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Business Continuity Planning

Organize a business continuity team and compile a  business continuity plan  to manage a business disruption. Learn more about how to put together and test a business continuity plan with the videos below.

Business Continuity Plan Supporting Resources

• Business Continuity Plan Situation Manual
• Business Continuity Plan Test Exercise Planner Instructions
• Business Continuity Plan Test Facilitator and Evaluator Handbook

Business Continuity Training Videos

Business Continuity Training Introduction

An overview of the concepts detailed within this training. Also, included is a humorous, short video that introduces viewers to the concept of business continuity planning and highlights the benefits of having a plan. Two men in an elevator experience a spectrum of disasters from a loss of power, to rain, fire, and a human threat. One man is prepared for each disaster and the other is not.

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Business Continuity Training Part 1: What is Business Continuity Planning?

An explanation of what business continuity planning means and what it entails to create a business continuity plan. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about what business continuity planning means to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 2: Why is Business Continuity Planning Important?

An examination of the value a business continuity plan can bring to an organization. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company that has successfully implemented a business continuity plan and includes a discussion about how business continuity planning has been valuable to them.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: What's the Business Continuity Planning Process?

An overview of the business continuity planning process. This segment also incorporates an interview with a company about its process of successfully implementing a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 1

The first of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “prepare” to create a business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 2

The second of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “define” their business continuity plan objectives.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 3

The third of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “identify” and prioritize potential risks and impacts.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 4

The fourth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “develop” business continuity strategies.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 5

The fifth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should define their “teams” and tasks.

Business Continuity Training Part 3: Planning Process Step 6

The sixth of six steps addressed in this Business Continuity Training, which detail the process of building a business continuity plan. This step addresses how organizations should “test” their business continuity plans.

Last Updated: 09/13/2023

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Emergency Management

Business continuity planning.

Yale University’s mission is to create, preserve and disseminate knowledge. Each college, division, and major administrative unit within the University exists in support of this mission. Each area performs functions that are essential to the ongoing success of the University.

Business Continuity Planning is the process of developing prior arrangements and procedures that enable Yale to respond to a disaster or major disruption of operations in such a manner that critical and essential business functions can continue with minimum disruption or down time.

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a collection of resources, actions, procedures, and information that is developed, tested, and held in readiness for use in the event of a disaster or major disruption of operations. A BCP helps prepare Yale departments and organizations to maintain essential functions after a disaster or disruption. Having a business continuity plan will minimize the impact of a disaster and help you return to normal operations as quickly as possible.

Developing a Business Continuity Plan

The following video, along with the Quick Start Guide, explains the basic concepts of a business continuity plan and the steps to take to develop a plan for your department or unit.

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Understanding emergency, contingency and business continuity plans

Examining the nuances between business continuity planning, disaster recovery and resilience..

I am often asked the difference between emergency, contingency and business continuity plans? The answer is that the very act of working through the process of planning for unwanted events, whatever they may be, is the most important factor. However, there are key nuances between each which, if not addressed, can seriously jeopardise businesses ability to operate.

Unequivocally, emergency plans are required where we need a response by one or more of the emergency services. Emergencies, by definition, are events which tend to happen quickly, rapidly getting worse e.g. a small unchallenged fire, can grow significantly. However, on invocation of the plan, the situation stabilises and then sees a gradual improvement.

Contingency plans are similar, where the event happens suddenly and can get rapidly worse. However, they do not require the attendance of the emergency services e.g. IT outages. Examples where a contingency plan could be required include, but not limited to:

• loss of power
• industrial action
• loss of IT.

Similarly, the event stabilises and gradually improves. However, both of these examples last a relatively short time span; possibly a few hours or in the worst cases, days. Rarely do we see protracted emergencies or crises. Conversely, the recovery time for business as usual to be restored, can be weeks, months or even years. Yet, much time is spent planning for ephemeral emergency or crisis events and relatively little time on recovery. This incongruous nature of planning, can lead to the potential long term damage of the business.

Disasters    

The 1980s was known as the ‘decade of disaster’. The second half of the eighties was a particularly catastrophic period in the UK, with incidents such as those shown in table 1:

The main concern around that period was that emergency planning legislation dated back to the Emergency Powers Act 1920. Emergency planning in the UK was focused on the cold war, concerning a nuclear attack. Following cessation of the cold war, the planning assumptions had to be changed immeasurably to address more modern day risks e.g. terrorism, climate change and the increased use of IT.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 replaced the outdated legislation and for the first time, legislation put a mandatory requirement on emergency responders to take account of business continuity to ensure that the emergency services could keep functioning when faced with unwanted events such as flooding of their premises. Moreover, the legislation also put statutory requirements on local authorities to provide guidance to local businesses on business continuity, especially small to medium enterprises.

