Guide To Business Resumption Plan

The business resumption plan addresses restoration of your business after an emergency. Different from the disaster recovery plan and business contingency plan, the BRP does not contain continuity procedures used during an emergency; instead it focuses on preventative measures and after the dust settles.

What is a Business Resumption Plan?

A BRP account for steps to be taken in the event of a natural or man-made disruption, which is likely to result in an interruption to the business’s normal trading activities. Key assumptions in the BRP include:

Timely restoration of building and infrastructure access
Restoration of IT configuration and systems.
Restoration of utility services.

Certain people will be absent as a result of the disaster. It is unlikely that they will all be able to return on the same day of disaster strike. Therefore, the BRP looks into possible locations to house staff, ensuring employee safety and preserving critical resources.

What Should be Included?

Include a crisis communications section so that employees, supply chain members and customers are informed of the nature of the business interruption and what help to expect. The communications section will also provide details about additional crisis communication instructions.

You may need to set up a location where certain staff are displaced because of the disaster. The business continuity plan should include possible locations with contact numbers and information to connect employees to corporate networks.

More robust communications may be required if you are going to maintain customer service operations during the crisis.

If you need to move critical operations to a different location, your plan should include plans for the employees that are called on to perform those duties.

Whether you have employees in the affected location, or teleworkers who need to continue working in the disaster area, the plan should detail what equipment is required to allow them to continue their work until an office can be reoccupied, or alternate facilities have been restored.

The BRP is a significant part of disaster planning. Content should be reviewed regularly to assess the efficacy against your company’s changing risk profile.

The Business Resumption Plan is a document that details actions that are meant to restore your business after an emergency. The BRP differences from the other plans in that it does not address continuity procedures used during an emergency.

Small and midsize businesses without the high level of IT sophistication used by larger companies, rely on a business continuity plan. When a company has a business continuity plan, it is less likely to experience significant losses, in comparison to a corporation that does not have a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Plan Basics

The business continuity plan has four primary goals:

To ensure that the activities of an organization can continue as seamlessly as possible in the times following a disruptive incident or disaster. These disruptive manifestations could be weather related natural disasters, or they could be man-made disturbances like terrorist acts or workplace violence scenarios.

To meet and mitigate the effects of the disruptions that occur, and ensure that the organization’s business objectives are being achieved.

To ensure the safety of the staff that works for the company.

To facilitate communication between management and employees, so that the former can prepare staff for the disruptive incidents, and the latter can know their roles and responsibilities when a disruptive event occurs.

The Business Continuity Plan specifics how business operations will continue in the event of a disruption. In order to accomplish this, the business continuity plan includes different types of policies and procedures, like the following:

Individual job descriptions,

The formal description of the organization’s policies and procedures for emergency, which include the scope of the emergency.

The types of continuity plans, which are known as business recovery plans. The business recovery plans have different components that are analogous to the emergency response organizations that are available in the community.

The business continuity plan ensures that when a disruptive event occurs, the employees of an organization will be in a position to minimize the effects that the disruption will have on the organization itself. The business continuity plan is different from the disaster recovery plan, which describes how the organization will continue operation following a natural disaster or a man-made devastation that occurs to a facility or a community.

Small and mid-size businesses, with a size of less than 500 staff, may not need a business continuity plan in the same degree when compared to larger corporations, which have high levels of business computing sophistication.

When a business continuity plan is done right, there are specific things that occur, including:

The smooth continuation of the organization’s activities in the wake of a natural or man-made disaster.

Reduced employee or customer safety concerns.

The reduction of the type and scope of theft or property loss that may occur. Unless there is a structured business continuity plan in place, employees are likely to be fearful for their safety following a man-made or natural disaster. It is important that they know their role and responsibilities in the wake of an emergency situation. Staff are likely to have a sense of direction and purpose, when they know what they need to do, and they understand why the existing emergency guidelines are in place. When employees understand the business continuity plan, the company can realize decreased employee turnover and improved employee morale.

Prevention of the disruption of the business activities of the organization in the times after an emergency or disaster has occurred.

A business continuity plan can be described as a document that details the emergency response and resumption procedures that the organization’s employees will follow in times of disruption and disaster. Unlike the disaster recovery plan, which deals with the recovery of the organization following natural and man-made disasters, the business continuity plan is what management uses to assess the potential disruptions, and the potential impact that they may have on the organization.

Business Continuity Plan Purpose

The purpose of the business continuity planning is to minimize the impact that an emergency or disaster will have on an organization’s ability to deliver products and provide services. It involves looking at the different aspects of the organization, including its physical assets and its information system assets, and determining the degree of risk that they pose to the operation of the organization.

It is necessary for the company to know a variety of critical components in advance of a disruptive event, including the following:

The strategies and procedures that will be used to deliver the organization’s products and services.

The staff roles and their responsibilities, including the emergency contacts and back-up staff that will be available, and the steps that they will follow when a disruptive event occurs.

The evacuation or shelter-in-place strategies, which will be adopted if an emergency situation does occur.

The recovery site where the organization can resume its business.

The steps that will be needed to be taken, to resume communications, to rebuild the IT computer systems, and more.

Critical departments of the organization, which will need to be restored following a disruptive event.

The business continuity plan, which could be nothing more than a few pages in length, can be different for each small or mid-size business, as it is based on the magnitude of the risks that are perceived. The business continuity plan will also be specific for the different business units of larger corporations, as each unit will have a different level of importance and vital role in supporting the corporate profit and business objectives. Good business continuity planning will ensure that a company can continue to provide the services and the products that are vital to its existence.

The business continuity planning covers certain questions, including the following:

What is the likelihood of a disruptive event occurring in the area of operations of the company? What kind of disruptive events pose the greatest risk to the company? What is the continuity website of the company? What is the backup facility? What is the supply chain dependence of the company? What kinds of insurance does the company have? What is the reliability or the cause of disruption or business interruption for the company? What are the facility risks for the company?

The answers to the above questions will guide the company in conducting appropriate insurance coverage, and in developing the critical aspects of the business continuity plan, and identifying the appropriate components of the plan from among others.

Business Continuity Planning for Small Businesses

There are three critical components that need to be considered when developing a small business continuity plan:

Allocated resources, which is the total company workforce, including everyone, including the owner(s), management, and the specialists, to run the business.
Priority of interdepartmental dependencies, each having a high importance to the organization, including the loss of which would paralyze the organization.
General dependencies, including the ones that do not have immediate, but are mandatory to the organization, such as the creditors, suppliers, and the customers.

Once the above information is known, it is possible to develop the business continuity plan, which will be sustainable and robust.