Business
Continuity Overview
The Impact of Everyday Threats
·
15-40% –The number of businesses that fail following a
natural or man-made disaster.*
·
35% –The number of small to medium-sized businesses that
have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.**
·
94% –Number of small business owners who believe a
disaster could seriously disrupt their business within the next two years.***
·
51% –Number of Americans who have experienced at least
one emergency situation involving lost utilities for at least 3 days,
evacuation from their home or office, loss of communications with family
members or had to provide first aid to others.****
*Insurance Information Institute, **Gartner, ***American
Red Cross and FedEx Small Business Survey, 2007, ****American Red Cross/Harris
Poll Survey, 2009.
10
Steps to Preparedness
1.
Assess your risk –both internally and externally.
2.
Assess your critical business functions.
3.
Prepare your supply chain.
4.
Create an emergency management plan.
5.
Back-up your data.
6.
Create a crisis communication plan.
7.
Assemble an emergency kit.
8.
Review your insurance coverage.
9.
Plan for an alternate location.
10. Test your
plan.
Starting
Your Business Continuity Plan
·
Team
Members
o Even if you
work alone, you will still need strategic partners in the event of a disaster.
These partners may be vendors, customers, neighbors, emergency services
personnel, etc. If you work in a larger company, your team members will be
recruited mostly from within your organization.
o Before
assembling your team, try and predict what kind of business disruptions you are
most likely to face. For example, if you live near the coast, you will be more
likely to encounter flooding than a colleague in the mountains. Once you have
identified the threats, you will be in a better position to determine the identity
of the people you will need to partner with in order to continue business
operations.
o In a larger
organization, you will want to assign specific roles to staff members. For
example, one individual may be responsible to retrieve the off-site backup tapes
needed to rebuild your company data. If you are a sole proprietor, then it all
falls on your shoulders. But that doesn't mean you can't develop a list of
people you know you can call on in an emergency. In a wide spread disaster,
such as a flood, you won't be the only one suffering, so developing some
cooperative relationships ahead of time makes sense.
·
Communication
o Once you
have identified your team members, you will need to decide how to communicate
in an emergency. Your communication plan may be as simple as having a call list
saved on your cell phone. Besides communicating with your disaster recovery
team, remember to contact customers and other stake holders as soon as
possible. Let them know what your situation is, and what steps you are taking
to keep your business moving.
·
Temporary Production and Distribution
o How will you
keep goods and services flowing in the event of a disaster? You may need to
store some critical components and supplies off-site. Or you may need to have distributor’s
drop-ship directly to your customers. If you are a manufacturer, can you
arrange for other shops to assemble your product on a temporary basis? However
you deal with temporary production and distribution, make sure you think this
one through before a fire or tornado destroys part of your facility.
·
Data Backup
o Regular data
backup is critical for any business. If you aren't backing up critical data
regularly, stop reading this article and get to it now. Your data backup can be
as simple as an external USB drive. But regardless of the medium, arrange for
off-site storage and develop a plan for bringing critical computer services
back on line.
·
Backup Power
o Ice storms,
hurricanes, floods, fires and other disasters can cause long term power
outages. Consider how long your business could survive without power. This will
help you determine whether you need a simple UPS or a back-up generator.
o An Uninterrupted Power Supply, or UPS, can keep your computers running for a
limited time and then allow them to power down safely. A generator is designed
to kick in a black out. The right generator can keep your entire business
running as long as fuel is available.
·
Taking the Next Step
o Considering
these five items will start you down the road of creating a Business Continuity
Plan. But it's only a start. The next step is to take this information and
create a formal document. The Association of Contingency planners can provide support
that you can use for creating and maintaining your plan.
