrastructure, a BCP is much more than that. It covers all areas and departments of the organization, including HR, marketing and sales, support functions. 

The underlying thought behind BCP is that IT systems can hardly work in silos. Other departments also need to be restored to cater to the client or for meeting the business demands. 

“Many people think a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is the same as a business continuity plan, but a DRP is only a small, yet essential, a portion of a full BCP. A DRP focuses solely on restoring an organization’s IT infrastructure while minimizing data loss. On the other hand, a BCP is a comprehensive guide on how to continue the mission and business-critical operations during a time of an unplanned disruption (natural disasters, pandemics, or malware),” says Caleb Pipkin, a security expert at Logically . 

Whether a business is small, big, or medium-sized, it needs a ‘plan B’ to recover quickly in the event of a natural disaster or a crisis and can survive the disruption. BCP helps you dust yourself and get back to business quickly and easily. It means that the enterprise will be better placed to address their customers’ needs even in the wake of a disaster. 

On the other hand, the lack of a plan means that your organization will take longer to recover from an event or incident. It could also lead to loss of business or clients. Let’s look at some key benefits of BCP.

1. It is a roadmap to act in a disaster

A well-defined business continuity plan is like a roadmap during a disruption. It allows the firms to react swiftly and effectively and maintain business continuity. In turn, this leads to a faster and complete recovery of the enterprise in the shortest possible timeframe. It brings down the business downtime and outlines the steps to be taken before, during, and after a crisis and thus helps maintain its financial viability. 

2. Offers a competitive edge

Fast reaction and business continuity during a disruption allow organizations to gain a competitive edge over its business rivals. It can translate into a significant competitive advantage in the long run. Further, your clients will be more confident in your ability to perform in adverse circumstances allowing you to build a long and sustainable relationship with your business partners.

Developing competence to act and handle any unfavorable event effectively has a positive effect on the company’s reputation and market value. It goes a long way in enhancing customer confidence. 

Also Read: Top 8 Disaster Recovery Software Companies in 2021

3. Cuts down losses

Disasters have a considerable impact on all types of business, whether big or small. Business disruption can lead to financial, legal, and reputational losses. Failure to plan could be disastrous for businesses. You may lose your customers while trying to get your business on track. In the worst circumstances, you may not be able to recover at all. A well-defined business continuity strategy minimizes the damage to an organization and allows you to bring down these losses as much as possible. 

4. Enables employment continuity and protects livelihoods

One of the most significant consequences of a disaster is the loss of employment. The loss of livelihood can be curtailed to an extent if the business continues to function in the event of a disaster. It leads to greater confidence in the workforce that their jobs might not be at risk, and the management is taking steps to protect their jobs. It helps build confidence in senior management’s ability to respond to the business disruption in a planned manner. 

5. Can be life-saving

A regularly tested and updated BCP can potentially help save the lives of the employees and the customers during a disaster. For instance, if the BCP plan for fire is regularly tested, the speed with which the workforce acts can help save lives. 

6. Preserves brand value and develops resilience

Possibly the biggest asset of an organization is its brand. Being able to perform in uncertain times helps build goodwill and maintain its brand value and may even help mitigate financial and reputational loss during a disaster. 

BCP curtails the damage to the company’s brand and finances because of a disaster event. This helps bring down the cost of any incident and thus help the company be more resilient. 

Also Read: 10 Best Practices for Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP)

7. Enables adherence to compliance requirements

Having a BCP allows organizations to have additional benefits of complying with regulatory requirements. It is a legal requirement in several countries.

8. Helps in supply chain security

A precise BCP goes a long way in protecting the supply chain from damage. It ensures continuity in delivering products and services by being able to perform critical activities.

9. Enhances operational efficiency

One of BCP’s lesser-known benefits is that it helps identify areas of operational efficiency in the organization. Developing BCP calls for an in-depth evaluation of the company’s processes. This can potentially reveal the areas of improvement. Essentially, it gathers information that can benefit in enhancing the effectiveness of the processes and operations. 

Also Read: 7 Ways to Build an Effective Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan  

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on preparing for a disaster like never before. We make the job easier for you by listing out the key steps in building a formidable business continuity plan: 

How to Build a Business Continuity Plan

How to Build a Business Continuity Plan

Step 1: Risk assessment 

This phase involves asking crucial questions to evaluate the risks faced by the company. What are the likely business threats and disruptions which are most likely to occur? What is the most profitable activity of your organization? It is vital to prioritize key risks and operations, which will help mitigate the damage in the event of a disaster. 

Step 2: Business impact analysis

The second step involves a thorough and in-depth assessment of your business processes to determine the vulnerable areas and the potential losses if those processes are disrupted. This is also known as Business Impact Analysis . 

Essentially, Business impact analysis (BIA) is a process that helps the organization define the impact if critical business operations are interrupted because of a disaster, accident, or emergency. It helps in identifying the most crucial elements of the business processes. For instance, maintaining a supply chain might be more critical during a crisis than public relations.

While there is no formal standard for a BIA, it typically involves the following steps: 

  • Collating information: As a first step, a questionnaire is prepared to find out critical business processes and resources that will help in the proper assessment of the impact of a disruptive event. One-on-one sessions with key management members may be conducted further to gain insights into the organization’s processes and workings.
  • Analysis: This is followed by analyzing the collected information. A manual or computer-assisted analysis is conducted. The analysis is based on an interruption in which crucial activities or resources are not available. Typically it works on the assumption of the worst-case scenario, even when the chances of a risk likelihood are low. This approach is followed to zero in on the systems that, when disrupted or interrupted, threaten the organization’s very survival. This way, these processes are prioritized in the business continuity plan. 

The analysis phase helps identify the minimum staff and resources required for running the organization in the event of a crisis. This also allows the organizations to assess the impact on the revenue if the business is unable to run for a day, a week, or more. There might be contractual penalties, regulatory fines, and workforce-related expenditure which need to be taken into account while finding out the impact on the business. Further, there might be specific vulnerabilities of the firm, and they need to be considered in the BIA. 

  • Preparing a report: The next step is preparing a BIA report, which is assessed by the senior management. The report is a thorough analysis of the gathered information along with findings. It also gives recommendations on the procedure that should be followed in the event of a business disruption. The BIA report also shares the impact on the revenue, supply chain, and customer delivery to the business in a specific time frame. 

The business impact analysis report may also include a checklist of all the resources, such as the names of key personnel, data backup , contact information, emergency responders, and more.

  • Presenting the report: Usually, this report goes through several amendments before being cleared by the senior management. The involvement of senior management is crucial to the success of the business continuity plan. It sends out a strong signal in the organization that it is a serious initiative. 

Also Read: Will Extreme Weather Events Affect Your Business? Lessons From the Texas Winter Storm

Step 3: BCP Testing

Several testing methods are available to test the effectiveness of the BCP. Here are a few common ones: 

  • TableTop test: As the name suggests, the identified executives go through the plan in detail to evaluate whether it will work on not. Different disaster types and the response to them are discussed at length. This type of testing is designed to make all the key personnel aware of their role in the event of a disaster. The response procedure is reviewed, and responsibilities are outlined, so everybody knows their roles.
  • Walk through: In this type of testing, the team members go through their part in the plan with a specific disaster in mind. Drills or a simulated response and disaster role-playing are part of this. This is a more thorough form of testing and likely to reveal the shortcoming in the plan. Any vulnerabilities discovered should be used to update the BCP accordingly.
  • Disaster simulation testing: In this type of testing, an environment that simulates an actual disaster is created. This is the closest to the actual event and gives the best case scenario about the plan’s workability. It will help the team find gaps that might be overlooked in the other types of tests. Document the results of your testing so you can compare the improvement from the previous tests. It will help you in strengthening your business continuity plan. 

Frequency of testing – Typically, organizations test BCP at least twice a year. At the same time, it depends on the size of your organization and the business vertical you operate in.

Step 4: Maintenance

A business continuity plan should not be treated as a one-time exercise. It needs to be maintained , so the organization’s structural and people changes are updated regularly. The key personnel might move on from the firm, and this would need to be updated in the Business Impact Analysis and BCP. The process for regular updating of the documentation should be followed to ensure that the organization is not caught on the wrong foot in case of a business disruption. 

Also Read: Offsite Data Replication: A Great Way To Meet Recovery Time Objectives

Step 5: Communication

Sometimes executives tend to ignore communication while preparing a BCP. It is a crucial aspect, and your BCP should clearly define who will maintain the communication channels with the employees, regulators, business partners, and partners during the crisis. The contact information of the key people should be readily accessible for the BCP to work without any trouble.

In the end, the organizations should accept that despite preparing a formidable business continuity plan, several factors beyond your control may still affect its success or failure. The key executives might not be available in the event of a crisis; both the primary and the alternate data recovery sites might have been affected by the event; the communications network might be damaged, and so on. Such factors are common during a natural disaster and may lead to the limited success of the business continuity plan. 

The success of a business depends on it acting swiftly and efficiently when confronted with an unanticipated crisis. Any failure to do so results in a financial and reputational loss, which takes up a long time to recover. It can be avoided if the organization quickly gathers itself during a disaster. A business continuity plan is then of paramount importance for a business of any size. At the same time, it is crucial to ensure that the BCP is not a one-time exercise. It needs to be continuously evaluated, tested, amended, and maintained so it doesn’t let you down when you need it the most. 

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Business Continuity Planning: How To Create and Maintain BCPs

BCP

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the surface a lot of misconceptions and, frankly, unpreparedness on the part of many organizations to handle disruptions to normal business operations. Writing for Risk.net , Ariane Chapelle states that pandemic risks are sometimes called ‘grey rhinos’: probable, high-impact trends that are clearly observable, but often ignored until it’s too late.

So many organizations have been caught flatfooted, unable to consider a situation where their staff must work from home, and their supply chains and customer demand are interrupted. There’s also the inability to predict a return to normal. They haven’t had a plan for business continuity.

