Planning of Business Continuity

Governments and businesses rarely prepare for disasters, but when they do, the results can be expensive. Failures are an issue since each one is different and needs a special level of planning and response. Thus, the importance of business continuity planning (BCP) becomes critical while preparing for prospective problems. As a result, an organization should have a current, tested, as well as improved business continuity strategy in order to give it the greatest possible foundation for successfully organizing and managing an emergency. The lack of proper and unique BCP in every instance can lead to more hours, efforts, and great amounts of capital spent on recovering lost data or documents (Lewis Jr, Watson, & Pickren, 2003). Corporate continuity plan practices can be overstated and take a lot of time; however, they are a compulsory part of the safety policies and procedures establishment. An emergency or natural disaster may cause damage, and a sound Business Continuity Plan will ensure the successful transition to an alternate location (Lewis Jr et al., 2003). With this concept in cognizance, the essence of the following paper is to provide an evaluation of the business continuity plan components within the scope of any given business. Further, the writing will furnish a simulation of necessary strategies and protocols to be followed when managing different threats of a company.
Introduction: Business Continuity Plan
Business continuity primarily means the ability of a business to maintain functions and operability to efficiently resume ordinary events during a significant disruption. The disturbances within a company can be categorized as natural (earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes), human-made disasters (fire, flood, malicious attacks through cybercriminals, terrorism), and general loss of data due to poor record keeping. Several studies determined that 53% of global companies possessed a BCP. Nonetheless, the majority of the corporates, according to the survey, indicated that there was lack of training and testing of the continuity plan. For example, the study admitted that up to 40% of commercial institutions that possessed a business continuity plan failed to carry out testing and business impact analysis. The conclusions of the research determined that maintaining a business continuity plan was mandatory (Cerullo & Cerulloa, 2004).
As a matter of fact, however, due to competition and cost-efficiency in handling operational data, businesses have shifted into automated systems and networks. The loss of information, therefore, has become catastrophic impacting on the firm's integrity and credibility in the long run (Cerullo & Cerullo, 2004). According to statistics, natural disasters have come second in rating compared to human-made disasters such as terrorism and cyber-attacks in accordance with the conversion of Information Technology expertise. The impact of not possessing a good business continuity plan is that nearly 75% of the enterprises globally were unable to comprehend the unexpected occasions of disasters (Cerullo & Cerullo, 2004).
Merits and Importance of Implementing a Business Continuity Plan
The corporate continuity plan outlines the processes as well as the instructions to be followed when incident strikes (Arduini & Morabito, 2010). The prescriptions include business processes, assets, human resources, as well as business partners and stakeholders. Therefore, the merits that come with a business continuity plan are avoiding risks as well as mitigating the threats which helps reduce the negative consequences of the catastrophe. Moreover, the BCP restores a business back to its normal operational state in very little time.
A good business continuity plan ought to possess at least three traits. Therefore, it should be able to identify all the significant menaces of business interruptions. The arrangement can also develop a strategy to identify as well as soften the dangers (Streufert, 2010). Finally, the program should possess a continuum in training and testing of the plan such as involving the employees in the process of project elaborating. Concurrently, the business continuity plan offers critical and essential functions required for delivering services and maintaining the safety and well-being of stakeholders in order to sustain economic stability. There is need to note, however, that a disaster recovery plan is not the same as business continuity plan. A catastrophe recovery plan focuses on the refurbishment of an information technology organization as well as operations after the crisis. In turn, the disaster recovery plan is a part of the business steadiness plan (Streufert, 2010).
The Business Continuity plan is crucial because it ensures the maintenance of economic development of inhabitants in damaged areas. Therefore, the mentioned action plan is about to provide financial services, for example, continue its operational activity even during disasters such as natural incidents. Additionally, the business continuity plan prevents the widespread payment, settlement disorder, and systematic risks (Virgona, 2011). For these principles to be implemented, the BCP should make certain that financial institutions and international businesses are able to execute their functions in areas bound by risks. Finally, one more important aspect of business continuity plan is that it reduces the management of risks, for instance, manages the problems for businesses. Other companies include safety providing entities such as those that distribute medicines and care packages (Whitworth, 2006).
