What Are the 5 Components of a Business Continuity Plan?

Out of the commonly offered IT infrastructure services, 对于企业来说，灾难恢复通常是一个突出的选择. 这是有道理的，因为有办法从最坏的情况中恢复过来是至关重要的. However, 灾难恢复服务对企业的成功至关重要, they’re just one part of a larger business continuity plan.

当你的商业计划提前考虑到可能出现的问题时，就更容易应对破坏性事件. And for the most unpredictable disasters, continuity plans include measures for disaster recovery, so you can take worst-case scenarios in stride.

So what exactly does a business continuity plan contain, and how do you get started writing or updating an existing plan? That’s exactly what we'll be covering in this article. Let’s dive in. 

What Is a Business Continuity Strategy?

业务连续性策略是组织在保持正常运行的同时响应变化的计划. 业务连续性策略的关键组成部分包括识别风险, assigning roles and responsibilities to team members, and establishing a recovery plan. 关注业务连续性对成功至关重要，因为它可以产生以下好处:

• Fewer unexpected disruptions: Process bottlenecks, weak cybersecurity measures, 软件错误只是会拖慢你业务的几个挑战. Fortunately, you can avoid getting caught off guard. With a business continuity plan, you can identify which risks you are most susceptible to, 所以你可以在它们对你的业务产生负面影响之前采取措施防止它们. For example, if you find that your data is vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, 你可以培训你的员工如何避免和报告网络钓鱼骗局.

• Quicker recovery from disasters: 自然灾害、物理灾害和基于技术的灾难可能会威胁到您的业务运营能力. Whether it’s a building fire, a loss in power, or a ransomware attack, 这些灾难会关闭你的业务，除非你有一个有效的灾难恢复计划. While you can’t prevent every disaster, you can respond in ways that minimize the damage to your customers, team members, property, data, reputation, and profits.  

• Increased customer satisfaction: Customers value reliability and trust. 他们想知道，当他们使用你的产品或服务时，他们能够. 他们也不想担心他们的数据在你那里是否安全——安全应该是一个给定的问题. 在问题发生之前发现并解决可能对客户产生负面影响的问题，让这些客户满意并使用你的产品或服务. 

• Improved team morale: Customers aren’t the only ones that value reliability; your team will also become frustrated if they have to constantly “put out fires.“无论是你的客户支持团队尽最大努力安抚不满的客户，还是你的it团队试图从恶意软件攻击中恢复数据, 这些高风险的情况给你的团队成员带来了很大的压力. 对业务连续性采取积极主动的方法可以减少出现压力情况的频率, so your team has more mental bandwidth to improve your business.  

According to Forbes, 在过去的三年中，51%的组织受到了对其财务和声誉造成重大损失的中断的影响. 拥有业务连续性计划可以帮助您的组织避免这些中断，或者在它们发生时快速恢复. 

Business Continuity Plan vs Disaster Recovery Plan

业务连续性计划和灾难恢复计划之间的关键区别在于，灾难恢复计划只响应危机, while a business continuity plan prepares to avoid disasters and recover from them. In other words, disaster recovery is an essential piece of a continuity plan, 但是只有一个灾难恢复计划意味着你错过了基本的连续性要素，比如危机预防. 

Think of disaster recovery as visiting an emergency room. 在危机中，你需要进入急诊室，以便有最好的恢复机会. Business continuity covers the entire health of your business, 包括定期去看医生，以确定潜在的问题. 这种预防性护理可以防止小问题发展成灾难性的问题, 哪一种方法可以减少昂贵且耗时的急诊室就诊需求.

5 Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity plans should be comprehensive, 尽管你不可能为可能出现的每一种情况都做好计划. Instead, you can plan generally for different types of challenges. That way, you can get organized quickly and start problem solving. 看看你的策略是否为面对逆境的成功做好了准备, 确保你遵循业务连续性计划的指引，包括:

• Risk Assessment: 确定哪些挑战会拖慢你的业务，哪些挑战是你目前最容易面对的. For example, do consistent software bugs lock out your customers, or is the firewall protecting your financial data up-to-date? Prioritize which risks are threatening your success the most, so you can make the most impactful improvements. If you are vulnerable to data breaches, 然后将数据备份到第三方服务器，如果服务器受到威胁，您可以保持业务运行.

• Disaster Recovery: Disaster is a matter of if, not when. But with the right recovery plan, 您可以将停机时间和对您的声誉和财务的损害降到最低. Your disaster recovery plan should cover for data loss, human error, customer acquisition, reputation repair, resource allocation, and compliance with regulations.

• Role and Responsibility Assignments: Disruptions can cause a lot of confusion, so it’s important to have established roles and responsibilities. Who will coordinate problem solving efforts? Who is the contact person on various teams? Who is responsible for key tasks like recovering data? 拥有明确的角色将有助于避免浪费时间的重复工作，甚至可能使事情变得更糟.

• Communication Protocols: 当问题出现时，向合适的人传达潜在的干扰是很重要的. This may seem like a straightforward step, 但是把关键信息传达给错误的人会浪费关键的时间. Even if you contact the right people, 令人困惑或不相关的信息也会拖慢解决问题的过程. For effective communication, 一定要确定特定情况下的关键信息是什么，以及谁需要知道这些信息. 

• Testing and Training: 持续的员工培训和程序测试将有助于确保您的团队积极工作以防止危机, while your emergency systems can help recover from them. For example, 培训员工识别恶意软件将有助于避免网络安全攻击, and an antivirus software can protect  your databases.

How To Write a Business Continuity Plan? Trust the Experts.

在经营你的企业时，稳定性是一种增值资产. 当你知道会发生什么，你就可以相应地计划并利用机会. 然而，你不知道你不知道什么，这最终会让你付出代价. 计划所有事情是很困难的，尤其是当你的团队的带宽也很紧张的时候.

That’s where Moser’s tabletop activities can help. As your partner in technology, Moser可以帮助你将你的计划推向极限，看看哪些是有效的，哪些需要改进.

不要等到最坏的情况才去看你的业务连续性计划是否有效. Get in touch with our team to see how you can protect your business.