Devastating events like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. have caused businesses around the world to take a closer look at their business continuity plans.
- An estimated 14,600 businesses inside of and around the World Trade Center were impacted by the disaster.
- The indirect impact to U.S. businesses in the 12-month period of time following the 9/11 attacks was estimated to be $151 billion.
In the event of a business emergency, it is critical that you make the right decisions under pressure and bring the immediate threat to your company and your employees under control quickly. Your company must resume its most important functions in at least an "emergency mode" as quickly as possible. At the time of a disaster, the one thing that all companies have working against them is time. Lost time translates into dissatisfied customers, lost revenue and more.
Traditionally, disaster recovery and continuity planning has been driven by the computer and information technology (IT) industry. Because of the heavy emphasis on computer systems and other technology, larger companies with designated IT personnel on staff are much more likely to have a disaster and continuity plan in place than smaller companies that operate without professional IT personnel.
Small Business (According to the SBA)
- In 2006 there were 26.8 million businesses in the U.S.
- 99% have 500 or fewer employees
- 98% have 100 or fewer employees
- 88% have 20 or fewer employees
A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) can reduce the effects of a disaster, or in some cases even prevent it from having any visible impact on business operations to your customers.
According to the Disaster Recovery Institute International (www.drii.org), 93% of companies that experience a disaster without a recovery plan close their doors within five years of the event.
50% of the companies that lose critical business functions for more than 10 days never recover.
There are many types of disasters that can affect your company's bottom line. They include:
- Windstorm, hail, tornado
- Lightning strike, power surge
- Extended power outage
- Equipment failure (refrigeration)
- Roof collapse (weight of snow, ice or sleet)
- Water damage from leaking fire extinguishing system
- Water damage from broken water/steam pipes
- Fire at your business or a neighboring business
- Smoke damage
- Explosion (gas leak, etc.)
- Air craft or vehicle
- Vandalism, riot
- Break-in, theft
- Data breach
- Flood
- Earthquake
- Volcanic action (airborne ash, dust)
- Loss of key employees, suppliers or customers
- And more...
- Lack of time and resources
- Lack of top management support
- Too many causes of disaster to plan for effectively
- Little awareness of potential hazards
- Lack of knowledge in developing a plan
If the obvious reasons for planning, like avoiding financial ruin, maintaining your customer base and market share, as well as minimizing negative publicity, are not enough to get you to take action, consider this: Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of customer, patient and employee personal information is no longer just a best practice for businesses, it is now a legal requirement.
Basis Considerations
As you begin to prepare your business disaster and continuity plan, keep in mind that the goal is to ensure that you have the following basic elements in place if a disaster strikes:
- An alternate business location (if needed);
- Access to vital records and resources during the recovery period;
- Key people assigned to the recovery effort;
- Adequate business insurance (review coverage with your agent annually); and
- A plan for a speedy recovery.
Planning Steps- Write out the objectives of your plan
- Choose your plan coordinator and develop your team
- Assign action items, coordinate responsibilities and time frames
- Complete a risk assessment
- Complete a business impact analysis
- Select your recovery team
- Develop your recovery strategy and action plans
- Put your plan in writing
- Distribute your written plan to key team members
- Test your plan regularly