But, fortunately for us, there are companies we can reference as good examples of how business continuity planning should be done. Let’s take a look.

What is business continuity planning?

The ISO 22300:2018 vocabulary publication on Security and Resilience defines a business continuity plan (BCP) as documented information that guides an organization to respond to a disruption and resume, recover, and restore the delivery of products and services consistent with its business continuity objectives. BCPs provide guidance and information to assist teams to respond to disruptions and assist the organization with making the right response and ultimately recovery from the disruption.

As a BCP is a reference to be used during disruptions, it is best that your organization agrees to a single format for the document as well as, importantly, where the BCP is kept. Excellence in business continuity planning is based on two components:

  • That your BCP plans can be accessed no matter the disruption.
  • That your plans are easily understood by all relevant stakeholders involved in the response and recovery activities.

Use of secured cloud file shares that are hosted by different providers in different regions offers the best option in terms of accessibility, updating, and security. However, you must also consider if the internet is down. Having a hard copy version stored somewhere outside normal business premises would be an ideal backup, though keeping it updated needs a significant amount of discipline.

Creating a business continuity plan

business continuity plan

Step 1: Perform risk assessment & business impact assessment

When it comes to business continuity planning, the first stop is to perform risk assessment and business impact assessment (BIA) activities. Risk assessment involves:

  • Identifying potential risks based on the organization’s business environment.
  • Analyzing these risks in terms of probability, impact, and proximity.
  • Evaluating these risks from a priority perspective.
  • Determining the appropriate risk treatment measures such as avoiding, accepting, reducing or sharing the risk with third parties.

A good example is Wimbledon , which updated its insurance policy to include infectious disease clauses following the outbreak of SARS in 2002. The organization is set for a potential $141 million payout following cancellation of the 2020 tennis tournament due to COVID-19.

During the BIA phase, the organization takes these actions:

  • Defining types and criteria of impact based on the organization’s business environment.
  • Identifying key business process activities.
  • Determining impact of disruption based on the types and criteria defined earlier.

A key output is the maximum time length that the organization can bear the disruption and, as a result, determination of the prioritized timelines for resuming business operations following the disruptions. The measures for these prioritized timelines are:

  • Recovery Point Objective (RPO) for allowable data loss based on time
  • Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for the time to restore business processes

disruption

BIA activities are very critical for any organization wanting to understand the cost of disruption, and then plan the prioritized approach for dealing with the disruption.

Step 2: Develop business continuity strategies

The outputs of the risk assessment and BIA activities feed into your business continuity strategies which consider the options before, during, and after disruption, and determine the right solutions. The choice of strategy is based largely on how much loss your organization is willing (or able) to take as well as the amount of resources it is willing to pour into the available options.

These strategies and solutions should consider how to meet the BIA timelines, decrease risk probability and impact, and reduce the duration of the disruption. For example, your solutions might include:

  • Creating a succession plan for a people risk perspective
  • Deploying backups and disaster recovery solutions for technology and information risks
  • Remote working for office access risks
  • Engaging multiple suppliers to limit supply chain risks

Step 3: Document business continuity plans

Based on the selected strategies and solutions, you’ll then document your BCPs and make them available to key stakeholders. According to the ISO 22301:2019 standard on business continuity management systems requirements, BCPs should:

  • Include specific immediate steps to be taken following a disruption
  • Be flexible enough to respond to changing conditions of a disruption
  • Focus on the impact of incidents that potentially lead to a disruption
  • Be effective in minimizing impact of disruptions
  • Assign roles and responsibilities for tasks within a disruption

The structure of a BCP would therefore include:

  • Purpose, scope, and objectives
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Actions to implement solutions
  • Supporting information needed to activate, operate, coordinate, and communicate actions
  • Internal and external dependencies
  • Resource requirements
  • Reporting requirements
  • Process for standing down (i.e., return to normal)

Maintaining BCPs

A BCP is as good as dead if no effort is taken to train stakeholders and constantly review whether it is effective to meet the ever-changing threat landscape that faces your organization.

Two ongoing activities are essential to maintaining your BCPs: ensuring that testing and training are part and parcel of the business continuity planning activities. Then, management must regularly review the outcomes of this testing and training.

Testing your BCP

Testing is an integral part of maintenance and should be regularly planned and carried out based on the risk profile. The scope of testing can be anything from table-top exercises to full-scale exercises, but you must ensure that your testing activities do not significantly impair normal business operations.

Only by regular testing can a business truly know whether it can meet the RTO and RPO targets when an actual disruption occurs. Where the tests reveal otherwise, then the organization can take the right steps to remedy the situation by allocating relevant resources as appropriate to keep the BCPs actionable, reliable, and updated.

Training around your BCP

Coupled with testing is the need for training and awareness. Business continuity and disaster recovery procedures are only useful if all the members of the team are aware of where to access and how to execute them when a disruption occurs. You’ll want to create drills for employees to participate in to practice. Additionally, a strong knowledge sharing culture is vital for a BCP to be successful.

No BCP? Plan to fail

The old adage “failing to plan is planning to fail” comes to mind whenever one thinks of BCP. Statistics from FEMA reveal that roughly 40-60% of small businesses never reopen their doors following a disaster. In addition, 90% of smaller companies fail within a year unless they can resume operations within five days following a disaster. By comparison, 20% of larger companies spend over 10 days per month assessing their continuity plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and many similar disruptions, clearly indicate that organizations that don’t take time to plan for disruptions are the ones hardest hit. They’re the same organizations that will take longer to recover than competitors who are better prepared.

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Joseph is a global best practice trainer and consultant with over 14 years corporate experience. His passion is partnering with organizations around the world through training, development, adaptation, streamlining and benchmarking their strategic and operational policies and processes in line with best practice frameworks and international standards. His specialties are IT Service Management, Business Process Reengineering, Cyber Resilience and Project Management.

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How to create a business continuity plan.

Axel Sukianto

Axel Sukianto

To remain competitive in today's market, businesses in all industries must maintain strict production regulations to decrease downtime and critical errors that could negatively impact their reputations. Organizations can't afford to wait until an event occurs to devise a problem-solving strategy.

Your business provides critical products or services to its customers. Any interruption in that service could mean that your customers will seek ways to meet their needs elsewhere.

The term business continuity describes the way an organization maintains or quickly resumes business functions in the event of a disaster. By creating an effective business continuity plan, you're more likely to avoid downtime and the loss of critical data and infrastructure in the event of a major business disruption.

In the past, business continuity planning was largely based on physical events like a natural disaster, building fire, tornadoes, or a long-term power outage. However, as technology becomes more advanced , cyberattacks have become a major threat to businesses large and small.

This is why it's essential for all businesses to get a firm understanding of the importance of cybersecurity as a part of business continuity and how to integrate cybersecurity into your updated continuity plan before disaster strikes.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a specific set of preventive and recovery actions that key individuals will take in the event of a threat to your organization.

A typical BCP covers:

  • Business processes
  • Human resources
  • Business partners/suppliers/ third-party vendors

Essentially, the plan should be a template or rule book to describe the best way to keep essential functions up and running during a disaster and to recover with as little downtime and damage as possible.

The goal of a business continuity plan is to predict how various disasters would affect your business and the best way to react to such an event. Unpredictable events that your plan addresses may include extreme weather conditions, fires, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and cyberattacks.

The absence of such a plan could lead to more than a financial loss and a lower competitive edge — it could actually mean closing your doors permanently. Federal Reserve economists estimate that around 600,000 businesses close permanently each year, but due to the global pandemic, an additional 200,000 businesses closed in 2020.

Reasons for business failures are often listed as lack of funds, poor management, or ineffective marketing. Business continuity planning is a way to address such potential issues before they arise.

Your business continuity plan should be in place before disaster strikes. By investing time and effort into building a team and creating a comprehensive plan, you'll be ready to respond to threats when they arise.

Take these steps to create an effective business continuity plan.

  • Form a business continuity management team.
  • Write a mission statement that states the objectives of the plan.
  • Conduct a business impact analysis to determine the potential risks to your company.
  • Write the plan procedures and details about the required tools, infrastructure, and software required.
  • Test your plan and make improvements as needed.

Why Cybersecurity is an Important Part of an Effective Business Continuity Plan

A cyberattack is one of the most relevant threats faced by businesses of all sizes, across all industries. Practically all businesses store sensitive information . This may include information technology, customer contact information, personal data, and phone numbers. Due to a variety of factors, cybercrime saw explosive growth in 2021.

  • 50% more cyberattacks per week on corporate networks were reported in 2021, compared to 2020.
  • Ransomware damage costs reported in 2021 reached a whopping $20 billion with an attack occurring every 11 seconds. The cost is estimated to reach $265 billion in 2031 with an attack occurring every 2 seconds.
  • According to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021 , the average total cost of a data breach increased from 3.86 million in 2020, to 4.24 million in 2021. For the 11th year in a row, healthcare organizations experienced the highest average cost of a data breach.

While the media and the public continue to recognize the impact of cybercrime on government agencies, major corporations, and critical infrastructure, many business owners fail to recognize the potential impact of cybercrime on a small business. Yet, data shows that 43% of all data breaches involve small to medium businesses and 61% of all SMBs have reported at least one cyberattack during the previous year.

These numbers make one thing clear, cyberattacks are a clear and present threat to every business. If you hope to maintain critical business functions in the event of a cyberattack, it's essential to make cybersecurity a pivotal part of your business continuity planning process.

5 Ways to Incorporate Cybersecurity into Your Business Continuity Plan

Your business continuity plan should be a changing, growing document that is continually updated to offset new and growing potential threats to your business. Adding critical steps to address cybersecurity risks is a crucial part of updating your plan to reflect potential risks that are most likely to affect your business. Consider the ways these actions can help you be more prepared in the event of a cybersecurity attack .