This was an important aspect as, it is widely reported that following the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing in Manchester in 1996, around half of the businesses who did not have suitable plans in place, failed to exist within the following twelve months. Consequently, business continuity planning is a vitally important aspect of running any business, no matter how large or small.

In 2018 there were two unrelated major fires in Glasgow city centre which directly affected businesses in close proximity to the premises. The state of the structural integrity of the buildings meant that exclusion zones around the premises completely stopped access for the business owners and their customers for a protracted period.  

Where an individual is personally impacted they can clearly see this as a disaster. This is especially so where there is death within friends and family. However, the word disaster is often maligned e.g. ‘my hair is a disaster’ or ‘my dinner party was a complete disaster’ so when is a disaster actually a disaster? A disaster is a very personal thing!

The ‘Bradford Disaster Scale’ is utilised to determine when an event is officially a disaster. However, this is rarely used and in the world of 24/7 worldwide news coverage, it is the media who tend to declare when an event or incident is a disaster. This is not based on any algorithm or other model, but sensationalism, in an attempt to sell more newspapers.

Therefore, if we look back in history and even in more recent times, we find it littered with examples of organisations who failed to plan for the unexpected and ended up going out of business. The trick, obviously, is to convert what we know (hindsight), into what could potentially happen in the future (foresight) and to plan accordingly on what could potentially happen.

Clearly, only an emergency can lead to a disaster; however, not all events are designated as a disaster. Therefore, there is a need to identify the risks to the business – what can go wrong, how can it go wrong and what will happen if it does go wrong. Indeed, we can also argue that something seen as a risk to one person or organisation may indeed be an opportunity for others. Those businesses who plan accordingly, can readily identify the business opportunities open to them.

Resilience is an interesting turn of phrase which has become increasingly more used in modernity. We have heard the word utilised a great deal more over the past decade, by organisations such as the BBC News channels.

Therefore, what does ‘resilience’ mean and why is it becoming more widely used? A useful working definition taken from the English Oxford Living Dictionary is ‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape (elasticity)’. We can, therefore, deduce, that resilience and business continuity planning are intrinsically linked and that careful planning and preparation can assist in achieving a resilient organisation.

International standards such as ISO 22301 are useful tools for organisations to assist in the planning and execution of a resilient organisation. ISO 22301 sets out a valuable framework to assess the impact that having a crisis event would have on the organisation. Whilst risk is a key component of the process, the focus is mainly on managing the consequences of crisis events and for restoring normality within a set timescale, or indeed, defining a new normality. 

Failing to plan for crisis situations could easily lead to a failure of the business. It is, therefore, essential that businesses identify their vulnerabilities including loss of IT and to plug any gaps before it is too late. Every day, we should think…what would we do right now if x,y or z happened? If you cannot answer that question, then you need a plan.

Too many organisations and indeed, senior executives and board members, have misconceptions around business continuity, disaster recovery and resilience, all of which are in essence the same thing. Consequently, it is time to ensure that the following words are wiped from the vocabulary: 

• ‘It won’t happen to us’
• ‘We will cope, we always do’
• ‘We are too big a company to fail’.

Do so at your peril!!!

Gillies Crichton. MSc. GIFireE. MBCI. SIRM – group head of assurance for AGS Airports Limited, based at Glasgow Airport

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Emergency planning and business continuity

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To contact Tunbridge Wells Borough Council please call 01892 526121

Emergency planning

Business continuity, community emergency planning.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (in conjunction with Kent County Council) has certain responsibilities and powers to make, keep under review and revise plans to cope with the effects of a major civil emergency within all or parts of the borough.

A major emergency is defined as:

• an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in the United Kingdom or in a part or region
• an event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment of the United Kingdom or of a part or region or,
• war or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom.

Disaster often strikes quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighbourhood or confine you to your home. The likelihood is that most of us will never face a major incident during our lifetime but tragedies such as air and rail disasters, storms and floods do happen and therefore we must be prepared.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has a wealth of expertise, which is used daily to deliver services to the public. In an emergency, key specialists are called together to identify the problems, and make sure an effective response is being operated. This is managed though our emergency procedures.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council - Major Emergency Plan PDF 722.2 KB

Business continuity management is a process that helps Tunbridge Wells Borough Council manage risks, allowing us to continue to deliver services to the public in the event of a disruption, big or small, right through to recovery.

Any incident whether it is large or small, accident or deliberate can cause major disruption to your business. However, by planning in advance you will be able to resume your day to day business sooner.

This is where business continuity planning comes in. Its purpose is to help you to prepare strategies to cope with disruptions so that you can continue to deliver your businesses critical activities and reduce potential harm to staff.

