COVID-19 – business continuity
Businesses must put preventative measures in place, rather than rely on an insurance policy to pick up the tab.
Review and regroup
Whether you have a business continuity plan already in progress, or you are considering one for the first time, it is vital to look back at the recent pandemic and analyse how your business responded to it. Following any disaster that impacts on the operations of your business, it’s important to take the time to sit back and regroup. Bring together senior leaders and risk managers within the business and review what happened, what worked and what could have been handled differently to achieve a more positive outcome. Whether it’s a fire, a data breach or a pandemic, businesses should not look at a disaster as a ‘one off’, never to be considered again. Similar incidents may occur and being able to look back at previous responses will help to fine tune your recovery strategy. You may also need to consider the impact
on your business interruption cover. Did your policy protect you financially for any losses? You must use the review to calculate what level of cover you need to adequately protect your business if you do need to cease trading temporarily.
Plan development
The best way to begin is to set up a business continuity development team (BCDT) and decide on a project leader to develop plans and strategies, before later coordinating annual testing. The BCDT will flow through into the business continuity management team, as well as department leads, who will be key to putting your business continuity plan into action.
Assess possible risks, decide how likely
they are to happen and discuss what impact these potential disasters may have on your business. Conduct an impact analysis, which considers the effects on your business should the scenario occur of maximum downtime and minimum resources required to continue the business at an acceptable level. Analyse what business functions are absolutely essential to your business, so that you can put strategies in place to minimise impact on these areas as a priority. For example, you must make sure you are able to access the data and software you need to deliver your service effectively and keep things running during any disruption. For the majority of businesses in today’s
world, IT is critical. If a fire should occur within your building, you must have a plan in place to communicate alternative working arrangements and have the IT infrastructure in
FOCUS
www.frmjournal.com JULY/AUGUST 2020
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