1. Perform a Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis

If you have an existing business continuity plan in place, you've likely identified certain vulnerabilities and assessed the likelihood of business interruptions due to specific threats. The addition of cybersecurity to your BCP requires your business continuity team to perform a risk assessment by identifying specific assets that could be in danger and predicting the types of threats that are most likely to affect those assets. After effectively identifying specific threats, it's important to conduct a business impact analysis (BIA) to determine the financial and operational impacts such an attack would cause.

For most companies, an effective risk assessment and BIA will require identification and documentation of all devices owned by the organizations, the business areas where devices are located, and the current cybersecurity methods in place to protect each device. More detailed documentation may be necessary that categorizes devices by the level of sensitive data that is stored or transported with the device. Once you have a comprehensive view of your current cybersecurity posture , you can determine the steps that need to be taken to develop a strong cybersecurity defense.

2. Assess Third-Party and Supply Chain Risks

Your cybersecurity efforts are only as strong as the weakest link. Unfortunately, when it comes to cybersecurity, protecting the devices in your organization isn't enough. Every member of your supply chain has the potential to provide a point of access for cybercriminals seeking a way into your network.

These third parties can introduce risks to your system by failing to meet compliance standards , introducing of breaches through third-party software, or sharing corrupted data. Supply chain attacks in the US rose by 42% in the first quarter of 2021 . Yet many companies fail to recognize such threats.

If you work with third-party vendors and distributors, you likely already practice some third-party risk management strategies. This may include checking the creditworthiness or compliance history of third-party service providers.

By cataloging cybersecurity risks that vendors could expose your organization to, you can begin to assess the risks that your current business relationships bring to your network. Your BCP can also include preventive steps to take when forming new partnerships, like a vendor due diligence process that considers risks before a partnership begins.

A vendor risk management checklist can help you perform a complete vendor management audit to assess potential risks third parties pose to your network.

3. Devise an Incident Response Plan

The old advice that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" holds true in the cybersecurity world. However, even the most stringent defense won't ensure you never face an attack. An incident response plan is a set of written instructions that outline your organization's preparedness to respond to an emergency that could lead to expensive downtime or damage to the organization.

Your cybersecurity response plan should include step-by-step instructions that describe how your organization should respond to data breaches , data leaks , cyber-attacks , and cybersecurity incidents. For many businesses, an incident response plan is designed to follow certain compliance regulations , such as NIST or SANS guidelines. Critical parts of your incident response plan may include data backup protocol for a complete disaster recovery plan , emergency management processes that include a communication plan, and recovery time objectives.

4. Test Your Incident Response Plan

Your incident response plan is based on data and facts that lead to the best practices for business continuity management. Yet, without tests, it's impossible to know how well your methods will work.

Once you have a clearly documented plan in place, it's important to create tests that simulate real attacks to put your plan to the test. NIST Special Publication 800-84 defines tests and two types of exercises to evaluate response policy and procedures.

  • Tabletop Exercises: This exercise generally includes your business continuity team and stakeholders gathering around a table to run through a mock security event. Discussions may include roles, responsibilities, coordination, and decision-making regarding a given scenario.
  • Functional Exercises: By creating a simulated environment, your business continuity team can validate their emergency response by actually performing the duties outlined in the incident response plan.
  • Tests: With the use of specific software and tools, tests can use quantifiable metrics to validate the operations of an IT system or cybersecurity software in an operational environment. Tests can also be used to acquaint new cybersecurity software and tools to your network's normal environment to set parameters for effective automated alerts.

5. Continually Assess Incoming Risks and Update Practices

As technology continues to evolve, cyberattacks will become more advanced and sophisticated to generate new methods of attack. Consider how Ryuk ransomware took advantage of an exposed vulnerability to launch a devastating zero-day attack or the way the SolarWinds attack utilized discreet lateral movement to go undetected for months. Modern cybercriminals will stay on top of technology to continually search for new vulnerabilities companies aren't prepared to defend against.

Your BCP shouldn't be considered a "set it and forget it" tool that will always be ready when you need it. A review should be scheduled at least once a year to discuss any areas that need to be modified. Such changes may include key personnel changes, methods, and recovery strategies to improve your security posture. In the event of a disaster, your BCP should be thoroughly reviewed in light of new information provided by the incident.

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Business Continuity Plan: What, Why & How to Create it?

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By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail. “ – Benjamin Franklin

We rarely get advance notice that a disaster is ready to strike, right?

The COVID-19 pandemic, massive protests over racial injustice, a global economic downturn, the Australian wildfires – the last six months have been one of the most turbulent times in modern history.

There’s no shortage of unsettling reminders to business owners that disasters can and do happen.

Whatever the future holds, it’s imperative for your business to think ahead and prepare for the unexpected.

We are living in unprecedented times and the current situation of the world highlights the critical need for a business continuity plan . It will give you the best shot at success after an unanticipated event.

According to studies , 43% of companies that experience a major data loss event go out of business if they don’t have any recovery plan in place.

…And for those that do have a plan, 96% of companies that experience something as fatal as a ransomware attack, survive!

What is a Business Continuity Plan? (Definition)

A business continuity plan contains contingencies for business processes, assets, human resources, and business partners. In short, it covers every aspect of the business that might be affected.

Think of it as a safety net against global pandemics, natural calamities, unforeseen strikes, cyber-attacks, etc.

Business continuity plans have one goal — to keep organizations running as smoothly and productively as possible in the case of an emergency.

Two Misconceptions about the Business Continuity Plan:

Misconception #1: “we have insurance. it will cover up our losses.”.

Insurance alone is NOT a business continuity strategy.

Insurance can help provide your business with the coverage that it needs to steer its way out of a crisis and can be a useful resource to keep your entire organization afloat.

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What insurance won’t protect, however, is your market share or reputation.

Two clients shaking hands after a business deal

The last thing you want to do is hunt for this information when things become chaotic!

Read more:  Business Report: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps & Format)

Misconception #2: “Everyone in our company will know what to do when a disaster strikes”

Honestly, even the best employees can’t be expected to know what to do in case of any emergency.

It is better to have a well-documented business continuity plan in advance, and training your employees to follow it so that everyone is on the same page.

Your organization will survive—and perhaps even thrive—in any situation if you take certain precautions and implement the plan.

For example, if the building that houses your customer service representatives is destroyed by a tornado, how would those reps handle customer calls?

Will they work from home temporarily, or from a different location?

The BC plan addresses these types of concerns.

Read more:   Business Requirements Document (BRD): What, Why, and How to Write?

Why do Business Continuity Plans Matter?

1. organizational assurance.

During an outage, how will you communicate your status with your employees and clients?

Your business continuity plan specifies the communication strategy that needs to be followed in case of a disaster. There’s no better test of your capability than right after an adverse event.

Customers are likely to go to your competitors if you fail to provide products or services and are unable to notify them about the changes. Therefore, you need to assure your customers, third-party vendors, and partners that things are under control in the event of an emergency.

You also need to comfort your employees, communicating swiftly and transparently what the issue is, what’s affected, and all the actions you’re taking.

Keeping everyone informed about facility/ infrastructure damages, limitations in supply and any other changes will play a major role in safeguarding your company’s brand and goodwill.

2. Risk Management

When confronted with unexpected business disruptions, you must react swiftly, methodically, and successfully or else, risk significant financial loss.

An employer shouting at employees

With risks ranging from cyberattacks to natural disasters to human error, it is vital for an organization to have a business continuity plan to preserve its health and reputation.

If you can keep your business operations running through a crisis, you can mitigate financial loss and all other risks.

3. Minimizing Downtime

According to a survey by ITIC, 98% of organizations say that a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000. These numbers can’t be ignored!

Whether you suffer a natural disaster or a cyberattack, the only way to stay in business is to resume your work as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may very well go out of business.

The longer the downtime, the more potential for financial loss. But with the right plans to pick up quickly and restore functionality where you need it most, you can keep your loss as minimal as possible.

Read more:  Cost Management Plan: What, Why, and How?

Follow these steps to create a Business Continuity Plan: 5 Steps to Get Started!

Step 1: identify the objectives of the plan and set goals.

While every organization’s business continuity plan approach will be unique, it’s important to consider the following aspects when designing your plan:

1. What will the plan cover, and how does it fit into the larger organizational response to disruption?

2. What are the most business-critical applications and systems that you need to focus on reviving?

Your business continuity plan may apply to any number of scenarios that might derail your operations – from power outages to employee strikes, to cyber-attacks on computer networks.

You need to identify and understand potential threats so that you’re prepared for every possible contingency. In addition to knowing these threats, it’s important to walk through what will happen in the wake of such catastrophes.

For example, what happens when your company becomes the victim of ransomware? If you’re unprepared for this possibility, chances are you’ll end up paying the ransom in order to regain control of your network and access to your files. Another potential outcome is that you refuse to pay and you have to start everything from scratch.

Read more:   How to Write a Business Case: Step By Step Guide

Step 2: Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)

By doing a business impact analysis (BIA), you can gain clarity about every potential threat to your business.

Think of every possible kind of risk for your business.

Identify the areas across your entire organization that doesn’t have any sort of “Plan B”.

Identify the core areas of your business and also the functions needed to keep each of these areas going.

Two employees doing business analysis

Discuss how these risks could affect operations.

The BIA document must include the core business operations and what areas are critical for business continuity. It should document all the resources needed to keep these critical departments afloat when a disaster strikes.

Step 3: Choose the business continuity team

It is time to decide who will do what and when in the event of an emergency.

The business continuity team implements and executes the entire BCP. They will prepare standards for the project, train additional team members, and identify processes to make the project flow smoother.

You can select a few cross-functional managers or leaders, and anyone else who may bring something valuable to the table. Make sure someone is designated as the leader to keep things moving forward and make decisions when necessary.

Assign clear responsibilities for each role and make sure that there are no overlaps!

Step 4: Write the business continuity plan

Using the BIA as a guide, write a plan that specifies the steps your business will take to deal with an unprecedented event, and who is responsible for carrying out each step .

