It is a good idea to read this post first about resuscitation as well as job continuity. As you can see, the process of business continuity involves several steps. In the fifth stage, called “BCP Implementation”, one of important things that needs to be done is to document the business continuity plan (BCP). We discuss this topic in this post.

BCP is a process that addresses the continuation of business operations during and in the aftershock of disruptive events. Organizations that want to survive a disastrous event need to make formal and extensive plans for business continuity.

BCP allows an organization to:

  • Provides immediate and appropriate response to emergency situations
  • Protects lives and ensure safety
  • Reduces business impact
  • Resumes critical business functions

A fact: Actually business continuity plan (BCP) is a document detailing how business will continue to function during an emergency, disaster, or major disruption of business.

In this post, we are not going to talk too much about BCP itself. You can read about BCP here.

 

 

A Team Must be Formed 

Business continuity is actually a permanent project. Each organization must have a team of trained personnel to design, document, and execute (in the event of a disaster or disaster) BCP. Usually, this team has a close and continuous relationship with the senior management of the organization and works under his supervision.

The manager of this team (who is sometimes the senior manager of the organization) must makes sure BC (business continuity) team can sustain operations. He/she needs to makes available all relevant documentation for every critical piece of equipment, as well as every critical process and procedure that the organization performs in a given location. Also, the senior management must approve the properly documented business continuity plans and, upon approval, the plans are implemented.

 

 

Security and Availability 

Documentation of BCP and Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is very important and here is a sensitive tip.  Disasters may disrupt/disconnect Internet communications and even LAN, thereby must BCP document has both online copy (on LAN, on internet, on cloud storage space, or on CD-ROM) and offline (print) copy.

We know that the online version is also called the soft copy. Also, the offline version is called the hard copy. At least one set of soft copy and also least one set of hard copy documentation should be stored at the offsite. It would also a good idea to issue electronic copies of BCP and DRP documentation to all relevant personnel on USB storage devices.

For all types of soft copies, content encryption should not be forgotten. Is it necessary to emphasize that the maximum security for hard copies should be considered so that an unqualified person (such as a hacker) does not have access to them?

 

 

How to Done?

In documentation phase, the details of the BCP for each critical function must be described with details, step by step by step because the people who develop the strategy may very well not be the people who execute it.

In BCP documentation, the following items must be very clear and unambiguous:

  • The scope and purposes of BCP.
  • A comprehensive list of tasks required to keep operations going.
  • The roles and responsibilities of each member of team.
  • The contact information for management and key team members.
  • Maintenance protocols for plan.
  • Information about site and data backups.
  • Information on where to go in an emergency.
  • Procedures to coordinate with emergency personnel.

A certain writing format should be employed when writing the documents. A standard format is best option. If any aspect of the BCP is based on certain assumptions, it must be written. As we said before, BCP is a continuous project. In fact, this project only ends when the organization’s working life is over.

So it is very likely that at least once in this period, disaster or disruption will occur. In other words, the day will finally come when this plan must be implemented. Whether this design is appropriate or not, there is no doubt that the possible flaws of the design will become apparent during and after the implementation. Defects identified must be documented accurately and completely. Decisions made to address these deficiencies must also be documented.

Most likely, BCP will change over the months and years, as well as with the change of team members, as well as the change in the management of the organization and the change in the strategies of the organization.

These changes should be mentioned in the documentation. Note that the BCP history should not be deleted. That is, if a specific solution is considered in the primary BCP and then another solution is determined later for the same problem, both the primary and the secondary solution must be present in the documentation. The first solution in the history section and the second solution in the current BCP section.