Business continuity means planning for major disruptions in a company so that the company can continue operations. These disruptions can be caused by weather events like storms or flooding, technology events like cyber attacks or major data loss, personnel events like losing a key employee, or vendor events like dealing with a significant vendor error.
In these situations, the company is faced with the possibility that it cannot continue operations temporarily. In fact, if the company is not prepared for disasters, it may end up closing permanently. However, with continuity plans in place, the company is poised to manage the crisis without major losses and get back to business as usual.
Business continuity has three key components: resilience, recovery, and contingency. Resilience refers to the ability to bounce back after disruptions. Recovery is restoring operations after the disruption. If all else fails, the business can rely on a contingency plan with details about how to keep going when the worst happens.
Related: Business Continuity Planning Checklist
For a company to maintain business continuity despite unexpected and unfortunate events, the company needs to develop cyber resilience. They need to have strong vendor risk management processes in place. Whether the disruptions might happen online or in the physical location of a hospital or bank, a business continuity plan (BCP) can protect the company from significant harm or failure.
The BCP is a specific plan for maintaining operations during a catastrophic event or resuming operations after the event is over. A business continuity test can determine how effective this plan will likely be in achieving its goals. With a disaster recovery plan in place, the company can get back to business quickly and efficiently. If a disaster happens, the BCP is followed until the event is over and the business is functioning normally again. As a result, the business survives and continues.