While you create this business continuity plan, be sure to thoroughly document every section so you can share it across the company later. Keep the plan precise and well-organized so the readers can identify risk assessments, planning processes, and recovery steps.

The business continuity plan should include the following key aspects:

  • The objectives and mission statement of the business continuity plan
  • Prevention, response, mitigation, and recovery strategies
  • Information about the business continuity team members, their roles and responsibilities
  • Key stakeholders and critical functions involved in the business continuity plan
  • Business Impact Analysis report
  • The resources you have vs the resources you need (Gap Analysis)
  • Testing schedules for the business continuity plan

A well-written business continuity plan can help ensure that your business can weather any storm and pick up where it left off.

Step 5: Review & Revise your plan.

Put your plan to test. There is no other way of knowing it will actually work in a real disaster.

In order to test your BCP, you don’t have to shut down your business.

You can conduct drill exercises wherein emergency scenarios are hypothetically created (inside a meeting room, of course!) and the team members can review how robust the plan is.

Note down any strengths and weaknesses you discovered, change your approach as necessary, and rewrite your documentation.

Then test, evaluate, and revise again. And again, until you feel your organization is fully prepared.

Bit.ai : The Ultimate Tool to Create a Business Continuity Plan

Whether you need help developing an efficient and effective business continuity plan or need a better way to track it, Bit.ai has a solution that will work for you!

We have simplified the often complex and long process of creating a business continuity plan, through our intuitive and integrated tools.

Bit.ai: Tool for creating business continuity plan

On Bit.ai, you can work with your team in real-time co-editing and use inline comments to bring your colleagues to the same place to discuss work and make decisions regarding the plan.

With Bit.ai, little creativity, dedication, and planning, your organization will be on its way to a safer future in no time!

Our team at  bit.ai  has created a few awesome business templates to make your business processes more efficient. Make sure to check them out before you go, y our team might need them!

  • SWOT Analysis Template
  • Business Proposal Template
  • Business Plan Template
  • Competitor Research Template
  • Project Proposal Template
  • Company Fact Sheet
  • Executive Summary Template
  • Operational Plan Template
  • Pitch Deck Template

Final Words:

The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed life as we know it.

With people cooped up inside their homes, businesses have come to a grinding halt.

With overheads still piling on and no way to generate income, businesses are in a fix.

With the virus wreaking havoc on economies, it is now imperative that every business has a business continuity plan because there’s no telling when another such disaster will happen.

In today’s hyper-competitive market, it won’t take long for your customers to switch to your competition if you are unable to provide them with the service they expect.

Therefore, you need to be fully aware of your level of risk and what needs to be done to keep the business moving.

Remember: Nothing on paper could ever come close to the curveballs that nature or other unexpected forces may throw at us. Therefore, leave lots of room in your plan to adapt to the changes.

It takes time to prepare a business continuity plan, but it could mean the difference between bouncing back quickly and going out of business!

Further reads:

Business Documents: Definition, Types, Benefits & Steps to Create Them!

Process Improvement Plan: What, Why, and How to Make It?

Business Verticals: Definition, Benefits & Examples!

Action Plan: What, Why & How to Write it?

Procurement Management Plan: What, Why, and How to Create?

Contingency Plan: What, Why, and How to Create it?

Operations Manual: What is it & How to Write it?

Operational Plan: What, Why, and How to Create it? (Template Included)

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Sales Sheet: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps Included)

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The importance of having a business continuity plan

Business person stopping dominos from falling, signifying the importance of a business continuity plan.

When the world is chugging along as normal and business operations only have the usual risks to monitor, it can be easy to put aside business continuity planning. But, as we've all discovered in recent weeks, anything can happen at any time, and businesses must be ready to pivot operations quickly, efficiently and safely as and when needed. The quick global spread of COVID-19, colloquially known as coronavirus, has thrown the world into disarray. The markets are in a nosedive, governments are shutting down entire countries and most organizations are having to quickly embrace remote working to keep the lights on and keep clients serviced. Those who do not have the capability to support workers at home ' and that are not essential services such as healthcare or sanitation ' are currently going through a trial by fire, with operations stymied and revenue under threat. Businesses are rushing to set up work-from-home arrangements, or take out subscriptions for online meetings and cloud collaboration technology. Priorities are shifting dramatically as we enter uncharted territory. This lack of preparedness could well see many businesses going under ' but if those organizations had created a robust business continuity plan ahead of time, they would know exactly how to handle such a crisis and weather the storm.

What is a business continuity plan and why do you need one?

A business continuity plan, or BCP, refers to the process a company will take to prevent and recover from potential threats to the organization. It ensures personnel and assets are protected and able to function in the event of a disaster, and is generally part of overall risk management ' that is, best practice dictates that you consider your business continuity plan ahead of time, not when a crisis hits. Your business continuity plan considers what those risks may look like ' both physical threats such as fire or flood, and those threats that are harder to pin down, such as hacks and pandemics ' and then determines:

  • How those risks will impact operations
  • How you'll implement safeguards, procedures and policies to mitigate the risks
  • How you'll test procedures to ensure that they work
  • How you'll review the process to keep it up-to-date

It includes a summary of the most critical business processes and functions ' those aspects that, if they failed, your business would be unable to operate ' as well as internal and external communication strategies, clear instructions for accessing and restoring offsite recovery data, any potential temporary offices or locations, and a change log that summarizes any updates to the plan for version-control purposes. Without a business continuity plan, you risk your company and its people . Not only could the business fail, but you could also suffer financial loss, a tarnished reputation and lost productivity. A physical disaster could also impact your employees, potentially causing injury or death.

Ensure continued — and secure — access to systems

With COVID-19 playing havoc with how companies go about their day-to-day activities, the priority for organizations should be on building business resilience. This means being flexible enough to go with the flow while maintaining operations at as normal a level as possible, all while ensuring your employees can access the systems and processes they need to do their jobs. It also means keeping a close eye on matters of cybersecurity. Those companies that maintain on-premises systems have suddenly found themselves in a pickle, as workers are unable to come into the office with cities on lockdown. The question of how teams will access platforms is an essential part of business continuity planning, and something that smart risk managers had covered long before the pandemic hit. They had thought about how teams would access platforms, assessed what bandwidth they had available for that level of remote access, and had considered whether they needed a temporary increase in network capacity or licenses. The security question, though, doesn't just extend to moving to cloud-based operations; hackers and cyber threats will use any crisis to their advantage. Keep an eye out for phishing scams, DDoS attacks and malware being introduced by employees keen to learn the latest developments in the crisis and not closely examining the links they click on. Security postures should include a review of systems you have in place to stop phishing campaigns and other inbound threat vectors before they hit employees' inboxes, writes Jason Albuquerque for InformationWeek .

Creating a business continuity plan

While every organization's business continuity plan will be different, there are some common steps that companies should follow to develop a solid continuity plan. They include:

  • Undertaking a business impact analysis to identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive
  • Identifying and implementing steps to recover critical business functions
  • Creating a continuity team that will be tasked with devising a plan to manage the disruption
  • Training and testing the continuity team, and ensuring they regularly go over the plan and strategies to mitigate risk and ensure they are kept up-to-date

By considering these things in advance, organizations can help to ensure business continuity when things get tough, protecting the business, its reputation, its people and its customers.

The importance of technology to business continuity for legal operations

Of course, the march toward cloud-based technology to run essential business systems and processes makes business continuity planning a little easier. Once upon a time, you had to be in the office and on the network to access things like entity management software; today, there is a plethora of cloud-based options for all aspects of legal operations, compliance, governance and risk management work. Best-in-class providers of these systems are supporting their clients through the current COVID-19/coronavirus crisis, helping them to make sense of the craziness by providing online support, guidance and tech triage. More than just a software provider, these organizations become an essential partner in times of crisis. Diligent is one such company, acting as a partner to more than half of the Fortune 1000. Through its cloud-based legal technology platforms, Diligent enables proactive governance to help mitigate the risks of modern business. We believe every business should have the necessary business continuity planning and management strategies, plans and procedures in place, fully tested at regular intervals, to drive the assurance that when disaster strikes, they'll be ready. The cost and impact of not being prepared is usually far greater than that of being proactive. Diligent works to enable business continuity planning by ensuring ongoing access to essential documents, contracts and entity data through:

  • Diligent Entities , which helps organizations to centralize, manage and effectively structure their corporate record to improve entity governance and improve decision-making
  • Diligent Boards , which empowers boards and executives with the tools, insights and analytics to securely access board materials, track company performance and gather real-time information
  • Diligent Assurance , which helps organizations to confidently create, manage and report on the obligations relevant to their business, and always be audit-ready.

Get in touch and request a demo to see how Diligent's suite of cloud-based governance and compliance software can help drive your business continuity planning and ensure your organization can continue to operate, no matter what gets thrown your way.

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why should a business create a business continuity plan

Business continuity plan: What it is and why you need it

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Bruce Penson, managing director of Pro Drive IT, discusses why business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans are crucial to protecting your organisation.

When it comes to keeping your business in business, it’s important that you have plans in place to deal with both the good and the bad times ahead. Business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans are great way of ensuring that you protect your organisation, however, the two often get mixed up. Many people think that because they have a business continuity plan (BCP) they don’t need a disaster recovery plan (DRP), and vice versa.

They are, of course, very closely linked but with BCPs taking a more proactive approach to avoid and minimise the risk of downtime, and DRPs focusing on recovering from a disaster – they do what they say on the tin! In this post, we’re going to look specifically at the business continuity plan and why you should have one.

Nobody enjoys paperwork, and it’s understandable that many business owners will view a business continuity plan as just another laborious task to complete and that will probably go unused; so here are a few compelling facts which highlight just how important it is to prioritise a BCP.

