Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a strategic approach designed to ensure that companies can continue their critical business processes in crisis situations. BCM aims to minimize the impact of business disruption by developing strategies, plans and actions to protect business processes and enable alternative operations. In this article, we will look at the steps necessary to implement an effective BCM program.<\/p>\n<\/div>
The short version of business continuity management<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>The framework is standardized and internationally recognized under ISO 22301, which initially creates an important, fundamental understanding of operational continuity management and can provide support during implementation.<\/p>\n
But it is only a framework. A comprehensive business impact analysis must always be carried out. In this way, the risks are analyzed individually and the individual business processes are given a highly individual risk assessment as part of the risk assessment. This is the only way to ensure that the plan fits YOUR company.<\/p>\n
Next, it is important to clearly define who is responsible for which tasks in the event of a crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/netxconsult.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BCM_Besprechung.png\" "\\"BCM_Besprechung\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>A comprehensive emergency plan is drawn up for known risks. This is reviewed extensively in advance.
\nAnd last but not least: regular audits. In this way, new insights are constantly being gained and integrated into the existing BCM. <\/span>That was the short version. Now let’s go into a little more detail. Because, unfortunately, it’s not quite that quick and easy in reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Business continuity management – the structured plan<\/h2><\/div>“The journey is the destination”. This is the motto that will make the project a success!<\/p>\n
Why? Only those who work thoroughly when drawing up the plan will have a result that is also useful in an emergency. When a crisis occurs, an endless number of questions arise – from IT, employees, customers and management. It’s good if you’ve thought of everything and can work directly according to plan. This not only spares everyone’s nerves, but also the company’s capital.<\/p>\n
So here is a path that leads to the goal:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Policy and governance:<\/strong><\/p>\nThe first step in implementing BCM is to define a policy that describes the objectives and governance of the program. The policy defines who is responsible for the program, what resources are required and how the various phases of the program are to proceed. It is important to ensure that all company stakeholders are involved in the process and that clear roles and responsibilities are defined. This way, everyone knows who has to do what should a crisis occur.<\/p>\n
The first step is to design a hierarchy<\/strong> that takes into account the structure of your team and defines who is responsible. To handle emergency management, you need a team of decision-makers<\/strong> to ensure business continuity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Business Impact Analysis: <\/strong><\/p>\nThe BIA identifies the critical business processes and assesses their importance for the company. The analysis makes it possible to identify risks and threats that could jeopardize business continuity. The BIA also determines how long the company can manage without the operation of a particular business process before a significant impairment occurs. The results of the BIA serve as the basis for developing a contingency plan.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
Emergency concept:<\/strong><\/p>\nBased on the results of the BIA, emergency concepts must be developed for critical business processes. An emergency concept describes what needs to be done to resume the operation of a critical business process after it has been interrupted. The concepts should describe the necessary resources, procedures and steps required to restore operations.<\/p>\n
Ask yourself: “What is needed to get the business process up and running again as usual?”. This determines which resources are required for the five phases of the “restart”. These phases are called as follows:<\/p>\n
Immediate measures, restarting emergency operation, emergency operation, restoring normal operation and post-processing.<\/p>\n
Based on a classic cost-benefit analysis, contingency plans are then developed for the individual process phases to be safeguarded. These are very individual and must be reassessed and redefined from company to company.<\/p>\n
Define measures<\/strong> and determine how you can ensure the workflow of your employees despite the absence. Prioritize processes<\/strong> and determine who will monitor the process. An emergency plan must be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that it meets the company’s changing conditions and requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Crisis management:<\/strong><\/p>\nAs already mentioned, preventative measures are required in order for a company to survive in the event of a crisis. In addition to the definition of roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis, this also includes the implementation of alerting channels and crisis communication channels to control and monitor a crisis. Functioning, non-hierarchical internal crisis communication in particular is indispensable!<\/p>\n
The framework is standardized and internationally recognized under ISO 22301, which initially creates an important, fundamental understanding of operational continuity management and can provide support during implementation.<\/p>\n
But it is only a framework. A comprehensive business impact analysis must always be carried out. In this way, the risks are analyzed individually and the individual business processes are given a highly individual risk assessment as part of the risk assessment. This is the only way to ensure that the plan fits YOUR company.<\/p>\n
Next, it is important to clearly define who is responsible for which tasks in the event of a crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>A comprehensive emergency plan is drawn up for known risks. This is reviewed extensively in advance. “The journey is the destination”. This is the motto that will make the project a success!<\/p>\n Why? Only those who work thoroughly when drawing up the plan will have a result that is also useful in an emergency. When a crisis occurs, an endless number of questions arise – from IT, employees, customers and management. It’s good if you’ve thought of everything and can work directly according to plan. This not only spares everyone’s nerves, but also the company’s capital.<\/p>\n So here is a path that leads to the goal:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> Policy and governance:<\/strong><\/p>\n The first step in implementing BCM is to define a policy that describes the objectives and governance of the program. The policy defines who is responsible for the program, what resources are required and how the various phases of the program are to proceed. It is important to ensure that all company stakeholders are involved in the process and that clear roles and responsibilities are defined. This way, everyone knows who has to do what should a crisis occur.<\/p>\n The first step is to design a hierarchy<\/strong> that takes into account the structure of your team and defines who is responsible. To handle emergency management, you need a team of decision-makers<\/strong> to ensure business continuity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Business Impact Analysis: <\/strong><\/p>\n The BIA identifies the critical business processes and assesses their importance for the company. The analysis makes it possible to identify risks and threats that could jeopardize business continuity. The BIA also determines how long the company can manage without the operation of a particular business process before a significant impairment occurs. The results of the BIA serve as the basis for developing a contingency plan.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Emergency concept:<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on the results of the BIA, emergency concepts must be developed for critical business processes. An emergency concept describes what needs to be done to resume the operation of a critical business process after it has been interrupted. The concepts should describe the necessary resources, procedures and steps required to restore operations.<\/p>\n Ask yourself: “What is needed to get the business process up and running again as usual?”. This determines which resources are required for the five phases of the “restart”. These phases are called as follows:<\/p>\n Immediate measures, restarting emergency operation, emergency operation, restoring normal operation and post-processing.<\/p>\n Based on a classic cost-benefit analysis, contingency plans are then developed for the individual process phases to be safeguarded. These are very individual and must be reassessed and redefined from company to company.<\/p>\n Define measures<\/strong> and determine how you can ensure the workflow of your employees despite the absence. Prioritize processes<\/strong> and determine who will monitor the process. An emergency plan must be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that it meets the company’s changing conditions and requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Crisis management:<\/strong><\/p>\n As already mentioned, preventative measures are required in order for a company to survive in the event of a crisis. In addition to the definition of roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis, this also includes the implementation of alerting channels and crisis communication channels to control and monitor a crisis. Functioning, non-hierarchical internal crisis communication in particular is indispensable!<\/p>\n
\nAnd last but not least: regular audits. In this way, new insights are constantly being gained and integrated into the existing BCM. <\/span>That was the short version. Now let’s go into a little more detail. Because, unfortunately, it’s not quite that quick and easy in reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Business continuity management – the structured plan<\/h2><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/netxconsult.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Loslegen_BCM.png\" "\\"Loslegen_BCM\\"")
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