Business continuity management (BCM), identifies and quantifies potential threats to an organization, as well as the consequences of those threats. It helps to identify and quantify risks, and matches them with available budget and resources. A company can be threatened by many things, from global pandemics to outages in utilities to cybersecurity. Organizations can survive by having a solid BCM plan.
It can be difficult to create a comprehensive, realistic, and effective BCM plan. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take in creating your BCM plan.
What is Business Continuity Management?
People tend to think of business continuity in terms of redundant servers, highly available networks and geographically diverse systems. Business continuity is the ability to keep a business running smoothly in the face of various disasters. This includes how people, processes, or systems can continue to work in adverse conditions.
This does not happen by itself. BCM is designed to ensure continuity under predetermined conditions. Some situations or scenarios may not be economically feasible to protect against. There are often strict budgetary constraints. Poor BCM can result in huge financial losses for businesses, if not planned properly.
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Start trainingBCM provides effective solutions that protect business needs, primarily those of key stakeholders. This could be the CEO, who must report to the stockholders and the board of directors. This could also refer to a vice president for operations who protects the business from being penalized for service level breaches. Many businesses have assets that must be protected in order to preserve their value. Large equipment manufacturers may have expensive machining tools or products made from them. BCM can help you determine the best way to secure them in extreme events like hurricanes and floods.
As disasters, pandemics, and other risks that can affect business continuity occur, it becomes clear which businesses are ready and which are not. This can impact a company’s reputation. Clients will migrate to more stable companies if you are constantly unprepared to deliver on time due to different risks.
Why should I care about BCM?
There is usually a hierarchy of priorities for reasons an organization cares about BCM. It often comes down to regulatory compliance. It is mandatory that certifications are maintained if an organization is subject to a regulatory requirement.
A larger client may require that the vendor do business with them. This is a more common scenario. They have an interest in the vendor’s success and want to minimize risk of a vendor not meeting their contractual obligations. Clients who require this are often lucrative and warrant it. However, they can also be costly if you don’t have BCM in place.
Sometimes, insurance may require it. BCM may be required by insurance companies if an organization is bonded or has insurance. This helps to minimize risk. This is because of the risk of non-compliance of job due to business interruptions.
Reputation is another important factor. BCM may not be required by clients or insurance companies. An organization might choose to do this regardless of reputation. Companies with BCM are more likely to be successful in disasters because they have already planned for certain events.
How to create a BCM plan that is effective
The right people are the key to effective BCM planning. Stakeholders are people who have a stake in the continuity of business. They can help create the wish list. All employees from different departments within the company should be involved. They will have an intimate knowledge of the organization.
