Business Continuity Management
Business continuity management is about protecting your organization from the impacts of natural and human induced events, and the development of plans to resume urgently required services if interrupted for any reason. Business continuity applies to both private and public organizations.
We live in an age of climate change, political uncertainty, globalization, compromised food and water sources and pandemics. All of these situations carry with them significant impacts to our organizations.
A business continuity management program identifies impacts to an organization, mitigation strategies, and the action plans, resources, key personnel, information, equipment and infrastructure to continue or resume operating.
It also prepares people on how to react to business interruptions, keeps response plans current, and creates a new way of doing business for the better.
A business continuity management program consists of the following stages:
- Getting the necessary management, human, and financial support
- Understanding what your organization does and its urgently required services
- Developing and implementing mitigation strategies to protect your organization
- Building response plans to resume urgently required services
- Enacting plan maintenance, exercise, and auditing processes
- Creating an organization-wide culture of business continuity management
The benefits of business continuity management are many. Organizations become more resilient with plans for response in place. Additionally, organizational processes become better understood, more streamlined and more efficient.