By understanding the risks facing the everyday running of your business or organisation, you are better able to foresee problems and guard against them developing into serious disruptions.

Why have a business continuity plan?

It is important to plan for unforeseen circumstances. For example, what would you do if your workplace catches fire?

Some hard decisions will have to be made, and made quickly. For instance:

• what do you do with all your staff?
• how do you tell the community or customer that you cannot provide business or service as usual?
• how will you meet important deadlines?

The list of questions grows, and so do the levels of uncertainty and anxiety. Without a business continuity plan you will have to rely on an ad-hoc approach to deal with these.

For further information on business continuity, please visit the Business Continuity Institute website.

If you have any queries or require further information on this webpage, please contact our Emergency Planning team.

The Kent Resilience Forum ensures that the whole of Kent works together to improve the resilience of our county.  To find out more about how you, your business and your community can prepare for emergency please visit Kent Prepared .

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Loyola University Chicago

Environmental services, emergency response vs. business continuity plans.

Emergency response plans are developed for coordinating university departments' response to specific types of incidents. The plans and responses are tactical in nature, in that the majority of the incidents will last a very short period of time and are brought under control rather quickly. A more serious incident may require a response from university departments which can last two or three days and may involve outside agencies such as local fire and police. The emergency response plan takes into consideration these possibilities and emergency housing and food provisions are in place to address these types of issues. Emergency response plans addresses the incident and the time period immediately after the incident in order to return critical university operations to a minimum level.

Business Continuity plans on the other hand are strategic in nature and are concerned with returning the university to full normal operations as soon as possible after an incident. This type of plan addresses the aftermath of a critical incident and ensures the university is in a position to continue to operate and sustain long term recovery. The plan must address the loss of productivity and any physical damage resulting from an incident while normal services and operations are being restored. While departments such as Facilities, Campus Safety and Student Affairs components will normally be the lead departments in a critical incident response, Academic Affairs, Finance, Facilities Management, Risk Management, Government Relations and Information Services are the university offices most often responsible for carrying out the aspects of the Business Continuity plan.

The I.S. Department and Financial Affairs Division as well as other departments and divisions have in place Business Continuity Plans that ensure the university will return to normal operations as quickly as possible, should an incident impact the university community. The President's Office will provide updates to the Loyola University Chicago community at:  http://www.luc.edu/emergency/  Parents of Loyola University Chicago students can also go to  http://www.luc.edu/parents/  for additional information.

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3 Differences Between Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity

However, at many organizations, the two groups don’t fully understand what the other does—and sometimes employees feel that the other department is “stepping on their toes.” So, what distinguishes emergency preparedness and business continuity?

Let’s take a look at their key differences:

1. The main goal.

Although the two fields have plenty of overlapping interests, their main goals are actually quite different. Emergency management seeks to safeguard people from harm, while business continuity is focused on the continuity of key business operations. Sure, effectively managing an emergency will impact business continuity efforts, but the two are not identical.

Emergency management most often manifests as the procedures and actions that are taken immediately after a crisis occurs. The business continuity team , on the other hand, takes steps to maintain or restore the organization to its pre-crisis state.

2. The key tasks.

In the ideal corporate set-up, emergency management and business continuity personnel would be completely separate entities with their own teams. (Although in practice, these roles often get lumped together based on the misguided notion that they are one in the same.)

In reality, emergency preparedness and business continuity involve very distinct tasks:

• Emergency preparedness often involves directing people and resources away from danger, holding emergency drills and training sessions, evacuating facilities and working with first responders to ensure all stakeholders make it through a crisis safe and sound.
• Business continuity tasks include protecting the business’ reputation online, establishing and maintaining redundant systems and support teams, restoring IT systems and ensuring employees are able to return to their daily work tasks following an emergency.

3. Preparation and planning.

Of course, since emergency preparedness and business continuity have different goals and job roles, the way each department prepares for a crisis will be unique.

Emergency preparedness staff must assess all the possible crises that could hit their organization, such as severe weather, flooding, gun violence and, in some cases, even terrorism. The team will hold regular drills or exercises to ensure that the entire business is aware of these threats and knows what to do in case of an emergency. They should also establish a way to effectively distribute their emergency response plans , contact lists and other key documents to employees and other stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the business continuity team develops plans to avoid potential business-disrupting problems. Typically, business continuity plans aren’t distributed to the entire company, but rather to key stakeholders who would be involved in business continuity efforts. This might include the executive team, the IT department, PR and communications, and other related groups.

Of course, despite the differences between emergency management and business continuity, in the end these two distinct departments are both working toward the same objective: to help ensure the success of the business. Their specific, day-to-day focus may be very different, but by cooperating together, the two teams will be much better positioned to succeed.

