The current business world is considered very dynamic, thus facing numerous risks. There exist many types of risks that can cause disruptions in operations, such as natural catastrophes, cyber attacks, and global pandemics. In the light of such a business environment, all businesses must remain productive even after such forms of disruptions. This calls for business continuity planning (BCP). BCP is an intelligent strategic way of creating entities of prevention and recovery of various capabilities that enable a business organization to respond to various threats.

In this sense, such planning provides the capability to ensure that an organization will be able to deliver its important services in cases of unexpected events, minimizing downtime to the greatest extent. In this blog, we will discuss what business continuity planning (BCP) is and why this has become so important in a modern business strategy.

What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?

At its core, BCP or business continuity planning is identifying all possible risks that might affect an organization and how best to be prepared to either mitigate them or respond appropriately. Policies, procedures, and protocols about BCP enable an organization to continue or quickly pick up on their critical functions in a disruption. With a well-developed BCP, business employees will know their role in the event of an emergency, keep lines of communication open, and all possible resources- technological as well as data- will be readily available.

BCP is more than a disaster recovery plan. Disaster recovery is about the IT system’s and data recovery, whereas the business continuity planning scope encompasses everything that the company does: from IT to human resources, to physical assets, to suppliers, and customers. It is, in other words, an all-inclusive preparation toward ensuring the business, on the whole, could continue.

Components of a BCP

• BCP: This process consists of an analysis of the different risks that may impact the organization and prevent it from carrying out its activities. Among these are more natural kinds of disasters, such as floods or earthquakes, but in the contemporary world, man-made disasters have also become quite common. Such include cyber attacks, industrial disasters, or even pandemics. These elements can be used to estimate the possible occurrence and consequences and to provide a basis for prioritization.
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA): A BIA identifies what business functions would be greatly affected and the impact such disruption could have on them. It answers essential questions, for instance: What would most procedures dependent for business survival be? What resources- humans, technologies, finances- will be needed to maintain those processes?
• Risk Mitigation Strategy Development: Once the risk areas and their implications on business are known, the next line of approach is to work through strategies on how to mitigate these identified risks. A few examples could be divesting supply chains, something otherwise might limit the company due to its long domestic inventory chain, or to implement strong IT security measures or setting up remote working capabilities.
• Exercise and Review the Continuity Plan: A continuity plan is of use only if it is continuously exercised and updated. This helps test the continuity plan to see whether it works in practice and whether employees know what their roles are. Periodic reviews also ease the updating of the plan based on changes in the risk environment or business environment.

Advantages of Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Now that we know the elements of a business continuity plan, what are its advantages?

• Reduces Downtime: The most important advantages of business continuity planning (BCP) is that it minimizes downtime over a disruption. Having a ready plan in place enables companies to return to business, thereby minimizing the financial and operational impacts from an event. Whether it is a natural disaster or a server outage, BCP ensures that critical functions can be maintained with minimal disruptions to the business.
• Safeguards Brand and Reputation: A disruption that would result in a lengthy shutdown may damage the reputation of a company. People expect organizations to be reliable. The business continuity planning strategy will help ensure that, in times of crises, your organization will not disappoint people’s expectations. This helps protect your brand image.
• Compliance with Regulations: Most industries, such as finance, healthcare, and energy, are highly regulated and require businesses to have a continuity plan. Failure to adhere can result in extreme consequences in the form of hefty fines and penalties. A well-developed and regularly updated BCP will help keep businesses compliant with the regulations established and at bay from legal frictions.
• Improves Employees’ Self-Esteem: During a crisis, uncertainty creates panic and confusion among employees. If the BCP is crystal clear and so is the communication, employees are shown what should happen and what to do. All this increases their self-esteem, as they will not be seen panicking, and their anxiety will be reduced. They will find themselves ready and believe that their company will take all the apt measures to protect its interests as well as them.
• Protects Bottom Line: A disruption is usually devastating to the bottom line financially. From lost revenues to cost recovery, a business without a BCP will suffer the most. It helps a company control and minimize risk and ensure that its business continues to exist by protecting the bottom line during and after a disaster.

This content is meant for information only and should not be considered as an advice or legal opinion, or otherwise. AKGVG & Associates does not intend to advertise its services through this.