Considering Business Continuity and Crisis Response Software
Written by Clinton Preston
In today's complex business operating landscape, business continuity and crisis planning have become more critical. Small and medium-sized businesses, just like large corporations, are susceptible to various disruptions that could jeopardize their operations. The key to survival after a disaster is a well-thought-out business continuity and emergency response program to manage a coordinated recovery of your critical functions and customer operations. This blog post will explore the importance of business continuity planning and the strategies for building resilience within your organization.
1. Survival Assessment: Will My Business Survive?
The first question you should ask as a business owner is, "Will my business survive a disruption?" It's a question that many organizations often overlook until it's too late. Understanding the vulnerability of your business and its capacity to withstand disruptions of any size and type is a fundamental starting point.
To answer this question, you must evaluate whether your organization has made a concerted effort to prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters. Prevention strategies reduce the likelihood of disruptions, response strategies ensure you can act swiftly when they occur, and recovery plans help you bounce back.
Your employees and management team should know what actions to take following a business disruption. This includes knowing who to notify, how to account for staff, where to meet, and what priorities to address. Awareness and training are crucial for a coordinated response to disasters.
You certainly aren't alone if you haven’t developed or discussed the abovementioned topics. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about 25% of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) never reopen after a natural disaster, and some reopen but fail within a year.
2. Steps to Survival
Regardless of your business's size and complexity, making your business more resilient typically follows a consistent path: Assess, Strategize, Plan, Practice, and Repeat.
Assessment and Inventory: Begin by assessing the risks your business is exposed to. Reviewing regulations or standards your business must comply with. This assessment could also include identifying critical functions, technology, facilities, tools, resources, and third-party relationships. Additionally, you should be able to Identify single points of failure in your operation.
Strategize and Plan: Develop processes and tools to monitor for risks. Create and deploy strategies to prevent or reduce the impact of these risks. Have systems ready for immediate response to risk and plans for recovering critical functions and backup procedures.
Practice and Continuous Improvement: Practicing and teaching these plans is vital. Establish an update and maintenance process for continuous improvement. For some businesses, even documenting and discussing simple plans with your teams and stakeholders is an excellent place to start.
3. Continuity Management Software Integration
Technology can play a crucial role in enhancing your business's resilience. It can make your response to disruptions more effective and improve operational efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. Integrating technology into your crisis and business continuity programs is a must.
Incorporating technology into your business continuity program offers many benefits that can significantly enhance your organization's resilience. Here's how:
Enhanced Plan Management: Integration of these platforms streamlines your plan management, ensuring that your strategies and actions are readily available and updated in real time. This means your team has immediate access to critical information when needed most.
Communication and Situational Awareness: Seamless integration fosters real-time situational awareness. Your team can stay connected and informed during a crisis, enabling faster and more effective decision-making.
Efficient Plan Maintenance: Continuity management software simplifies the process of maintaining your plans. Changes, whether minor updates or substantial revisions, can be tracked, reviewed, and approved within the software. This reduces administrative overhead and ensures that your plans remain current and effective.
Real-Time Collaboration: The platforms facilitate real-time team collaboration, fostering effective communication and information sharing among your crisis management teams. This collaboration is a cornerstone of a successful response and recovery strategy.
Automated Notifications: Automated notifications ensure that reviews, updates, and task assignments happen on time. This boosts plan accuracy and readiness, reducing the risk of overlooking crucial details during a crisis.
Data-Driven Insights: The software generates data-driven insights and reports, which are invaluable for performance assessment and informed decision-making. These insights provide a comprehensive view of your organization's resilience and areas for improvement.
Customizable Workflows: Tailored workflows can be created to align with your organization's unique needs and processes. This customization ensures that the software seamlessly complements your existing operations, enhancing overall resilience.
Some additional benefits include:
Advanced Technology Adoption: Leveraging continuity management software demonstrates your organization's commitment to adopting advanced technology for resilience planning. This commitment can be a significant advantage in today's competitive business landscape.
Enhanced Accuracy: Real-time updates and automated notifications reduce the risk of outdated information, leading to more accurate crisis and continuity plans.
Streamlined Compliance: Automated documentation and reporting ease the burden of compliance with regulations and guidelines, helping your organization stay in line with industry standards.
Visibility and Accountability: Clear accountability through the software enhances transparency and oversight of continuity efforts, enabling better management and governance.
Time and Resource Savings: The intuitive platforms save time and resources by eliminating manual administrative tasks. This allows your team to focus on strategic planning and response efforts, which are far more critical during a crisis.
The Role of Resiliency Initiative
You don't have to go alone to navigate the complex business continuity planning and software deployment landscape. The Resiliency Initiative is a valuable partner that can guide you on your journey toward resilience. With deep expertise and technology partnerships, they can help you make informed decisions and implement the right tools to protect your business.
As authorized partners with leading continuity management software platforms, we conduct objective assessments to recommend cost-effective and appropriate solutions for your organization. This integration goes beyond mere convenience; it's a strategic investment in your business's future.
Continuity and crisis planning are indispensable for any business, regardless of size or industry.
The Resiliency Initiative can help you select and implement the right technology for your business to ensure you can “Plan Better and Recover Quicker.”
Clinton Preston
Clinton is the Director of Security and Resiliency at TRI. He is an experienced business continuity, emergency management, security, and compliance leader, holding multiple leadership positions across these disciplines at Walmart. While serving as the Director of Business Continuity and Preparedness, he led efforts to overhaul the business continuity program, developing a global policy with a globally consistent program and implementing the program across all international retail markets and sourcing operations.
