Business Continuity Management (BCM) Process Overview
Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a structured approach to ensure an
organization can maintain or quickly resume its critical operations during and
after a disruptive event. Below is a summary of the BCM process, including key
deliverables at each phase:
1. Understanding the Organization
Objective: Identify critical business functions and assess potential risks to
operations.
Key Activities:
Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to determine critical processes,
dependencies, and acceptable downtime.
Perform a Risk Assessment to identify threats, vulnerabilities, and their potential
impact.
Deliverables:
BIA Report: Documents critical processes, recovery time objectives (RTOs), and
recovery point objectives (RPOs).
Risk Assessment Report: Identifies risks, their likelihood, and potential impacts.
2. Determining Business Continuity Strategies
Objective: Develop strategies to minimize risks and ensure critical operations
continue.
Key Activities:
Develop recovery strategies for people, technology, infrastructure, and suppliers.
Consider options like alternate work locations, backup systems, and outsourcing.
Deliverables:
Continuity Strategy Document: Outlines chosen strategies for maintaining
operations.
Resource Requirements Plan: Specifies resources needed for execution.
3. Developing and Implementing the BCM Plan
Objective: Create actionable plans to implement the chosen continuity strategies.
Key Activities:
Document procedures for incident response, communication, recovery, and
restoration.
Integrate continuity plans with IT Disaster Recovery (IT DR) and crisis management
plans.
Deliverables:
Business Continuity Plan (BCP): Comprehensive plan detailing recovery actions for
critical operations.
Incident Response Plan: Outlines immediate actions to take during a disruption.
Crisis Communication Plan: Details how and what to communicate with stakeholders.
4. Exercising, Maintaining, and Reviewing
Objective: Test the BCM plan, ensure its relevance, and keep it updated.
Key Activities:
Conduct regular training, testing, and drills.
Review and update the BCM plan to reflect organizational and environmental changes.
Deliverables:
Test Results and Lessons Learned Report: Documents test outcomes and improvement
areas.
BCM Plan Updates: Refined and updated plans based on feedback and organizational
changes.
5. Embedding BCM into the Organization's Culture
Objective: Ensure BCM awareness and integration into daily operations.
Key Activities:
Conduct ongoing awareness campaigns and training programs.
Integrate BCM into strategic planning and operational processes.
Deliverables:
Awareness Materials: Training modules, posters, newsletters, etc.
Embedded Policies: BCM-related policies integrated into organizational governance.
Key Notes:
Each step is iterative and may require revisiting based on testing results or
changes in the organization.
Communication and collaboration across all organizational levels are crucial for
effective implementation.
Deliverables should be well-documented and accessible for reference during
disruptions.
This structured approach ensures that the organization is prepared to handle
disruptions effectively, reducing downtime and preserving stakeholder trust.
