Summary

Risk is a reality of life with most emergencies being totally unexpected, however by wise Business Continuity Planning organisations need not be unprepared. While it is impossible to predict specific events, it is possible to prepare for certain possibilities which could cause disruptions to an organisation's operations and services. BCP involves making preparations, seeking for means of prevention, and designing recovery processes for responding to business disruptions.

Risk impact analysis is an important component of BCP with loss of information, site access limitations, and the circumstances of people during an emergency, being major areas for consideration. The time frames involved, the degree of service and operational interruptions, along with incident assessment and the consequent responses, all form a part of BCP. Through understanding those risks which might have a higher probability of occurring along with those that could have a greater impact upon an organisation, resources may be intelligently allocated to either prevent, or to recover from, a disaster. Associated with risk analysis is the assessment of the consequences and the acceptability of certain risks.

In responding to a particular emergency the matters which need to be taken into account include:

• Direction and control of personnel and resources; 

• Communications between parties; • Safety of human life;

• Property protection;

• Possible community involvement;

• Recovery and restoration activities along with administration and logistics.

A key component of effective BCP is the testing of plans, modifying them, and making improvements as necessary. The actual details of a given crisis are unpredictable and for this reason staff should be able to react flexibly, within acceptable boundaries, to meet the need on the ground.

BCP has a number of recognisable benefits e.g., the potential to maintain a viable organisation after an emergency, the minimisation of financial losses, holding the confidence of customers/shareholders, and of creating more robust and sustainable organisations.