Business Impact Analysis

That Business Continuity Metrics Challenge Again

As the old saying goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. For business continuity to get the senior management attention it deserves, hard data on your BC program progress could be a good idea. But of course, there is still the question of what to measure. And then the question of what the measurements really mean. Is your BC score good, bad or indifferent – compared to what your organisation needs? Compared to other companies? Compared to what? The first step is often to crack open a business continuity standard to get an initial reading (even if it’s “yes or no”) about whether you are doing things properly. But avid BC metricians will go further. Read more

2016-04-26T12:08:05+10:00By |Business Continuity|

Business Impact Analysis – The Input, the Whole Input, Nothing but the Input

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a key part of the Disaster Recovery Planning process. Good judgment is a part of the whole DR planning, but the specific challenge of identifying possible risks and their impact in the first place is part of the BIA.  You’ll need to ask the people who know about the vulnerabilities that could affect their jobs, teams or departments. You’ll also need to do that in ways that allow you to be reasonably sure that you’ve spotted all the impacts that count and the basis that need to be covered. Read more

2013-11-25T10:32:54+11:00By |Disaster Recovery|

Business Continuity SMART Objectives

There’s a good chance you’ve already met SMART objectives, whether in business continuity planning or elsewhere. This acronym is multi-purpose and comes up in sales, marketing, manufacturing… and business continuity. A quick reminder on what SMART stands for: S is for specific; M for measurable; A for Achievable; R for Realistic (or Relevant); and T for Time Limited. So, for example, “we will achieve 99.7% business continuity in our main production line over the next six months” may qualify as SMART. We should perhaps check that 99.7% is reasonably achievable and the production line is making things that help company profitability (relevant). But are all the goals we see in business continuity SMART? Read more

2013-07-30T03:23:51+10:00By |Uncategorized|