Business Continuity Planning

Some organizations seem to think that business continuity planning is asking for trouble... look for what might happen and it will. After all, "nothing has ever happened in all the years we've been in business." But, as the Bob Dylan song says, "The Times They Are A-Changin." We've seen too many disasters and disruptions not to be wary that these things can also happen to us. So, if you've been slow to start this planning project or just haven't kept things up to date, this week's articles should be helpful to you and your team as you build or refine your plan.

Most people aren't reluctant to create a business continuity plan - they just aren't aware of why they need one or what they are. (Item #1) Consider how your current plan is equipped to address your company's resilience to and recovery from disruptions and disasters in these nine critical areas. (Item #2) Especially during a calamitous event, your business continuity strategy must factor in the emotional and physical impact on your workforce. (Item #3)

Companies that survive unexpected incidents are the ones that thought about their employees' needs. (Item #4) The business owner who said he didn't need a BC plan was not getting the business benefits of establishing and maintaining a business continuity plan. (Item #5) Check out these 10 tips for business continuity planning. (Item #6)

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. How to Build an Effective and Organized Business Continuity Plan

Businesses rarely like to think about failures, disasters, emergencies, accidents, or uncontrollable circumstances. However, if history has proven anything, it's that even the most powerful are eventually brought to their knees. In the unfortunate event something happens to your company, it's critical that you have a strong, effective, and organized business continuity plan in place to help you weather the storm and come out alive.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2015/06/26/how-to-build-an-effective-and-organized-business-continuity-plan/

2. Nine Critical Functions of Your Business Continuity Plan

When business owners think about continuity planning, many tend to limit the scope of their plans to simple IT recovery and emergency preparedness. In reality, a well-designed business continuity plan impacts nearly every aspect of your business health. So while emergency relief and IT disaster recovery are important elements, they should be only a part of your overall business continuity plan.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/coxbusiness/2015/05/28/9-critical-functions-of-your-business-continuity-plan/

3. Does Your Business Continuity Plan Include Your Employees?

If a sudden disruption threatens your organization's continuous operations, you may already have a disaster recovery plan in place and, if not, you will have at least thought about how to maintain operations. But even if your facilities and IT systems are safe, what about the most critical component: your employees?
http://www.enterprisetech.com/2015/06/02/does-your-business-continuity-plan-include-your-employees/

4. Business continuity mistakes to avoid

Even with a business continuity plan in place, the success of an organization means more than safe and secure critical data. It is crucial that business owners make sure they can take care of their most important asset - their employees. To that end, here are five business continuity mistakes to avoid in order to ensure your employees' peace of mind.
http://www.techadvisory.org/2015/05/business-continuity-mistakes-to-avoid/

5. We Don't Need No Stinking Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity seems to be tied to a defensive or protective strategy that is in turn linked to a disaster. None of this feels like a compelling reason to develop a plan. It feels like a real downer! Companies both large and small, either product or service-based, regional or global, need a business continuity plan (BCP). Here's why.
https://www.corpmagazine.com/executives-entrepreneurs/expert-advice/we-dont-need-no-stinking-business-continuity-plan/