A professionally crafted business continuity plan is essential in order to run a successful business in this modern and fast-paced business world. A business continuity plan (BCP) is a documented process that allows the continuation or recovery of essential business activities.
It helps in emergencies to minimize downtime and ensure protection from any future incidents.
Here, you’ll learn the key elements of a BCP and how managed service providers can help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with crafting business continuity plans.
What is a Business Continuity Plan?
A BCP details the actions a business should perform in case of an emergency. It can also define what happens when something goes wrong at any point during normal operations and will help restore regular functions and processes.
The main purpose of BCPs is to enable businesses to maintain customer satisfaction and continue generating revenue even when difficulties arise. Instead of scrambling for savings or lowering the quality of your services, BCPs can help your business stay afloat no matter what’s going on around you.
Why SMBs Need a BCP
A business continuity plan is one of the most important elements for any SMB. Here are some of the reasons why you should have one in place:
- It protects against natural disasters. SMBs are likely to face the risk of disruptions due to natural disasters such as floods, wildfires, or earthquakes. A BCP can help you recover important data and systems before a disaster hits your office. It will also give you the ability to shift operations quickly and easily when needed.
- It protects against cybercrime attacks. According to the Verizon DBIR Report, cyberattacks are on the rise. For this reason, many companies have failed due to a lack of proper security measures in place or insufficient resources allocated for IT operations. BCPs are especially important in case of a cyberattack. A business continuity plan can help you restore your applications and data quickly before taking additional steps to secure the company’s infrastructure.
- It protects your customers. As mentioned above, the main purpose of having a BCP is to ensure that you have everything under control in case of an emergency. When an issue takes place during normal business hours, it can be incredibly stressful for both employees and customers. A detailed plan helps everyone stay calm when things are at their worst so you can focus on securing and/or recovering important data and systems.
How Managed Service Providers Can Help SMBs with a Business Continuity Plan
Managed service providers are the best solution for businesses looking to create a BCP. Many companies offer BCPs as part of their service portfolio since it’s an essential element in protecting your company from any future disruptions or cyberattacks. This service can be customized to meet your business needs and budget.
How You Can Create a Business Continuity Plan
Now that you know why you need a BCP, here are elements of a good business continuity plan:
- Define roles and responsibilities
- Define what will be included in your plan
- Develop a plan for each critical business function
- Identify recovery requirements
- Identify your business continuity resources
- Define the plan testing schedule
- Develop a crisis communication plan
Telewire can help your business create lasting, emergency-proof solutions. Contact us to learn about how we can help your business create its own BCP today.
