• |
Assign
responsibility for business continuity planning
for the enterprise. A knowledge of business
operations, and good communications and project
management skills are three important skills
for this position. |
• |
Conduct
a business impact assessment and risk analysis
to determine the enterprise’s ability to
recover business operations based on a complete
destruction of the production facilities. A gap
analysis report will result, identifying where
recovery plans do not support current business
operations. |
• |
Establish
a crisis management team if the enterprise does
not already have one. |
• |
Establish
an emergency decision-making hierarchy to address
the potential that some executives may be unavailable. |
• |
Be
prepared to make regular and updated declarations
of the steps the enterprise is taking to deal
with the crisis. Draft multiple statements about
the recovery process to be used when communicating
with various constituents. |
• |
Update
personnel contact lists and calling trees, including
multiple forms of contact information. Consider
the use of an outside service that can automate
the contact process on notification from the enterprise
during an event. |
• |
Establish
a personal tracking procedure so that the location
of personnel is known at all times during normal
business operations. |
• |
Establish
a personnel awareness program — i.e., a
program educating personnel to potential disasters
— and train personnel to react appropriately
during an event, including evacuation and contact
procedures. |
• |
Determine
what other methods of communication are available
besides telephone service to establish key communications
such as e-mail, instant messaging, the enterprise’s
Web site, and personal response systems for those
in close proximity. |
• |
Set
up a toll-free telephone number that personnel
and their loved ones can use to receive and disseminate
information. |
• |
Obtain
alternate office space to be used during a disaster,
such as an alternate company facility, from a
disaster recovery service provider, at a hotel
or through an industry association. |
• |
Review
the enterprise’s extra expense and business
interruption insurance policies to ensure that
they cover the current status of business operations. |
• |
Review
your backup schedule and media storage strategy
to ensure that the entire information flow, including
applications, connectivity and access endpoints,
can be recovered, and the backup media can be
easily recovered and brought to the alternate
recovery site. |
• |
Equip
every department with the “essentials”
such as flashlights, blankets, emergency communication
devices, water, nonperishable food items and medical
supplies. |
• |
Store
facility floor plans in an easily accessible,
off-site location. |