– On average, a medium-sized data centre will experience over three downtime events each year, with the average power cut lasting over 3.5 hours. Source: Eaton UK

– Some 77 per cent of UK organisations (approximately 4.2 million) experienced connectivity failures in 2016. On average, UK organisations were also found to have suffered 4-5 outages each during 2016 and a wait of six  hours every time for service to be restored. Source: ISP Review

– Just over half (54 per cent) of UK companies have been hit by ransomware attacks resulting in variable amounts of downtime (58 per cent of UK companies pay up to get access to data and systems again.) Source: Malwarebytes

– Almost all (97 per cent) of network professionals in a survey by Veriflow agree that ‘human error’ is the most common reason for network outages. Source: Network World

– The average cost of downtime for an enterprise is $5,600 per minute. Source: Gartner

If you’re questioning that last statistic, it’s worth nothing that Gartner’s data was collected from extremely large companies – not SMEs – however, downtime also costs small businesses heavily. Downtime not only results in lost revenue but also in wasted employee time (you’re still paying them even when they can’t work). As well as loss of productivity you may also be paying for services you can’t use such as SaaS solutions that are redundant if your employees are unable to get online. Then there is the cost of getting back to business, such as overtime to catch up on, lost time, missed targets etc.

Depending on your company, losing key business systems can ultimately cost you customers, as your existing customers may choose to go elsewhere. Furthermore, the damage to your reputation and the lack of credibility your business will look to have if there is no disaster recovery plan in place could be extremely costly!

Hopefully the above has convinced you of the importance of having a business continuity plan so that in the event of connectivity issues, a power cut, network outage or cyber attack your organisation can weather the storm and get back to business as quickly as possible.

If you’re under the impression that a business disaster is unlikely to happen to your organisation, you could be mistaken. It could be as simple as one member of staff keeping an eye on an absent colleagues emails whilst they’re on annual leave and accidentally opening a cleverly presented, yet malicious, email. If the email contains ransomware such as ‘Zepto’, it could take seconds for all files on the computer and everything else connected to it – namely the server – to be encrypted.

Before you know it, network systems are unavailable, employees are unable to work, and a disaster recovery plan is essential. In addition to downtime, failing to have a business continuity plan in place can cost an organisation severe reputational damage, and it could even raise compliance issues.

When you’re running a small business, it can be easy to forget that you’re a prime target for cyber criminals, and many people have made the mistake of assuming that hackers are more interested in going after bigger organisations. But, the fact is that when you’re an SME, your cyber defences are easier to breach, as the chances are you won’t have the same budget available to you to spend on cybersecurity as a larger company, and attacking a small business carries a much lower risk than attempting to infiltrate a larger organisation, as the criminals are less likely to be caught.

Furthermore, hackers know that as a small business you’re probably more likely to pay a ransom to have files decrypted quickly, so that business can run as normal and downtime can be minimised. That’s why it’s more important than ever that you have a robust Business Continuity Plan in place, so that these situations can be avoided as far as is possible, and can be dealt with swiftly should they arise. Below, I outline the key aspects you should take into consideration when creating a BCP.

Key considerations for a business continuity plan

The following points will help you understand what needs to be part of your BCP so that you put processes in place to reduce the risk of disruption and recover quickly.

– Critical business functions – what’s going to cost your business most if they are affected by an IT outage or system downtime? These areas need to be prioritised. – Minimise risk – what can be done to avoid these critical business functions being impacted by downtime, i.e. preventative solutions such as networking monitoring, staff education and awareness about cyber threats and risks etc. – Improve recovery times – what can you do to reduce the time it takes to get critical business functions operational again? Perhaps by increasing the frequency of back-ups for critical data. – Failover plans – what can you do to get critical business functions operating during an incident? For example, if your HQ suffers a power cut could staff work from another site?

Need help answering these questions? These free online business continuity tools can help: Click on this link to get started.

Bruce Penson is managing director of Pro Drive IT . 

Further reading on business continuity

  • How to improve your business continuity strategy in five steps

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR. More by Ben Lobel

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Why Your Business Needs a Business Continuity Plan

  • by Audrey Quiteves on July 23, 2023
  • last update on January 25, 2024
  • Reading Time: 7 minutes

Why Your Business Needs a Business Continuity Plan

Most organizations are no strangers to plans. Whether succession planning, business strategy, or marketing campaigns, planning is vital in ensuring all bases are covered from start to finish.

Among the areas that require planning within an organization, business continuity and disaster recovery stand out as crucial. These aspects are instrumental in maintaining the stability of your business’s skeletal structure and operations, especially during challenging circumstances.

In this article, we will delve into the importance of business continuity planning, its fundamentals, and how it can enhance your company’s resilience.

What is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity planning is the development of a strategic management plan to prepare an organization for responding to and recovering from various crises, such as natural disasters, pandemics, or cyberattacks. Inadequate management of a business crisis can lead to significant expenses and reputational damage. Stakeholders are often unforgiving during such times, making it essential to have a well-prepared business continuity plan in place.

What is the importance of a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP), which is an executive-approved document for managing disruptions, serves as a definitive blueprint outlining the actions to be taken by everyone involved to maintain operations throughout and after a catastrophe. Specifically, the business continuity plan supports critical aspects such as workflow operations, customer service response, workforce communication, information flow, and business security.

What is the goal of a business continuity plan? It is crucial in mitigating the risks associated with losses and the aftermath of a crisis. Such a plan offers peace of mind to both management and employees, creating a secure work environment where clear policies are in place to guide response and recovery efforts during crises.

Business Continuity Planning vs Disaster Recovery

While natural disasters can trigger crises, business continuity extends beyond disaster recovery. Business continuity encompasses the comprehensive implementation plan that ensures the continuous operation of critical business functions. On the other hand, disaster recovery is a specific component of the business continuity plan that primarily focuses on restoring the organization’s IT infrastructure and data after disruptions.

Top Reasons Why Business Continuity Planning is Important

Infographic: Reasons Why Business Continuity Planning is Important

It is important to understand that a business continuity plan is not merely a backup plan to restore revenue. There are numerous compelling reasons why even small businesses should prioritize preparing such a plan. Let’s explore the key motivations behind initiating your business continuity planning.

1. Minimize Downtime and Losses

Whatever your business goals are or wherever industry, your company cannot afford downtime. Understanding and implementing instantly what to do in case of disruptions is one of the main benefits of a business continuity plan. Remember that the longer the downtime, the higher potential for financial loss.

Business continuity planning makes it possible to keep your business running and mitigate financial loss by establishing actions to take, whatever the nature of the disruption. For instance, if the current physical office becomes inaccessible due to natural disasters, can your system support remote work and resources for employees? Or, if the power goes out and the server or network can’t be accessed, is there a backup server or data center?

A strong business continuity plan takes into account the potential losses when downtime occurs in a matter of minutes to days and weeks. It defines the procedures of how the company should function and continue to be stable to communicate to all stakeholders and customers — eventually, ensuring continuous flow of revenue and trust.

2. Anticipate Risks and Threats

Constant discussion and application of the BCP ensures that the business continuity management team is examining the potential risks, threats, and accidents that the company may face. Disasters are not limited to natural causes. In today’s business, organizations are expected to face a myriad of challenges, from power disruptions and global pandemics to targeted cybercrimes and data destruction.

Proper business continuity planning allows the consideration of all the possible disruptions within your industry, location, and even on a global scale. Identifying these risks may prevent losses by establishing response and recovery procedures.

3. Ensure Customer Confidence and Safeguard Reputation

During times of crisis, your customers become more discerning about your actions and responses. They expect your business to effectively navigate through disaster situations. Resuming operations promptly and effectively after a crisis can significantly contribute to building trust with your customers.

Additionally, your customers represent one of the most valuable assets of your company, and it is crucial to safeguard the information they have entrusted to you. Establishing a contingency plan outlines the necessary measures to take in the event of cyberattacks and data breaches.

Having a robust business continuity plan in place signals to customers that they have made the right choice in selecting your product or service, leading them to continue their patronage. This, in turn, can have a positive impact on your brand reputation. Companies that demonstrate preparedness and consistency in effectively managing crises convey their resilience and stability to their consumers and the world at large.

4. Enhance Employee Safety and Well-being

When a company is affected by disasters or crises, it can be challenging to focus on work. However, in such situations, it is crucial to prioritize the safety and well-being of your workforce. Safety extends beyond physical health and includes mental well-being as well.

Amidst the global pandemic, businesses have experienced widespread disruption, leading many employers to adopt remote work arrangements and implement mental health programs to support their employees. A well-prepared business continuity plan plays a vital role in swiftly accounting for employee safety and providing necessary support for them to continue working during and after crises.

Furthermore, when employees are confident in the plans and decisions made by management, they become more determined and focused on their work. By establishing a well-communicated business continuity plan, you reassure your employees of their safety. This then can enhance employee productivity, improve operational efficiencies, and foster heightened vigilance against security threats.

5. Gain Competitive Advantage

Another benefit of a business continuity plan is gaining a competitive edge over your rivals. Effectively restoring business operations, recovering networks, updating data access, and reconnecting employees to customers all contribute to enhancing corporate governance and positioning your company as a reliable brand. A robust business continuity plan guarantees that you are prepared to navigate disruptions, delivering uninterrupted services that set you apart from the competition.

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The Fundamentals of Business Continuity Planning

Infographic: Fundamentals of Business Continuity Planning

The purpose of a business continuity plan is to identify, address, and reduce the risk of potential disruptions while maintaining business functions. Below are the key components of business continuity planning:

1. The emergency response team

To initiate the BCP process, it is crucial to form a dedicated response team comprising managers or leaders who can contribute valuable insights. This team holds the responsibility of actively engaging in the recovery process and overseeing specific tasks like restoring systems and operations. It is essential to select individuals who possess the ability to drive progress and make decisions when required.

2. Risk assessment and business impact analysis (BIA)

Before formulating strategies and procedures for your business functions, identify first the potential threats to your business and assess its vulnerable areas. Conducting a business impact analysis enables your company to understand the potential consequences of disruptions and losses on your financial and operational functions. This analysis helps evaluate which resources and assets should be prioritized for recovery and aids in the development of effective recovery procedures.

