Eight steps to being ready for disaster
Debra Young
Published: 27 Apr 2004 11:45 BST
Step 3: Make your business continuity plan part of your change management culture
Don't leave your plan gathering dust on the back shelf. It needs to be a living document to remain viable. If business models change or business processes undergo reengineering or key emergency contacts no longer work for the organisation, your plan needs to be updated.
"Business continuity management needs to become part of your corporate culture, part of your change management process," insists Repsher. "When changes occur, every employee needs to automatically ask themselves how it changes their part of the business continuity plan." With greater emphasis on regulatory compliance, it's not enough to have a plan and policies in place. You have to demonstrate that they're workable.
Step 4: Aim for the quickest recovery you can afford
When disaster strikes your company, your competitors will jump at the chance to fill the void. A strong business continuity plan will ensure that you don't lose market share in the event of a disruption. Especially if yours is a Web-based operation, you need to get up and running again as fast as possible. Statistics show that often when prospective customers can't log onto your Web site, they don't come back.
"Business impact analysis is one of the key components for determining if your business continuity plan is workable," explains Repsher. "Look closely at your recovery procedures and see how long it will really take you to get back up and running following a disruption."
She tells of a Fortune 100 client who had a real wake-up call when they realised that if they followed their current business continuity plan, it would take the company 22 days to get back up and running. EDS reviewed the document and was able to recommend strategic changes to the way the company handled backup and restoration of data, the technologies it used for storage, and the way it configured its networks and IT operations that would enable the corporation to restore operations in a more competitive time frame.
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