What is a business continuity plan?

A Business Continuity Plan is a well developed plan and program of a business or organization dedicated to continuing critical processes of a business during a time of crisis. For example, a manufacturing plant might create a business continuity plan to keep a specific manufacturing process line going after a disaster has occurred such as an earthquake or a terrorist attack. In some cases, emergency relocation may be required and business continuity plan will address these issues before the issues actually require action.

Businesses and organizations must plan for continuity of services otherwise a crisis could result in the loss of revenue of profit which could lead to a multitude of cascading problems including job loss and even complete closure of the company due to the significant losses.

Businesses interested in continuity planning should first develop a continuity planning team consisting of leaders for each department as well as subject matter experts for each department and process of the business. Next, businesses should conduct a risk and hazard assessment on each critical process of the business to determine what could create stoppage of the process during a crisis.

It doesn't stop at just planning, either. Business continuity cannot be successful unless the business frequently exercises and enhances the business continuity program and plan.

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