ISO 22301 Business Continuity Planning BCP
Decisions made when a disaster scenario is not on the table are strategy; decisions made during a crisis are panic. Business continuity is the pre-written script of how the company will breathe during moments of chaos.
The ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System builds the company's resilience not only against technological crashes (server failure, cyberattacks) but also against macro-crises that could completely halt operations, such as fires, earthquakes, pandemics, or the bankruptcy of a key supplier. While Disaster Recovery (DRP) focuses on bringing data back, Business Continuity Planning (BCP) focuses on how the business will run manually without that data.
At the center of this architecture lies the Business Impact Analysis (BIA). BIA lays all departments and processes on the table and asks this critical question: "If which process stops, will the company bleed out and die?"
In a manufacturing plant, the payroll system being down for a week is not a massive crisis; however, the production line stopping halts the company's heart. Through this analysis, BIA determines to which vital functions the limited recovery resources (money, equipment, personnel) should be directed first.
Who will form the communication chain during a crisis? Where are the alternative production facilities or offices? How will orders be processed on paper when systems are offline? A BCP is the flawless operational map of the command and control center during a crisis.
