By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Business continuity planning often starts off with a business impact analysis that maps out an organization’s vulnerabilities, critical functions (and the specific threats to those functions), and more.
A good business continuity plan will take a variety of disruptive scenarios into account, including but not limited to cyberattacks, supply-chain issues, terrorism, power outages, and natural disasters. The plan will also list stakeholders responsible for executing the plan and bringing systems back online (along with their contact information), as well as a communication plan and detailed processes for reviving business operations.
Another critical component of business continuity planning is training employees. Regular exercises, including tabletop tests and mock recovery tests, will ensure stakeholders know their roles and responsibilities in a crisis, and ensure their readiness. Organizations can also use the exercises to test and update plans.
In the context of IT, business continuity planning can involve procedures for data backup and recovery, as well as ways for a team to continue IT operations (i.e., keeping websites online, restoring communications, and more); it’s similar to disaster recovery. Options such as automated cloud backups and redundant network infrastructure can help mitigate a crisis that threatens to knock systems offline.