3. Business continuity strategies and solutions

Based on the risk assessment and analysis conducted, recovery strategies and procedures can be developed to uphold business functions and prioritize resources accordingly. These strategies encompass key components that are crucial for effective recovery:

  • Emergency response plan — This entails a comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at minimizing the overall disruption impact on the business and ensuring workforce safety. It should include protocols for emergency response communication, evacuation routes, and emergency contact information.
  • Crisis management — This plan outlines the contingency measures for communication, activities of key personnel, incident remediation, and decision-making during a crisis. It ensures that there is a structured approach to managing the crisis effectively.
  • Operations restoration — The operational recovery plan focuses on safeguarding human resources and business assets while restoring essential functions following a crisis or emergency. This plan involves determining recovery time objectives, formulating strategies for security measures, work environment restoration, data center recovery, and establishing communication protocols.

4. Business continuity testing

Once the BCP has been formulated and approved, conduct regular tests and updates to ensure its effectiveness. Business continuity planning is not a one-time activity; it is an ongoing process that requires continuous evaluation and improvement. Regular testing improves predictability, minimizes risks, and keeps your plans updated and aligned with the constantly changing business landscape. By consistently reviewing and refining your BCP, you can enhance its reliability and increase the likelihood of successfully navigating through future disruptions.

FAQs About Business Continuity Planning

If you’re seeking to enhance your business continuity plan, explore our FAQs to find answers to your questions.

What is the goal of a business continuity plan?

The main purpose of a business continuity plan is to ensure the organization is prepared to respond to and recover from emergencies and disruptions, such as natural disasters and cyberattacks. This planning is a process of identifying the potential risks and formulating solutions to minimize the negative impact of such risks.

Why is business continuity planning important for preparing for natural disasters?

During natural disasters, business continuity planning proves beneficial to organizations by expediting recovery efforts through implementing mechanisms aimed at mitigating financial risks, minimizing downtime, and ensuring the safety of employees. BCPs encompass comprehensive measures and protocols to address all organizational risks in the event of natural disasters like floods, fires, or earthquakes.

Is business continuity planning only relevant for large organizations?

Of course not! No matter the size — small or enterprise — and wherever industry, every organization must be performing business continuity planning. If an organization does not plan for continuity, the management and workforce are not prepared to react and pick up from the occurrence of disruptions and their negative impacts.

Can business continuity planning help organizations respond to cyberattacks?

Yes! Your business continuity planning must cover every threat to your organization, including cybercrimes. Even with the most advanced security features, you may not be safe from data breaches which may cost you financial and information losses. A solid business continuity plan implements cybersecurity risk assessment to develop strategies for prevention and recovery from cyber threats.

What are the key components of a business continuity plan?

The key components of a BCP are the elements needed from conceptualization to implementation. These key elements include: the crisis management team, risk assessments, business impact analysis, strategies for prevention, response and recovery, and BCP testing.

Download our free actionable guide to business continuity planning to see how these components build your BCP.

How often should a business continuity plan be reviewed and updated?

As a best practice, your BCP must be reviewed and updated annually at a minimum. Business changes, industry changes, and other external factors must also be considered to be promptly reflected when updating the business continuity plan.

Create a Business Continuity Plan with Board Technology

Using Convene to Create a Business Continuity Plan

Whether it’s a natural disaster or a cyberattack, unexpected situations can arise. A well-prepared business continuity plan, coupled with the necessary resources, is vital to enable companies to maintain their market positions and swiftly recover from adverse circumstances, ensuring minimal disruption to normal operations.

In the digital era, advanced technologies can play a significant role in developing a comprehensive business continuity plan. This development process should be a collaborative effort, incorporating insights from both management and staff.

To streamline collaboration, consider leveraging Convene, the trusted board management software , equipped with interactive and secure features that facilitate effective planning. Convene empowers meetings with video conferencing capabilities to easily communicate assessments and strategies for business continuity. Moreover, the software allows secure document management to collaborate on risk assessments and reports and store them in a secure, resilient repository.

Explore the many more features of Convene and discover how it can enhance your board meetings, document management, and overall business continuity efforts.

Audrey Quiteves

Audrey is a Content Marketing Specialist at Convene, in charge of managing the production of quality content on the company’s website. A communication major keen on marketing, Audrey has been constantly seeking approaches to create tailored content—may it be about governance, digitalization, boards, or meetings—fit for the stakeholders. When not strategizing on the next ebook to produce, Audrey finds solitude in reading make-you-ugly-cry novels and listening to self-improvement podcasts.

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How to create a business continuity plan

Having a plan can mean the difference between recovery and disaster

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While everyone would like to believe their organisation will never run into a disaster, it's essential to plan for it so that your business can come out on the other side - and with our IT architectures becoming more and more complex, it's especially important to have a business continuity plan.

A business continuity plan is a document outlining a business' operations in the event of a disruption such as a data breach or outage.

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More than just a plan for getting IT systems back up, it includes contingencies for every aspect of the business that could be affected, with the aim of keeping the entire ecosystem of critical business functions working. This might include checklists, contact information for plan administrators and backup providers, and steps for short- versus long-term outages.

You will also want to consider having plans for various types of disruptions. The pandemic is one major disruption that comes to mind, and the probability of further pandemics is only increasing. Despite 61% of UK organisations having a business continuity plan in place pre-pandemic, only a third of all organisations had a pandemic-specific plan, meaning many businesses ground to a halt and suffered loss of revenue and/or data breaches.

Even small disruptions can have a costly effect, so having a plan in place can mitigate loss of revenue.

Why have a business continuity plan?

There are a wide range of reasons why an organisation should have a business continuity plan put in place.

Firstly, it is a communication tool. Having a plan in place means that everyone will know what to do in an emergency. In a disaster, if someone doesn't know what role they need to play, the risks aren't going to be mitigated.

Secondly, it means that your organisation is proactive. When disaster strikes, people will know what to do instead of trying to figure out things as they go along. This also helps manage any negative impact on the company's reputation; it may be difficult to avoid data breaches entirely, but demonstrating preparedness will make clients more understanding.

Four tips for keeping your business secure during mass remote work

Thirdly, having a plan means that you have a good chance of recovering from disaster . When you protect mission-critical parts of a business, there is a good chance of survival and staff morale will be higher for it.

Not only does having a plan increase your chances of recovering from an incident, but it also reduces the likelihood of you having another one. Businesses that don't have a business continuity plan are 32.3% likely to have a data breach at some point over the next two years, but this falls to 23.4% for businesses with a plan, according to the Ponemon Institute.

Finally, a business continuity plan can reduce the time it takes to identify and contain the data breach incident, especially if staff have a structured plan to follow. It significantly minimises disruption if teams are aware what steps they need to take to keep the business up and running.

What's in a business continuity plan?

A plan should provide a roadmap for employees so they know what to do when things go bad. Such a plan should include the following.

Threat analysis natural disasters, such as a flood can destroy IT infrastructure, while a cybersecurity hack can put your network offline but not affect personnel. Bombs could kill people and destroy equipment. It's important to cover what to do for all major possible threats.

How much will a data breach really damage your organisation’s reputation?

Who's responsible when disaster strikes, an organisation should have a list of personnel to contact and what they role in a continuity plan will be. An organisation should also keep contact details of external services, such as police, fire, etc.

Plan a backup it is important to have a backup of important data offsite away from where an organisation is based. There should also be consideration given to backup power supplies. In addition to uninterruptible power supplies, one should also consider what to do if the power will be out for a considerable amount of time.

Alternative comms and operational sites if you have no telephones or internet, you need to plan how you will keep in contact with customers, employees and others. A plan should also cover how and where to set up operations in an alternative location.

Increasingly, organisations are putting in place formal disaster recovery (DR) processes as part of their business continuity plans.

A global study into DR processes in 2018 showed that 39% of companies had an automated DR process in place, up from just 16% in 2017. Using automated processes like this to get your business up and running in the event of a breach is a good way to make significant cost savings.

Managing a business continuity plan

Managing a business continuity plan means keeping it up to date, changing details to ensure they are correct. It is also important to review the impact of new processes, systems and technology on a regular basis and add these to the original plan.

Best data recovery tools 2021: Restore your lost files

Those responsible for the plan should also make sure that all employees that could be affected by a disruption to the business have read and understood the plan, what their role in the implementation is and how the plan will be executed. Even non-essential personnel should be informed about such things as building evacuation measures, as well as emergency locations.

In the event of a breach, the business continuity plan should be reviewed and adapted if necessary to further minimise disruption in the future.

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Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on  Twitter .

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why should a business create a business continuity plan

What is a business continuity plan, and why should you have one?

business-continuity-plan

For businesses of all sizes, disaster can strike without notice; whether in the form of an economic crisis, natural disaster or any number of factors that may derail your operations.

However it presents itself, you need to be prepared to ensure that you can continue to operate. In this guide, you will learn more about why business continuity planning is important and how it can help your business stay afloat in times of crisis.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is a plan of action for your organisation during times of disaster. It refers to your ability to maintain business functions or a quick resumption of operations following a crisis or disruption. It will outline all of the steps and procedures that you must follow in the event of such disastrous events.

A business continuity plan must include all aspects of your business operation, such as the performance of basic business processes, risk management processes, budget allocation, and the implementation of certain technologies.

Business continuity is essential for businesses of all sizes, but its affects are felt more by large enterprises that stand to lose more when there is a disruption to their business activity (such as cost of operations and employee salary). The aim of a business continuity plan is to operate even during times of disaster and to create as little downtime as possible, until such time that the organisation can re-establish its full function.

Why is business continuity planning important?

Downtime is something that businesses try to avoid. When there is downtime, there is no operation. And when there is no operation, your business is not generating profits.

There are numerous factors that can lead to a downtime for a business, such as threats like extreme weather, economic crisis, and cybersecurity attacks . You need to anticipate these disastrous events that can lead to a business disruption so you can have a plan of attack on what you must do to maintain full business functions.

