What would you do if the phones didn't work?

Last updated June 2011

Natural disasters such as fires and floods are a part of life in Australia. But they are not the only risk to your business - remember the gas plant explosion in Longford that cut Melbourne's gas supply for 19 days? But you are not in a fire prone area, or on gas. What would happen if another "Longford" happened, but in your local telephone exchange or to one of our electricity power stations?

The reality is, that disasters and disruptions which cause critical resources to be inoperative for a period of time WILL adversely impact business operations, income and potentially even survival.

A decade ago, you and your clients could survive without your information systems, at least for a few days. But not today.

The best defence is preparation, and a good Business Continuity Plan (BCP) will enable a business to continue operations in the event of a disruption.

Getting Started

The BCP concept isn't complex. The idea is to:

• Involve staff
• Collect as much information as possible
• Determine what services are most critical to the daily operations
• Assign roles and responsibilities

Following the Path

Step 1 Identify the Critical Business Processes of the organisation

Step 2 Define the dependencies and interdependencies of critical resources and processes, and design a proactive approach to mitigate the potential impact

Step 3 Identify and select the available strategic alternative to best meet the needs of the organisation

Step 4 Design and develop the BCP

Step 5 Develop training programs

Step 6 Ensure the effective deployment of the BCP

Step 7 Continually update BCP regularly

In Summary

This strategy is no different to a fire evacuation plan. Research it, plan it and practise it, so that in an emergency, your business and that of your clients, may survive.