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Running head: BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND DISASTER RECOVERY

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
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Running head: BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND DISASTER RECOVERY

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Business continuity management
Introduction
Most enterprises are formed on a going concern basis, that is, the firms are created to
last long into an unforeseeable period. As such, it is important that the management of a
company has a business continuity management plan (BCM). The BCM is an integrated
process which involves developing, implementing and revision of policies, programs and
strategies to ensure that the enterprise is resilient to any disruption that may occur in the
course of operations. Therefore, the effectiveness of a business continuity management plan
is measured by its ability to prepare for, prevent or respond to any disruptions and recover
from such an occurrence (Parsons 2016).
Most businesses face the threat of disruption of operations from either internally or
externally. It is not possible to entirely eliminate the chances of disruption occurring, but one
can limit the frequency and impact of interference by adopting appropriate measures. Most
importantly, managers need to find out disruptions facing the organization and assess
attributes such as frequency and effects.
Some of these facing the business may occur less frequently but carry with them
massive consequences. At times such events may hinder an organization’s operations
severely or even mean death to the firm if the management is not able to respond
appropriately. Other disruptions may be more frequent with less severe consequences.
Nevertheless, such events should not be ignored as they may cost the organization hugely in
the long run.

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The second classification for threats to an entity's operation might be physical or nonphysical disruptions. Physical risks facing a business may include any factors that pose a
threat to its buildings, assets or even employees. Common physical factors that may hamper a
business' normal activities include water damage, fire, explosion, and vandalism.
Nonphysical risks, on the other hand, include factors such as financial crisis, lack of primary
activities and risks due to legal requirements.
Managers need therefore to develop and implement frameworks that can help their
corporations remain still even after experiencing disruptions. A good framework helps to
ensure operations towards the franchise’s goal continue without much disturbance. Also, in
the case of a disruptive event occurring, the framework helps to stabilize the consequences.
Further, an enterprise might be able to capitalize on opportunities arising from certain
disturbances especially when they face the whole industry. Another benefit is that a firm can
maintain an excellent reputation for its brand. Lastly, a useful framework will help cultivate a
healthy organizational culture. Other benefits include earning trust from all of the entity's
stakeholders.
The recipe for the business to ensure continuity management success is to formulate robust
BCM framework. According to Torabi (2016), a good framework has component all of
which are critical towards the achievement of the plan. First, the managers, in line with the
vision and mission of the company, must contribute towards establishing a robust BCM.
Second, they should identify all the processes that are crucial to the corporate's continuity.
Third, it is important for the program developers to involve all stakeholders of the business;
that is, employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and the surrounding community.
Fourth, the managers should invest in appropriate technologies that will make operations
efficient and ensure continuity. Lastly, it is important for there to be excellent facilities
management.

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Organizational framework
This relates to how much the entity is willing and ready to contribute towards the business
continuity management. Directors of a company are a critical component for ensuring the
BCM is a success and getting a charter of commitment from them is vital assurance of an
effective framework. The BCM manager should provide that all executives formally endorse
the BCM plan. Further, the manager should make sure that there is a budget allocated
towards funding the program. Lastly, there should be evidence of the entity’s leaders efforts
to integrate the plan in the company’s overall corporate strategy.
Existing plans and processes
Here, one seeks to identify those existing plans that the business had earlier
formulated and is pursuing them currently to ensure continuity. The manager must assess the
effectiveness of those plans basing on critical attributes of a standard BCM. The existing
plans should contain an appropriate format that makes it easy to read and understand.
The disaster recovery plan should outline the technical components of the recovery
plan vividly. Also, the existing program needs to bring out the people component of the
recovery process. Additionally, the project should clearly show how the organization will
continue its operations in the case of a disaster. The entity should have procedures which are
designed to ensure that BCM plans are maintained. Also, the group must contain a training
plan and schedule for its staff to provide they understand BCM.
Staff engagement program
This is the third attribute which looks into the level to which staffs are involved in the
BCM program to identify the much they own the plan. There are several attributes used to
assess the staff engagement program. First, one must find out whether the leadership

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acknowledges ownership of the continuity plans. Second, functional managers and their
departments must understand the much impact crisis have on the company's operation.
Lastly, there should be official appraisal systems designed to measure how the various
departments stick to BCM.
Maintenance of program
This component ensures that the BCM program continues through training of the
staff. Training ensures that employees understand and accept the program which makes
implementation easier. Four attributes might help one to assess the discipline levels of an
organization towards maintaining the BCM. First, there must be an active cross-functional
committee that meets regularly. The existing plans must be tested and reviewed regularly.
Also, the firm must maintain a schedule that will ensure BCM plans are executed on a timely
basis. Lastly, there should be a regular independent audit of the BCM processes.

Disaster recovery plan
Enterprises are always at risk of disrupt or halt of operations due to a disaster. As such
managers of any business spend a lot of time trying to find solutions to possible hazards that
their enterprises are at risk. However, it is not possible to completely avoid disasters and
managers can only try their best in ensuring that the effects of the disaster are minimized.
That is why entities have a disaster recovery plan (DRP): this is a written and documented
process that contains procedures designed to ensure recovery of business operations in the
case of a disaster. A disaster recovery plan should be centered around data communication
and people.

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Data is a critical component for operations in any organization and therefore a good
DRP should ensure data is available even in the event of a disaster. Managers need to identify
the most critical data and design ways of protecting the data. One way of ensuring that the
organization does not lose data is through timely backing up. One way of backing up
information is by transferring it to a local drive. However, the local drive must be kept
outside the entity's premises to ensure that nothing happens to it in case of a disaster. Another
method for ensuring data availability is by backing it to a cloud service provider via the
internet. Also, one might choose to procure the services of an outside vendor, but it is
necessary to understand their system functioning and those measures it uses to ensure that
your data is secure. A company might also a local tape or local external drive. However, it is
important that the company specifies through documentation who will, and frequency of the
backup ...