Four reasons business continuity planning is important

Organisational assurance.

A business continuity plan is essential to assure your customers, partners, and suppliers that you have things under control. When there is a threat or emergency to an organisation, you need to give your partners full confidence that you have the capacity to operate.

It also gives assurance to your employees that you have everything under control. However, you need to communicate with your team the extent of the impact that such a disastrous event has on the entire organisation. The more transparent you are, the more you can get their support to aid in the full recovery.

Manage your risks

When your organisational operation is under threat, things could quickly snowball from bad to worse. A business continuity plan is vital in order to prevent that from happening. Your business continuity plan must be closely linked with your business recovery plans so you do not end up wrangling with an existential business crisis.

Another reason why a business continuity plan is vital in risk management is it keeps the cost of damage under control. The sooner you can mitigate the risks, the fewer and lesser the costs involved in the recovery.

Maintain quality

The quality of your products or services is essential to the survival of your business reputation. Even during times of crisis, you need a business continuity plan to ensure that you can maintain that same level of quality.

A common mistake made by a lot of organisations during a period of disruption is to put priority on survival. As a result, the quality of their products and services decline. By maintaining quality control, you can assure your customers that consistency is still a part of your priority, which will in turn help maintain their business.

Reduce downtime

The main goal of a business continuity plan is to reduce the downtime for your organisation. All businesses know that downtime equates to income loss. The sooner you can restore full business operations, the sooner you can recoup any loss that you suffered during the downtime.

How to develop your business continuity plan

We have seen how a business continuity plan is of utmost importance for your organisation. Now, it is time to investigate how you can develop one, and the crucial elements you need to consider when making this plan.

First off, you need to assess your business processes so you can identify the vulnerable areas. It is also important to evaluate where potential losses might come from in the event that you are unable to operate for anywhere from a single week to several months.

Developing your business continuity plan consists of the following steps:

Specify the scope of your business continuity plan (i.e. short and long-term plans of action to restore business functions)

Pinpoint the key business areas that are most vulnerable in the event of a disruption

Identify the functions that are most critical to the survival of your business

Identify certain areas and functions in your business that are interdependent and how you plan on addressing that in times of a disaster

Qualify an acceptable period for business downtime

Define the actionable steps to maintain operations during a time of crisis

Once developed, it is important to test your business continuity plan so you know it will work. You can use a controlled testing environment to identify gaps and make improvements where needed. The aim is to replicate the scenario of a true disruptive incident for your business. Without planning, the plan might not be sufficient to fulfill its intended purpose. If that is the case, then the essence of having a business continuity plan holds no value for your organisation.

Moreover, you need to periodically review and improve your business continuity plan. As the conditions in the industry and the risks to your organisation change, so should your plan. This will allow your business to resume operations without causing as much loss or impact.

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A certified financial planner shares 4 things new real-estate investors should do before they buy their first property — including 2 budgeting strategies for building up savings

  • Kyle Mast, a CFP, says new real-estate investors should be well prepared to face challenges.
  • He recommends establishing a vision, implementing a budgeting plan, and continuous learning.
  • Building up an emergency fund and understanding personal financial health are crucial.

Getting into real-estate investing for the first time can be a scary thing.

A property could have hidden flaws that end up costing thousands in repairs. The market could go south, and your property could lose value. It could be difficult to find a tenant, forcing you to dip into your savings to cover the mortgage payment.

But according to Kyle Mast, a certified financial planner, preparation can help mitigate fear when buying your first property. On a recent episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast, he shared six steps that new real-estate investors can take to be well-prepared for potential bumps in the road.

Establish a vision

The first is to develop a vision and a goal for where you want to go with real-estate investing and what you hope to achieve with it. This will inform how you form your plan of attack for the years ahead.

"Begin with the end in mind, and then just work your way back from there," Mast said. "Do you want to be someone who owns 100 properties, is managing a team, you're the CEO, or do you want to be the family man or the family wife that has a lot of free time, travels around, has maybe five properties, you're financially independent, you don't need a lot to live on? What is your goal down the road? And if you can define that, the rest will work itself out."

Examine your balance sheet

Next, Mast said to look at your own finances and prior track record in dealing with money. If you have little debt and a big savings pile, you're probably ready to buy a property. But if you don't have a large sum set aside and you have a high level of credit card or student loan debt, you may have to adjust how you approach your spending and saving.

A good number to track, he said, is your net worth. This is the sum of your assets minus your liabilities. The bigger this number is, the better position you are in to both secure a lower mortgage rate and weather any real-estate investing storms.

"A bank's not going to lend to you if you don't have enough reserves or if you're too thin on what you're bringing in and what's going out the door as far as debt payments," he said.

Still, he said not to let having some debt stop you from starting the investing process — it's more about how much of a handle on it you have based on your income and spending habits.

Set a budgeting plan so you can build up savings and pay down debt

Once you've looked at your personal balance sheet, come up with a budgeting plan to start saving up money and paying down debt, Mast said.

He shared two budgeting strategies he likes. One is to set up your direct deposit from your employer in a way that automatically puts a certain percentage of your paycheck into your savings. The other is to put your daily allowance into cash envelopes, forcing yourself to only spend the physical cash you have at your disposal. For instances where you need to use a bank card, have a "bank" envelope where you put that day's cash in place of the card transaction.

Paying down debt is important because it allows cash flow to increase, allowing you to build up savings faster.

Dave Meyer, the host of the BiggerPockets Podcast, discussed two approaches for debt reduction. One is first tackling the source of debt with the highest interest rate, which snowballs the fastest. For example, this could be credit card debt, which is currently averaging more than 20% in the US. The second approach is to knock out the smallest balance first, and use that extra cash flow to knock down the second highest balance, and so on.

It's also good to be building up an emergency fund, Mast said, in order to cover any unforeseen expenses that could arise, like problems with a property's roof. This should probably be at least a few months worth of expenses.

"In the financial world, they'll say three to six months' worth of your expense is a good ballpark to start. And I'd say that's a very good place to think about. So, if it costs you $3,000 a month to live, save up $9,000, maybe round it to 10," he said. "But again, it's personal to everybody and it depends on what you've got going on. If you plan to do a career transition in the next year, maybe bump that up a little bit more."

Keep learning, and decide on a strategy

Finally, Mast said to be accumulating knowledge on real-estate investing by reading books, listening to podcasts, and meeting with investors in person. This will help you decide on which strategy you might want to use.

"Do you want to do house hacking, where you buy your own house and eventually turn it into a rental?" Mast said. "I would say one of the best things you can do is if you know somebody that does real-estate investing, buy them coffee, and just talk to them about it and see what they did."

why should a business create a business continuity plan

Watch: A financial planner explains why buying a home is one of the best investments you can make

why should a business create a business continuity plan

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Tax Time Guide 2024: What to know before completing a tax return

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IR-2024-45, Feb. 21, 2024

WASHINGTON — During the busiest time of the tax filing season, the Internal Revenue Service kicked off its 2024 Tax Time Guide series to help remind taxpayers of key items they’ll need to file a 2023 tax return.

As part of its four-part, weekly Tax Time Guide series, the IRS continues to provide new and updated resources to help taxpayers file an accurate tax return. Taxpayers can count on IRS.gov for updated resources and tools along with a special free help page available around the clock. Taxpayers are also encouraged to read Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals) for additional guidance.

Essentials to filing an accurate tax return

The deadline this tax season for filing Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return , or 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors , is April 15, 2024. However, those who live in Maine or Massachusetts will have until April 17, 2024, to file due to official holidays observed in those states.

Taxpayers are advised to wait until they receive all their proper tax documents before filing their tax returns. Filing without all the necessary documents could lead to mistakes and potential delays.

It’s important for taxpayers to carefully review their documents for any inaccuracies or missing information. If any issues are found, taxpayers should contact the payer immediately to request a correction or confirm that the payer has their current mailing or email address on file.

Creating an IRS Online Account can provide taxpayers with secure access to information about their federal tax account, including payment history, tax records and other important information.

Having organized tax records can make the process of preparing a complete and accurate tax return easier and may also help taxpayers identify any overlooked deductions or credits .

Taxpayers who have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or ITIN may need to renew it if it has expired and is required for a U.S. federal tax return. If an expiring or expired ITIN is not renewed, the IRS can still accept the tax return, but it may result in processing delays or delays in credits owed.

Changes to credits and deductions for tax year 2023

Standard deduction amount increased. For 2023, the standard deduction amount has been increased for all filers. The amounts are:

  • Single or married filing separately — $13,850.
  • Head of household — $20,800.
  • Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse — $27,700.

Additional child tax credit amount increased. The maximum additional child tax credit amount has increased to $1,600 for each qualifying child.

Child tax credit enhancements. Many changes to the Child tax credit (CTC) that had been implemented by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 have expired.

However, the IRS continues to closely monitor legislation being considered by Congress affecting the Child Tax Credit. The IRS reminds taxpayers eligible for the Child Tax Credit that they should not wait to file their 2023 tax return this filing season. If Congress changes the CTC guidelines, the IRS will automatically make adjustments for those who have already filed so no additional action will be needed by those eligible taxpayers.

Under current law, for tax year 2023, the following currently apply:

  • The enhanced credit allowed for qualifying children under age 6 and children under age 18 has expired. For 2023, the initial amount of the CTC is $2,000 for each qualifying child. The credit amount begins to phase out where AGI income exceeds $200,000 ($400,000 in the case of a joint return). The amount of the CTC that can be claimed as a refundable credit is limited as it was in 2020 except that the maximum ACTC amount for each qualifying child increased to $1,500.
  • The increased age allowance for a qualifying child has expired. A child must be under age 17 at the end of 2023 to be a qualifying child.

Changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The enhancements for taxpayers without a qualifying child implemented by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will not apply for tax year 2023. To claim the EITC without a qualifying child in 2023, taxpayers must be at least age 25 but under age 65 at the end of 2023. If a taxpayer is married filing a joint return, one spouse must be at least age 25 but under age 65 at the end of 2023.

