Business Continuity Planning

Is your business continuity plan up-to-date with any changes in your organization? Does it reflect any new potential risks? Are the right people in charge or in the know? Check your plan to answer these questions and take a look at this week's articles to give you some new insights on how to make your plan better.

If there was a catastrophe like a dirty bomb, many of the affected small-and-medium-sized businesses would go out of business. (Item #1)   Here are some important points to consider when developing a business continuity plan. (Item #2)   Do you know how cloud computing impacts business continuity planning? (Item #3)  

For some businesses in the World Trade Center, their business continuity plans were truly their lifelines; they could be for your nonprofit, as well. (Item #4)   BCP is not a functional agenda; it is one of the top-10 risks covered by enterprise risk functions of organizations. (Item #5)   The advent of virtualization technology has improved business continuity planning and execution for many organizations, but, if deployed or managed carelessly, virtualization can itself create business disruptions or data disasters. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Cloud services as part of a BC/DR plan after a terror attack

While terrorists usually go for big targets, even small-and-medium sized business need to think about the repercussions of a terror attack. Gregory Machler outlines how the cloud can keep business running.
http://www.csoonline.com/article/686002/cloud-services-as-part-of-a-bc-dr-plan-after-a-terror-attack

2. Business continuity plan development explored

The author is beginning to feel like business continuity was becoming like cooking - everyone thinks that all they need is 'secret recipe' and they can turn out professional dishes, achieve their lifelong dream of opening a restaurant, etc. Somehow business people have become universal "do it yourselfers," failing to understand that the deep and broad knowledge and the painfully honed skills gained from experience are far more important than the business continuity recipe.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0106.htm

3. Business Continuity Planning in the SMB Space

You've read all the stats about how many businesses fail due to data loss. Businesses with an interruption of ten or more days simply do not survive. They might limp along for awhile, but they will fail. Two thirds of the businesses in the World Trade Center did not survive. BCP goes way beyond recovering your data, or your computer systems. BCP is literally a plan for the continuation of the business.
http://www.doyenz.com/articles/business-continuity-planning-smb-space

4. Keeping Your Organization Viable for the Future

For generations to come, September 11, 2001, will be remembered as a day in which innocent lives were lost and businesses were destroyed. Yet, it doesn't take a cataclysmic event to threaten the viability of a business or your nonprofit organization. Torrential rainstorms, computer hackers, embezzlement, or accusations of sexual improprieties can bring your services to a standstill or destroy them forever.
http://www.nonprofitrisk.org/library/articles/crisis11132002.shtml

5. A Boardroom Agenda for Business Continuity Planning

Who should spearhead the business continuity planning (BCP) initiative within an organization? During a recent survey, a majority of the respondents suggested that BCP should belong to the risk management office. However, all of the respondents believed that the person responsible for the BCP should have direct access to senior management or report to a C-level executive in an organization.
http://www.drj.com/2011-articles/spring-2011-volume-24-issue-2/a-boardroom-agenda-for-business-continuity-planning.html

6. . Business Continuity and Technology - the Strengths and the Weaknesses

Over the past two decades, business continuity has become a vital business requirement within the corporate environment. What was once conceived as a solution to protect mainframe computer systems during a full-blown disaster has now become an essential part of protecting an organization's business operations. Business continuity planners have relied on technology to assist in responding to a disruptive event.
http://www.drj.com/2011-articles/summer-2011-volume-24-issue-3/business-continuity-and-technology-the-strengths-and-the-weaknesses.html