Contingency Planning and BIA

ecfirst.com can assist your organization in conducting a comprehensive and thorough Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and the development or enhancement of your Contingency Plan. Contingency planning, also referred to as Business Continuity Planning (BCP), is about a coordinated strategy that involves plans, procedures and technical measures to enable the recovery of systems, operations, and data after a disruption. One of the critical steps in contingency planning is Business Impact Analysis (BIA). BIA helps to identify and prioritize critical Information Technology (IT) systems and components. IT systems may have numerous components, interfaces and processes. BIA enables a complete characterization of:

• System requirements
  
• Processes
  
• Interdependencies

As part of the BIA process, information is collected, analyzed and interpreted. The information provides the basis for defining contingency requirements and priorities.

The contingency plan must be developed with the input and support of line-of-business managers and all key constituencies, since the plan will need to work across the organization. The plan must be based on the risks faced by the organization as well as risks associated with partners, suppliers, and customers. All technology issues must be addressed in the context of business operations. The plan itself must be tested regularly and refined as required. The core objectives of contingency planning include the capability to:

• Restore operations at an alternate site (if necessary)
  
• Recover operations using alternate equipment (if necessary)
  
• Perform some or all of the affected business processes using other means

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A BizShield™ Contingency Plan document is created based on our review and analysis of information collected from your organization. This BizShield™ Contingency Plan addresses the following areas:

• Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
  
• Data Backup Plan
  
• Disaster Recovery Plan
  
• Emergency Mode Operation Plan
  
• Testing and Revision Procedures
  
• Applications and Data Criticality Analysis

Testimonial

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