Taxpayers may find more information on Child tax credits in the Instructions for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) .

New Clean Vehicle Credit. The credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles has changed. This credit is now known as the Clean Vehicle Credit. The maximum amount of the credit and some of the requirements to claim the credit have changed. The credit is reported on Form 8936, Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit , and on Form 1040, Schedule 3.

More information on these and other credit and deduction changes for tax year 2023 may be found in the Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals) , taxpayer guide.

1099-K reporting requirements have not changed for tax year 2023

Following feedback from taxpayers, tax professionals and payment processors, and to reduce taxpayer confusion, the IRS recently released Notice 2023-74 announcing a delay of the new $600 reporting threshold for tax year 2023 on Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third-Party Network Transactions . The previous reporting thresholds will remain in place for 2023.

The IRS has published a fact sheet with further information to assist taxpayers concerning changes to 1099-K reporting requirements for tax year 2023.

Form 1099-K reporting requirements

Taxpayers who take direct payment by credit, debit or gift cards for selling goods or providing services by customers or clients should get a Form 1099-K from their payment processor or payment settlement entity no matter how many payments they got or how much they were for.

If they used a payment app or online marketplace and received over $20,000 from over 200 transactions,

the payment app or online marketplace is required to send a Form 1099-K. However, they can send a Form 1099-K with lower amounts. Whether or not the taxpayer receives a Form 1099-K, they must still report any income on their tax return.

What’s taxable? It’s the profit from these activities that’s taxable income. The Form 1099-K shows the gross or total amount of payments received. Taxpayers can use it and other records to figure out the actual taxes they owe on any profits. Remember that all income, no matter the amount, is taxable unless the tax law says it isn’t – even if taxpayers don’t get a Form 1099-K.

What’s not taxable? Taxpayers shouldn’t receive a Form 1099-K for personal payments, including money received as a gift and for repayment of shared expenses. That money isn’t taxable. To prevent getting an inaccurate Form 1099-K, note those payments as “personal,” if possible.

Good recordkeeping is key. Be sure to keep good records because it helps when it’s time to file a tax return. It’s a good idea to keep business and personal transactions separate to make it easier to figure out what a taxpayer owes.

For details on what to do if a taxpayer gets a Form 1099-K in error or the information on their form is incorrect, visit IRS.gov/1099k  or find frequently asked questions at Form 1099-K FAQs .

Direct File pilot program provides a new option this year for some

The IRS launched the Direct File pilot program during the 2024 tax season. The pilot will give eligible taxpayers an option to prepare and electronically file their 2023 tax returns, for free, directly with the IRS.

The Direct File pilot program will be offered to eligible taxpayers in 12 pilot states who have relatively simple tax returns reporting only certain types of income and claiming limited credits and deductions. The 12 states currently participating in the Direct File pilot program are Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state and Wyoming. Taxpayers can check their eligibility at directfile.irs.gov .

The Direct File pilot is currently in the internal testing phase and will be more widely available in mid-March. Taxpayers can get the latest news about the pilot at Direct File pilot news and sign up to be notified when Direct File is open to new users.

Finally, for comprehensive information on all these and other changes for tax year 2023, taxpayers and tax professionals are encouraged to read the Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals) , taxpayer guide, as well as visit other topics of taxpayer interest on IRS.gov.

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IMAGES

  1. The importance of Business Continuity Planning

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

  2. What is a Business Continuity Plan and Why It’s Essential?

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

  3. What is a Business Continuity Plan?

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

  4. Business Continuity Planning

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

  5. How to Write a Business Continuity Plan?

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

  6. Business Continuity Planning: How To Create and Maintain BCPs

    why should a business create a business continuity plan

VIDEO

  1. INTRO TO BUSINESS

  2. BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN

COMMENTS

  1. Business Continuity Planning: Why You Need It and Why It Is So Important

    A business continuity plan should align with the broader business objectives to ensure that it doesn't hinder growth or innovation. Consider the following aspects: Market Expansion: If the organization's objective is to expand into new markets, the business strategy plan should accommodate this goal. It should address the challenges and ...

  2. Why You Need a Reliable Business Continuity Plan

    Business continuity planning consists in creating recovery strategies, improving business processes and defining a recovery time objective. ProjectManager is an online project and work management software that allows you to track time, costs, tasks and budgets. Our real-time dashboard gives you a high-level view of six metrics, a great tool to ...

  3. What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and How Does It Work?

    Business Continuity Planning - BCP: The business continuity planning (BCP) is the creation of a strategy through the recognition of threats and risks facing a company, with an eye to ensure that ...

  4. The Importance of a Business Continuity Plan

    A business continuity plan should be reviewed at least annually or after significant changes to business operations, technology, or personnel. External events, such as major industry shifts, emerging threats, or regulatory updates, can also trigger revisions to ensure the plan remains relevant and effective.

  5. Don't underestimate the importance of a business continuity plan

    Many incidents outside of your technology can create the need for a business continuity plan, including lack of access to physical workspace, reputational crisis, or loss of key company individuals. To be able to appropriately respond to a wide range of issues, organizations should be set up in a way that enables its people to make impactful ...

  6. How And Why To Create A Business Continuity Plan

    Business continuity planning is a process whereby leaders develop systems to prevent and recover from threats that exist. In other words, this is risk management in the middle of a changing and ...

  7. What Is A Business Continuity Plan? [+ Template & Examples]

    Once you create a business continuity plan, your work isn't over. Continue to iterate on the plan and identify new risks that become possible over time and/or with increased experience. Business continuity planning isn't a one-time feat. Your plans need to be constantly reassessed if you want to adequately prepare for every situation.

  8. Business Continuity Planning

    Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 1. The first of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should "prepare" to create a business continuity plan. View on YouTube.

  9. How to create an effective business continuity plan

    A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategic playbook created to help an organization maintain or quickly resume business functions in the face of disruption, whether that disruption is caused ...

  10. How to Write a Business Continuity Plan

    Here is an example of a BCP format: Business Name: Record the business name, which usually appears on the title page. Date: The day the BCP is completed and signed off. Purpose and Scope: This section describes the reason for and span of the plan. Business Impact Analysis: Add the results of the BIA to your plan.

  11. Understanding the Essentials of a Business Continuity Plan

    A business continuity plan is a document that outlines how a company can keep running during a crisis. It covers everything from backup systems, communication channels, emergency contacts, and recovery strategies. A good business continuity plan can help you avoid downtime, minimize losses, and protect your reputation. In this blog post, we'll show you how to create a business continuity ...

  12. What is business continuity and why is it important?

    Business continuity is a proactive way to ensure mission-critical business operations proceed during a disruption or in the event of a disaster. A successful business continuity plan includes the following: Clear and comprehensive guidelines. Business continuity features clear guidelines for what an organization must do to maintain operations.

  13. 5 Step Guide to Business Continuity Planning (BCP) in 2021

    Step 4: Maintenance. A business continuity plan should not be treated as a one-time exercise. It needs to be maintained, so the organization's structural and people changes are updated regularly. The key personnel might move on from the firm, and this would need to be updated in the Business Impact Analysis and BCP.

  14. Business continuity plan (BCP) in 8 steps, with templates

    Step 1: Establish an emergency preparedness team. Assign a team the responsibility for emergency preparedness. Select a few managers or an existing committee to take charge of the project. It's advisable to assign one person to lead the planning process.

  15. Business Continuity Plan: Example & How to Write

    Step 3: Establish the business continuity plan objectives. Step 4: Evaluate the potential impact of disruptions to the business and its workers. Step 5: List actions to protect the business. Step 6: Organize contact lists. Step 7: Maintain, review, and continuously update the business continuity plan.

  16. Business Continuity Planning: How To Create and Maintain BCPs

    Step 3: Document business continuity plans. Based on the selected strategies and solutions, you'll then document your BCPs and make them available to key stakeholders. According to the ISO 22301:2019 standard on business continuity management systems requirements, BCPs should: Include specific immediate steps to be taken following a disruption.

  17. How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

    Take these steps to create an effective business continuity plan. Form a business continuity management team. Write a mission statement that states the objectives of the plan. Conduct a business impact analysis to determine the potential risks to your company. Write the plan procedures and details about the required tools, infrastructure, and ...

  18. Business Continuity Plan: What, Why & How to Create it?

    A business continuity plan contains contingencies for business processes, assets, human resources, and business partners. In short, it covers every aspect of the business that might be affected. Think of it as a safety net against global pandemics, natural calamities, unforeseen strikes, cyber-attacks, etc. Business continuity plans have one ...

  19. The importance of having a business continuity plan

    A business continuity plan, or BCP, refers to the process a company will take to prevent and recover from potential threats to the organization. It ensures personnel and assets are protected and able to function in the event of a disaster, and is generally part of overall risk management ' that is, best practice dictates that you consider your ...

  20. Business continuity plan: What it is and why you need it

    Business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans are great way of ensuring that you protect your organisation, however, the two often get mixed up. Many people think that because they have a business continuity plan (BCP) they don't need a disaster recovery plan (DRP), and vice versa. They are, of course, very closely linked but with ...

  21. Why Your Business Needs a Business Continuity Plan

    The Fundamentals of Business Continuity Planning. The purpose of a business continuity plan is to identify, address, and reduce the risk of potential disruptions while maintaining business functions. Below are the key components of business continuity planning: 1. The emergency response team.

  22. How to create a business continuity plan

    Managing a business continuity plan means keeping it up to date, changing details to ensure they are correct. It is also important to review the impact of new processes, systems and technology on a regular basis and add these to the original plan. Those responsible for the plan should also make sure that all employees that could be affected by ...

  23. What is a business continuity plan, and why should you have one?

    A business continuity plan is essential to assure your customers, partners, and suppliers that you have things under control. When there is a threat or emergency to an organisation, you need to ...

  24. 4 Things You Should Do Before You Investing in Real Estate

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