Business continuity plan

Purpose:

The means by which organisations plan to maintain their business in the event of adverse impact to critical elements of that business

Fitness for purpose checklist:

Does the plan cover:

• supporting the business for itself (looking internally at the business processes and systems and externally at how these are supported by suppliers and customers)
• locally and nationally - what contribution do you make to the community, economy, essential services etc?
• internationally - what support do you need to give, and receive, in this arena?

Does it address:

• assessing which business functions are required to ensure your organisation survives?
• if a situation becomes protracted, ensuring maintenance of supplies to your organisation and resolving concerns with cash-flow?
• suppliers' role in these activities?

Suggested content:

It is planned that this section will cover issues relating to the formulation and implementation of a Business Continuity Plan. 

Notes:

Individual elements of each plan need to be tested. Final sign-off of a particular plan or element of a plan depends on when testing can be carried out. The level of testing and the degree to which this is a 'desk check' will depend on the nature of the problem being addressed and the level of detail included. High level plans will not go to a level of detail where they identify individual actions and so will have to be 'desk checked' to ensure they are coherent, logical and practical. Individual detailed plans, to support the high level ones, should be tested in a way that gives confidence they will work in a crisis.

Further information:

See the briefings on business continuity management and risk management; see also the document description for contingency plans. For detailed guidance, see the property-related guide Business Continuity Planning; see also the commercially published guide: Management of Risk.