Business Continuity Advice
Any disruption, large or small, whether it is natural, accidental or deliberate could have a severe impact on your organisation.
Could your business cope with disruption due to:
- Loss of access to your premises (fire or flooding at or adjacent to your premises, cordons from local incidents, Landlord/Tenant disputes)?
- Loss of staff (major disruption to fuel or transport, severe weather, industrial action, widespread outbreak of disease)?
- Loss of key systems (power failures, loss of gas or water supplies, Telecoms or IT failures, breakdown of important equipment)?
- Loss of key suppliers/contractors (any break in the supply chain, suppliers going into administration, loss of couriers or maintenance contractors)?
The loss of any of these could jeopardise the future viability of your business, particularly in the current economic climate.
Business Continuity Management is part of Business Survival. It’s not a complex subject and doesn’t necessarily take up vast resources and time. Time spent now can prevent disruption turning into disaster for your business.
Simply put, Business Continuity can be done by:
- Knowing and understanding your business
- What activities are important in your business?
- Where is it vulnerable?
- Deciding what to do
- Accept the risk
- Insure against the risk
- Reduce the risk
- Outsource the risk
- Plan for the risk
- Document what you are going to do in a Business Continuity Plan
- Test your plan and procedures
- Discuss simple scenarios or walk through what you would do
- Review it regularly
- Check the details are up to date
- Make sure staff are aware of any changes
- Ensure focus on the priorities of the business
If you are thinking of developing Business Continuity procedures there are a variety of services available to you, many of which are free of charge. Many organisations have information or support to offer businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises. These can be accessed via our links page.
Business Continuity – It’s like insurance, if you need it and haven’t got it, it’s too late.
We have written a guide to help small to medium sized business develop their own Business Continuity Management processes. this can be downloaded from the link below, or if you would prefer to follow it on screen please go to the Business Continuity Management for small to medium sized businesses page.
Downloads
All of our documents are available for free download by following the links below. They will open in a new window.
This document has been prepared to help business to implement their own BCM process, it includes guidance and a template plan for you to complete.
Microsoft Word Version of plan template.This is a download of the plan template only from the above document. You can print it out, or complete it on screen first.
Better Regulation Pack Business Continuity Management leaflet - pdf version.
We have worked with other departments and specialists to produce a leaflet that can go out with the "Better Regulation for Business Packs". It outlines the importance of BCM and provides a number of organisations that can provide advice
A set of cards showing what could go wrong and what you can do in your response. This is a 5mb pdf file.
Business Continuity Awareness Week
This is an annual international event designed to to raise awareness and show the growing importance of Business Continuity Management (BCM) as an integral management tool. NORMIT fully participates in this event. Follow the link to find out more information.
A short video depicting a humourous guide to the BCM lifecycle. (5mb wmv download)
