As the saying goes, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” That’s exactly what a business continuity plan (BCP) does – it helps organizations prepare for unexpected disruptions that could threaten their operations and profitability. While the idea of creating a BCP may seem daunting, the truth is that it’s an essential step for any business that wants to survive and thrive in today’s rapidly changing world.  

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is an essential component of an organization’s risk management strategy, as it helps to ensure that the organization can continue to operate in the face of unexpected challenges and disruptions like a natural disaster, cyber-attack, or other event that impacts the organization’s ability to function. 

A BCP typically includes plans for emergency response, crisis management, disaster recovery, and resumption of business activities. It also includes detailed procedures for maintaining communication with employees, customers, and stakeholders, as well as plans for addressing any legal or regulatory requirements that may be triggered by a disruption. A well thought out BCP helps an organization to identify all the stakeholders that need to be communicated with after a substantial disruption and helps the organization prioritize actions that need to be taken to restore business operations as quickly as possible. 

Today organizations of all types are realizing the importance of creating and regularly updating their BCP to mitigate the potential risk of a disaster.  Historically, most organizations with a BCP were driven to create their first BCP based on compliance requirements.  It is common to find organizations in the following industries to be mandated by compliance requirements to have a BCP in place. 

1. Healthcare and hospitals 

2. Financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and insurance companies 

3. Government agencies and departments 

4. Energy and utilities providers, including electricity, gas, and water 

5. Transportation and logistics providers, including airlines, railways, and shipping companies 

6. Telecommunications companies 

7. Education institutions, including schools and universities 

8. Manufacturing companies producing critical goods, including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment 

Even if compliance requirements don’t demand it for your organization, there are several compelling reasons to have a business continuity plan (BCP) in place.  

1. Minimizing Downtime: Downtime can be costly for any business, both in terms of lost revenue and productivity. A BCP can help you minimize downtime by identifying critical functions and operations, developing response and recovery strategies, and providing a roadmap for getting back to normal operations as quickly as possible. 

2. Protecting Your Reputation: A BCP helps to prepare for and respond to unexpected disruptions that could damage your organization’s reputation, such as a cyber-attack, a natural disaster, or a product recall. By having a plan in place, you can minimize the impact of these disruptions and demonstrate to your customers and stakeholders that you are a reliable and trustworthy partner that can confidently bounce back from a business disruption.

3. Enhancing Resilience: Resilience is the ability to adapt and bounce back from unexpected disruptions. A BCP can help you build resilience by developing contingency plans, training personnel, and testing your plan to ensure that it works effectively. A BCP can help foster a culture of preparedness within your organization. By encouraging employees to think about potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them, you can build a stronger and more resilient organization that is better able to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Even if compliance requirements don’t demand it, investing in a BCP is a smart decision that can pay dividends in the long run.  

At Advanticom we update and test our BCP annually.  We typically recommend the same for our clients to ensure they are prepared for the worst and prepared to respond quickly in the face of a disaster.  The panic of a severe business disruption is easier to handle when you have a plan in place to work from.  In our own Incident Response engagements, we have seen the panic and fear of an organization without any plan in place.  It’s dire and disorganized and cumbersome when the business disruption occurs, which breeds further chaos and stress.  At Advanticom we offer consulting services to guide organizations in the process of creating, defining, and testing their own Business Continuity Plans so they never have to go down without a plan in place to recover operations.