Business Continuity Planning: Questions organizations don’t ask but should

Written by David Ng

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A business continuity plan is much more than just a disaster recovery plan that lets you know which insurance agent to call after your business has been struck by a fire, vandal or theft. It’s about knowing how your organization is going to keep moving forward and overcome any disruption no matter the cause.

A strong business continuity plan will always consider, and answer, the following questions:

  1. What risks are most likely to affect your organization, given your geographical area?
    Think about the seasons of your location. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, you know how heavy rainfall can slow traffic to a crawl. Are you prepared for key staff members to come in late? Or perhaps you live in an area that has scorching summers. Will your office still be able to function when your town’s strained electrical grid causes a brownout that shuts down your onsite servers?
  2. Are there at least two staff members who know how to carry out each key job?
    It’s unrealistic to believe a key individual will never get sick or go on a vacation. You need to make sure your team has the flexibility and agility to carry on whenever a key member is out of the office.
  3. Is your organization able to operate effectively when key locations are closed?
    Communication blackouts do happen and can be caused by a number of things like power outages, service provider disruptions or even international holidays.
  4. Is physical information backed up?
    Even though we’ve entered the digital age, there’s still plenty of information being passed around on paper. Is there a plan in place that will keep your company running smoothly if your physical records have been compromised?
  5. Does your business continuity plan work? 
    Having a business continuity plan is a great first step! But was the planning team made of appropriate members? Have all of your organization’s business continuity bases been covered? Do you have an internal audit team? Has the audit team reviewed the plan for deficiencies? Has your organization conducted scenario testing of your plan, such as a simulation of a terrorist bomb attack on your organization’s headquarters, or simulation of a virus attack bringing down the network?

For detailed worksheets that will help you create and test a viable business continuity plan, download our new e-book, “The Ultimate Guide to Business Continuity Planning” today!

David Ng is a writer at Laserfiche

David Ng is a writer at Laserfiche.

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