Why is Business Continuity management critical to your business?

Business continuity management sounds like a “far from my bed show” to many business owners. Or they prefer not to dwell on it. But if business activities have to stop and no products or services can be delivered, this can have a major impact on your right to exist as an entrepreneur. However, if the risks are identified in time, this can prevent a lot of misery. With an ISO 9001 quality management system, you have a smart way of understanding the potential disruptions to your services.

Importance of continuity

The importance of continuity in a business operation is crucial for organizations that want to operate efficiently now, as well as in the future. Any disruption in business operations is a waste of time and/or resources, but can also reduce delivery reliability to customers. And even lead to significant loss of reputation.

The problems in service settlement at Schiphol Airport due to lack of personnel is an example. But also, for example, a server hostage taking, making business information inaccessible. Organizations must therefore periodically ask themselves whether the risks in current operations are sufficiently covered. Now, but certainly also in the future. Only then can they prepare for unwanted events.

What does Business continuity management consist of?

Business continuity management is based on the general principles of quality management. However, it does approach business operations from a very specific angle, namely the “worst case scenarios.
So business continuity management is planning and thinking about things that are not mundane.

For example, what is the effect of loss of electricity in the factory, do they use very special parts or are they available as standard?
But even the employee who manages your complex Excel files can fall ill for a long time or even leave the organization.

Companies need to keep these critical issues in sight and come up with safeguards where possible.

What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is an overview of possible scenarios that can seriously disrupt business operations and even bring them to a long-term halt, and the actions required to recover from them. To arrive at this overview, a global brainstorming session about possible risks in the business processes is often organized first. Various techniques are available for this, all of which basically quantitatively assess the known product of probability and effect. Once the risks are known, it is then determined how to combat these risks if the “worst case scenario” does occur unexpectedly.

A practical example of a measure with our workflow management application is to define an RTO and RPO at a second geographic location. Should the first geographic location go down due to an earthquake, for example, we will continue our services from a second data center.

Importance of a Business continuity plan

Having figured out in advance how best to handle it allows for quick and effective action. Of course, the measures must be proportionate to the cost and type of service provided. A website of most companies may well be down for a while. It’s a different story if, for example, this is the web shop that makes the money.

So tailor the business continuity plan for the company. But also make sure it stays up to date.
Especially in the field of IT, this is often thought of too easily. An ISO-27001 certified software or IT supplier is certainly no guarantee, but it is proof that there is a structured focus on information security.

 

With LeanForms, you can optimize and standardize lots of business processes, including workflow management and authorization at the person level.
In addition, the information is stored in a central secure location with backup and recovery plans included as standard in the service.

This is why many organizations have incorporated LeanForms into their IT landscape. As a complement to their ERP but also a more secure and effective alternative to the many uncontrolled Excel files.