In order to develop a Business Continuity Plan you need to have a thorough understanding of your business. This involves knowing the critical functions of your business, the effect of those functions being disrupted and the priority for recovery of those functions. This process is known as a ‘Business Impact Analysis’.
To complete a Business Impact Analysis for each critical function follow the guidance on this page.
Critical Function
You need to consider what the critical functions / activities are for your business. These are the activities without which the business would cease to operate.
Examples of critical functions (using a small manufacturing company as an example) are:
- staff wages
- call centre
- IT department
- sales
- goods in
- distribution
- manufacture
Effect on Service
You should consider the importance of the function upon the survival of your business (percentage of income or work load, how critical the function is to other functions, etc) and how quickly each function must be re-established.
For each of the time spans detailed, identify what the effect of the loss of the Critical Function would be. For example:
Disruption to the Goods-In function could have the following effect:
First 24 hrs
- lack of stock resulting in orders not being completed on time
- storage space for part processed goods causing concern
24 to 48 hrs
- manufacturing hours cut due to lack of stock
- company reputation damaged
Up to one week
- financial implications of missed deadlines
- need to outsource work to maintain market share
Up to 2 weeks
- loss of customers to competitors
- temporary or permanent reduction in staff numbers
Resources required for recovery
This section will help you identify what resources you need and when you need them. When completing this section you need to consider the affects of loss of function / service, per time span, as detailed in the example.
Number of staff
You will probably not need all your staff to be present immediately after an emergency. For each time span, detail how many staff you would need.
For example, if you had a problem with a key supplier and no stock was available, you may not need your fork lift truck drivers, stock controllers, quality checkers, etc to all be working to full capacity within the first 24 hours.
Relocation
Could the function be carried out by your staff anywhere else?
For example, working from home, in another branch office, mutual aid with another organisation, etc.
Equipment Required
For each time span, list what resources are required e.g.
- computers (hardware and software)
- vehicles
- machinery
- communication equipment (landlines / mobiles)
Data Required
List what data is essential to the delivery of the service/ critical function, e.g.
- customer contact details
- supplier contact details
- service / maintenance contacts and contract numbers
- insurance details
- costing
- work in progress
The completed Business Impact Analysis will assist you to prioritise what function or service you need to reinstate first during an emergency.
Using your Business Impact Analyses, complete the Critical Function Priority List in the Plan Template.