We all hope that we'll never suffer from a flood or a fire, but what would you do if your business premises were out of action or an unforeseen event led to a disruption to normal business operations? Some insurance companies may insist you have a suitable business continuity plan in place before they will insure you.
Business Continuity is about improving the resilience of your business so that you can minimise the impact of any interruption e.g. power outage.
There are several BC methodologies, however the key principles are:-
- Understanding your organisation and identifying your critical functions.
- Identifying the resources required to perform your critical functions.
- Performing a Business Impact Analysis to identify interdependencies and vulnerabilities.
- Developing specific and generic plans to address any vulnerability.
- Rehearsing and Maintaining plans to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
Advice to Local Businesses and Voluntary Organisations
Although we are not in a position to give direct help with business continuity, we can point you in the right direction and signpost some useful websites: