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There is one telling fact that is so often reported and as such has become almost a cliché. After the Manchester bomb blast 40% of the businesses effected never operated again, they went out of business.
The objective of Business Continuity Planning is to provide a framework by which an organisation can remaining functioning after an incident, event or emergency has disrupted normal operations.
That disruption can be due to anything and everything from terrorist action to natural disaster. Business Continuity Planning does not guarantee your survival, but it does give you a framework to avoid both chaos and crisis.
Without a robust, tested and communicated plan, a disaster (be it man made, accidentally or natural) could result in loss of business, stock, product, staff, expertise, data, systems, reputation, cash flow etc. or any combination of these.
The answer as everyone will tell you from your insurance broker to the Department of Trade and Industry is GET A BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN and be prepared to invoke it.
Easier said than done!.
A valid, robust plan must be a plan:-
- that has a firm foundation in your business,
- that is well planned, scheduled and budgeted,
- that has considered the impact of an emergency on your business,
- that has identified the risks you faced,
- that has a foundation of a solid strategy of how to cope with the emergency,
- that has generated robust and well thought out plans,
- that will work when invoked,
- that is tested and
- that all staff are trained and aware of their obligations and roles.
EASY for us to say, but where do you start?
You are running a busy, successful enterprise, how do you take time out from that to develop these plans (good idea that they are)?.
That is where PLAN-IT-CONTROL-IT comes in.
It provides a framework or resource guide, a set of documents in the form
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