How are emergency management and business continuity handled in your organization? Are they viewed as two distinct fields, or are they sometimes lumped together into one?

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• Business Continuity Plan Basics
• Understanding BCPs
• Benefits of BCPs
• How to Create a BCP
• BCP & Impact Analysis
• BCP vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

• Business Continuity Plan FAQs

The Bottom Line

What is a business continuity plan (bcp), and how does it work.

Pete Rathburn is a copy editor and fact-checker with expertise in economics and personal finance and over twenty years of experience in the classroom.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

What Is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? 

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

Key Takeaways

• Business continuity plans (BCPs) are prevention and recovery systems for potential threats, such as natural disasters or cyber-attacks.
• BCP is designed to protect personnel and assets and make sure they can function quickly when disaster strikes.
• BCPs should be tested to ensure there are no weaknesses, which can be identified and corrected.

Understanding Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)

BCP involves defining any and all risks that can affect the company's operations, making it an important part of the organization's risk management strategy. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—and cyber-attacks . Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include:

• Determining how those risks will affect operations
• Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks
• Testing procedures to ensure they work
• Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an important part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition. It is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel.

Business impact analysis, recovery, organization, and training are all steps corporations need to follow when creating a Business Continuity Plan.

Benefits of a Business Continuity Plan

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic. Business continuity planning is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of major disasters such as fires. BCPs are different from a disaster recovery plan, which focuses on the recovery of a company's IT system after a crisis.

Consider a finance company based in a major city. It may put a BCP in place by taking steps including backing up its computer and client files offsite. If something were to happen to the company's corporate office, its satellite offices would still have access to important information.

An important point to note is that BCP may not be as effective if a large portion of the population is affected, as in the case of a disease outbreak. Nonetheless, BCPs can improve risk management—preventing disruptions from spreading. They can also help mitigate downtime of networks or technology, saving the company money.

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

There are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid BCP. They include:

• Business Impact Analysis : Here, the business will identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive. (More on this below.)
• Recovery : In this portion, the business must identify and implement steps to recover critical business functions.
• Organization : A continuity team must be created. This team will devise a plan to manage the disruption.
• Training : The continuity team must be trained and tested. Members of the team should also complete exercises that go over the plan and strategies.

Companies may also find it useful to come up with a checklist that includes key details such as emergency contact information, a list of resources the continuity team may need, where backup data and other required information are housed or stored, and other important personnel.

Along with testing the continuity team, the company should also test the BCP itself. It should be tested several times to ensure it can be applied to many different risk scenarios . This will help identify any weaknesses in the plan which can then be identified and corrected.

In order for a business continuity plan to be successful, all employees—even those who aren't on the continuity team—must be aware of the plan.

Business Continuity Impact Analysis

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis. It identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis. The worksheet should be completed by business function and process managers who are well acquainted with the business. These worksheets will summarize the following:

• The impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and process
• Identifying when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts

Completing the analysis can help companies identify and prioritize the processes that have the most impact on the business's financial and operational functions. The point at which they must be recovered is generally known as the “recovery time objective.”

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

BCPs and disaster recovery plans are similar in nature, the latter focuses on technology and information technology (IT) infrastructure. BCPs are more encompassing—focusing on the entire organization, such as customer service and supply chain. 

BCPs focus on reducing overall costs or losses, while disaster recovery plans look only at technology downtimes and related costs. Disaster recovery plans tend to involve only IT personnel—which create and manage the policy. However, BCPs tend to have more personnel trained on the potential processes. 

Why Is Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Important?

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic and business continuity plans (BCPs) are an important part of any business. BCP is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of threats and disruptions. This could result in a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition.

What Should a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Include?

Business continuity plans involve identifying any and all risks that can affect the company's operations. The plan should also determine how those risks will affect operations and implement safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks. There should also be testing procedures to ensure these safeguards and procedures work. Finally, there should be a review process to make sure that the plan is up to date.

What Is Business Continuity Impact Analysis?

An important part of developing a BCP is a business continuity impact analysis which identifies the effects of disruption of business functions and processes. It also uses the information to make decisions about recovery priorities and strategies.

FEMA provides an operational and financial impact worksheet to help run a business continuity analysis.

These worksheets summarize the impacts—both financial and operational—that stem from the loss of individual business functions and processes. They also identify when the loss of a function or process would result in the identified business impacts.

Business continuity plans (BCPs) are created to help speed up the recovery of an organization filling a threat or disaster. The plan puts in place mechanisms and functions to allow personnel and assets to minimize company downtime. BCPs cover all organizational risks should a disaster happen, such as flood or fire.  

Federal Emergency Management Agency. " Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide ," Pages 15 - 17. Accessed Sept. 5, 2021.

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