Components of a Business Continuity Plan
There are three mechanisms of creation a good business continuity plan. They comprise business impression analysis (BIA), tragedy contingency retrieval plan, and working out and testing modules.
a. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
The BIA's primary function is to recognize the critical features of a business such as operations performed on a day-to-day basis. The BIA also provides for the identification of the risks associated with the company that includes the probability of the risks occurring and its impact. The third function of a BIA is to provide a mitigation process, absorption of risks process, as well as definition of ways to soften and avoid risks in the short and long-term situations. In the current business environment, identification of business risks has become a rather important issue (Tijan, Kos, & Ogrizović, 2009).
For instance, within the banking and financial institutions sectors, massive alterations in handling consumers has generated the need to alternate to information technology at the retail level. Such businesses may have differential risks compared to healthy companies being involved in supply chain management and global markets. In general, business (whether global or local) ought to possess a business continuity plan to safeguard one's operations with the customers and comply with the international and domestic set regulatory reforms. The adoption of strategic business impact analysis is a prominent agenda in most commercial spheres for the assessment of the risks companies can be associated with. This procedure includes the adoption of a framework, database such as community port systems (Tijan et al., 2009).
b. Disaster Contingency Recovery Plan (DCRP)
A DCRP is a documented process used in the recovery as well as the protection of a business's information technology infrastructure. The plan is provided generally in a written form, but due to advancement in technology, there are soft copies or digital patterns of the same. The DCRP is an inclusive statement of a decisive action to be taken before, after, and during the accident. The process of the development of a DCRP includes the identification of primary as well as other team members. The particular duties to be undertaken by the members such as executive management roles and notification procedures should also be determined at this stage. More so, the DCRP involves the workaround process to keep functioning of operations while the damaged areas are being handled. The DCRP can also contain the contact list of personnel as well as the functions to perform both internally and externally (Pinta, 2011).
c. Training and Testing
The processes include the evaluation of the methodology that risk mitigation ought to go through. They include the simulation of testing and preparation of the disaster recovery team in addition to the other staff members. The process is followed by the recap of the Business Continuity Plan and another modeling of the testing and training. Testing is considered to be the central aspect of a business continuity plan obliged to determine whether the program operates efficiently (Mills, 2010). Hence, the trial ensures that the disaster recovery teams -both primary and tertiary - know what to do, are aware of their roles, and whom to contact during a disaster. Testing, further, requires that the executive to be indulgent with the business' processes in business continuity planning.
The reason for this prescription is a large percentage of executives who believe that business continuity planning takes up a lot of capital with little initial investment return. The business continuity planning, and more so, on the continued rehearsals and training of employees (disaster recovery team) provides a more strategic plan on how to recover business assets during a catastrophe. Hopefully, in time the executive may improve the adaptability towards the continuity action plan (Delia, Gabriel, Bogdana, & Adrian, 2009).
Operational Planning for Natural Disasters: Federal Regulations
Despite the existence of business continuity plans within the commercial structures, the question is whether businesses possess and provide the proper infrastructure, processes, testing, and trainings for the preparedness of a disaster. On the one hand, government agencies are tasked with the handling of massive natural disasters such as acts of terrorism and bomb threats which can also affect business. Businesses, in this case, cannot manage such emergencies. Governmental organizations, therefore, ought to possess the right disaster and business continuity planning to cater for essential businesses such as financial institutions (McCreight & Leece, 2016).
Ministerial agencies can provide commercial institutions with the right operational plans which include document strategies, processes, and sustenance to provide for the stable performance of necessary functions under any external condition. In the United States of America, for instance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ought to possess operational plans to maintain high levels of readiness in case of risks. For example, the effective executive project under the adoption of business continuity plan can be functional in 12 hours and supportable within 30 days. Therefore, such arrangement may provide business with the ultimate business continuity planning required for ensuring that the company operated efficiently during a disaster (Mills, 2010).
According to the Federal regulation, an operational plan ought to provide access to information systems besides dynamic data, provision for designation of specialist of succession, and dispersal of processes across geographical sites with substitute areas. Nonetheless, the operational planning also delivers the businesses with the opportunity to handle disasters through creating structures in place that will aid in recovery operations. For example, in the location where the natural disaster strikes, the staff members can carry out first aid, secure shelters, support emergency response and assistance in restore efforts (Tijan et al., 2009). Moreover, through the action plans, businesses are encouraged to have a recovery team which main agenda is to secure and allocate responsibilities to the staff members during a natural disaster outbreak. For example, in the event of a hurricane, the workers should be equipped with the necessary survival and response skills which are essential in communication, providing engineering support, mass care, provision of transport where necessary as well as manage mobilized areas from the disaster epicenter (Streufert, 2010).
