Studies show even though most organizations are working harder on business continuity planning, there are still many troubling gaps in the process. According to Symantec's "2010 Disaster Recovery Survey," 72% of organizations experience downtime due to system upgrades; and 64% of organizations experience downtime due to configuration change management issues. What does this mean to business continuity planners? Increasingly complex IT environments are making IT business continuity planning more difficult.
To help you devise the best business
continuity strategy, we've compiled our top five business
continuity tips from 2010. Download our most popular business continuity templates, find out
the importance of emergency evacuations plans, learn about how to develop a business impact
analysis, and more in this collection of top tips.
TIP #1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free
emergency communications plan template
A typical emergency communications plan should be extensive in detail and properly planned by a
business continuity planner. Internal alerts are sent using either email, overhead building paging
systems, voice messages or text messages to cell/smart phones with instructions to evacuate the
building and relocate at assembly points, updates on the status of the situation, and notification
of when it's safe to return to work. But putting together an emergency communication plan can be
tough, especially if you've never done it before. Download our free emergency
communications plan to help you get started, and read the accompanying article.
TIP #2-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emergency
evacuation plans and business continuity
One of the key objectives of your business continuity strategy is to protect human life in the
aftermath of an incident. A key part of that objective is to ensure that all affected individuals
are located in a safe and protected area. This is why a comprehensive business continuity program
should include evacuation plans, primary and secondary assembly areas, and a process for "counting
heads" to ensure that all employees are safe. Even though emergency evacuation planning is often
the primary responsibility of building management, facilities and/or security departments, business
continuity plans should include evacuation plans that are synchronized with the building plans.
Find out why it's important to have an emergency
evacuation planning strategy as part of your business continuity strategy in this tip.
TIP #3-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What
you need to know about performing a business impact analysis
A business
impact analysis (BIA) is a critical part of a company's business continuity plan. It includes
an exploratory component to reveal any vulnerabilities, and a planning component to develop
strategies for minimizing risk. The result of the analysis is a business impact analysis report,
which describes the potential risks specific to the organization studied. This business impact
analysis guide will help demystify the BIA process and provides a link for you to download a BIA
template. Click here to read our business
impact analysis guide.
TIP #4-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business
continuity template for SMBs
For many small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the business continuity planning process can be
a formidable challenge, especially from the perspectives of time, money and resources. To make the
process easier, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have several options, such as business
continuity planning tools and software, business continuity templates, checklists or consultants.
Download our free sample
business continuity template for SMBs courtesy of sister site SearchSMBStorage.com.
TIP #5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum
tolerable period of disruption in business continuity planning
Maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPOD) is generally defined as the duration after
which an organization's viability will be irrevocably threatened if product and service delivery
cannot be resumed. But it's often confused with the terms recovery time objective (RTO) and
recovery point objective (RPO). In this ask the expert response, read about the differences between
MTPOD and RTO and RPO, and how MTPOD
can impact your business continuity planning efforts.
This was first published in December 2010