now, no signup required!
In 2018, the city of Atlanta was hit by a serious ransomware attack. The repercussions were severe enough to destabilize municipal operations. The Atlanta government’s computer systems were compromised and had to be shut down for almost a week, compelling several departments to do impossible amounts of essential paperwork manually. Other city operations and programs like court hearings, parking services and utilities were also affected.
Despite IT teams working relentlessly to get the city up and running again in five days’ time, it was months before Atlanta fully recovered. The absence of a solid business continuity plan for tackling the disaster meant that the amount spent on fully restoring services was far more than the ransom demanded. The cyber attackers wanted a $52,000 ransom payment. Atlanta had to spend almost $3 million just on crisis management and emergency IT contracts. It was estimated that the full extent of the attack would cost the city government over $17 million.
Atlanta’s failure to handle the effects of the ransomware attack showed how badly prepared it was for such eventualities. A comprehensive business continuity plan would have helped.
-
What Is A Business Continuity Plan?
-
What Are The Steps For Creating A Good Business Continuity Plan?
-
Identify The BCP’s Objectives
-
Build A Business Continuity Management Team
-
Identify Types Of Threats And Recovery Strategies
-
Create And Test The Plan To Maintain Operations
What Is A Business Continuity Plan?
In any business crisis, it’s important to keep calm. It’s equally important to be prepared to tackle unforeseen problems. This is where a business continuity plan comes in. A BCP or business continuity plan is a detailed blueprint of processes to follow in the event of a severe crisis or calamity so that the business remains operational or at least gets back on its feet after the initial blow. These crises could be anything from a natural disaster (for instance, a cyclone or an earthquake) to problems like power cuts, cyber attacks, physical injuries to employees and terror threats.
Instead of waiting for disaster to strike, businesses should act preemptively. They must have a BCP or business continuity plan – often informally referred to as a “BCP plan” – in place to ensure that operations can continue even if a threat presents itself. The Atlanta government in 2018 didn’t follow this rule; theirs was a business continuity plan example not worth emulating. On the other hand, the German telecom company that used an incident management system to combat a raging fire at a crucial company facility provides a successful example of a business continuity plan. The facility contained important telecom wiring responsible for servicing millions of people. Even though the fire knocked out the whole facility, the company, with the help of its business continuity strategy, managed to get the service restored within a few hours.
Businesses need to think deeply about the costs of disruption. At a time of global pandemics and increasing natural calamities, it isn’t enough to just know the basics of a BCP plan to find comprehensive answers to handling potential threats to an enterprise. Well-considered business continuity management steps must be taken.
What Are The Steps For Creating A Good Business Continuity Plan?
The benefits of a BCP or business continuity plan can’t be overstated. It’s essential to the survival of a business. Let’s look at the business continuity management steps required for creating a foolproof BCP plan.
Identify The BCP’s Objectives
This is one of the initial steps in developing a business continuity plan. The fundamental objective of a business continuity plan is to prevent interference in the functioning of essential business processes. This applies to everything – from IT and tech to human resources and public relations. However, no two businesses are alike. Business owners must zero in on the objectives that are most relevant for their own enterprises. Outlining these goals will influence risk analysis and strategies for recovery.
Build A Business Continuity Management Team
Having a detail-oriented and organized team that’s already trained to handle a crisis is one of the most important components of a business continuity plan. The group members will be tasked with outlining processes to make the BCP water-tight and training other personnel about what to do in a crisis.
Identify Types Of Threats And Recovery Strategies
One of the most important components of a business continuity plan involves understanding that it’s tough for businesses with severe financial setbacks to recover without a solid BCP. It’s thus imperative to examine the parts of an enterprise that need the most attention in terms of business continuity and prioritize the most crucial business functions and their threats. Based on this data, recovery strategies can be designed. For instance, if a company’s main office is affected by a flood, the business continuity management team must figure out ways for employees to work from home or a different office location. (Lorazepam) A successful example of a business continuity plan would take even the smallest factor into account.
Create And Test The Plan To Maintain Operations
Once the initial steps in developing a business continuity plan are covered and a final plan is devised, there’s only one way to know if it’ll work: by testing it. Carrying out regular drills keeps people alert and increases the likelihood of survival and swift action if disaster strikes unannounced. Testing and upgrading a BCP is also good for employee morale and the company’s overall image.
Handling a business crisis requires composure and efficiency. Harappa’s Manage A Crisis At Work pathway is designed to make these qualities shine in an ambitious professional. Under the guidance of a stellar faculty and five in-depth, interactive lessons, you’ll learn how to build support systems for managing crises, minimize damage and stay prepared to respond smartly with a plan when a problem arises. Techniques like the SANE Crisis Response will equip you with an optimistic outlook, instinctive adaptability and the ability to self-regulate emotionally.
The Manage A Crisis At Work program is the key to replacing knee-jerk reactions with well-thought-out responses and thriving under pressure!