Business Operational Plans: Good Storage Practices
When it comes to individual businesses and type of operations, there are different requirements for managing products and services. To the companies whose primary activities are product handling, business continuity planning ought to encompass the storage processes. For instance, pharmaceutical companies admit the importance of proper management of storage and transportation of products. The business continuity plan in such scenario includes the mitigation of risks even before they happen. The type of storage equipment and status is mandatory to ensure the products do not lose value being in transit or while disaster strikes (Tijan et al., 2009).
The imagination that a clinical sample of a hazardous nature was arranged poorly during transportation can lead to more havoc than the catastrophe. The necessity of a business continuity plan for such companies is to ensure that the community and the company's integrity have been maintained throughout. There are numerous ways to provide this verification which include the establishment of standard operating procedures that are to be implemented by all personnel. The difference between handling of products for such companies compared to a clothing company is that soften of risks is provided before any presumed hazard occurs (Virgona, 2011).
The standard operation protocols need to be incorporated in training and testing processes within a business continuity plan and program. The methods of training include the ability to secure facilities as well as possess redundant measures aimed at ensuring products (such as specimens) are kept in good conditions at all times. Further, the designated expert staff ought to be trained in sample storage, i.e. how to handle samples or products during a disaster period and transportation of the same. Finally, the storage technologies in such industries and companies possess special characteristic that should be monitored for keeping appropriate conditions all the time through audit trails (Whitworth, 2006).
Business Continuity Plan: Information Technology
Businesses have integrated information systems into their daily operations. The networking that such an infrastructure brings is unmatched to the conventional methods of operations. Therefore, the benefits that come with the consolidation of information systems within a business are maintained by the numerous advantages companies accrue. For instance, one of the preferences is an ability to handle shipping and logistics globally through a network of integrated information systems. The infrastructure proves to be costly regardless of the type of company and industry the firm belongs to. The worse consequence may be for a group that has not adopted a business continuity plan for its information database and separate data (Virgona, 2011).
One of the critical issues to be outlined within a business continuity plan is ensuring that information technology weaknesses and threats are identified. To do so, the building of an information technology flow model is required. The procedure allows for the comprehension of the relevant documentation of a business. The model consists of the roadmap designing for primary internal functions of the company, operational flow, management control, as well as understanding the threats to the information technology infrastructure (Lewis Jr et al., 2003).
As such, the primary protocols of ensuring threats such as cyberterrorism, hacking, phishing, and general loss of data are provided through the incorporation of three-step processes. They include the protection, detection, and reaction. Within the business continuity plan, there is the provision of welfare comprises investing in security systems that are up to date, easy to operate, and may handle any hazard both seen and unseen (Arduini & Morabito, 2010).
Protection also means that the information technology is critical for maintaining of the anticipated levels of obtainability for an association. The services include the threat from the environment letdowns, hardware fiascos, as well as malicious attack and operational shortcomings. The business impact analysis ought to take into account that offense can face any business regardless of its operations be they small or large. The second step requires the detection of the threats. Exposure at the earliest stage can lead to the minimization of the influence on the services which lessen the retrieval of the efforts and the preservation of the quality of service (Cerullo & Cerullo, 2004).
The final stage is the reacting phase which requires an incident to be handled in the right and appropriate manner to enable the efficient recovery as well as setting the downtime to a minimum rate. The expert team that will be allocated in the process is required to understand that reacting poorly to any situation can have an effect of a minor occurrence intensifying to a more severe significant event. As such, within the training and testing of any personnel, there ought to be the introduction of recovery and resuming protocols how to perform all the necessary operations. The recommendation in the business continuity plan state that recovery services for any information technology infrastructure should be based on the services and be achieved in a measured and programmed manner. This principle requires the identification of the appropriate recovery strategy implementation which will ensure that the timely recommencement of facilities and maintaining of information are compiled in accordance with it (Whitworth, 2006).
Conclusion
The paper has provided a simulation and integrative comprehension of what a business continuity plan is and how it is structured. The business continuity plan possesses a series of components that are universal to any agency or business which include BIA, testing and training, and disaster recovery program. The above mentioned procedures are in line with the current trends in the industry. However, there are significant shifts in the information technology platforms which complicate the business continuity plans. Anyway, with the right preconditions such as improved security, possessing an infrastructural model, and actual implementation of a business continuity model, businesses may be able to respond and recover from hazards within the relevant time frame. Hence, the importance of possessing a business continuity plan is mandatory to get readiness for the unforeseen or unprecedented risks associated with running a commercial activity.

References
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