A business continuity plan is a process which every business should incorporate to know how to respond in a situation of a crisis. Having a business continuity plan will ensure that your staff know their roles and responsibilities in the event of an incident. This is of great importance as this can reduce damages occurred if a situation is resolved in the most efficient manner. By implementing business continuity, you and your employees will know what to do in the event of a disaster.
Adapt and respond to risks with a business continuity plan.
What is a Business Continuity Plan?
A Business Continuity plan, also known as a BCP, is a document that outlines how a business should respond in the event of a crisis explaining all correct steps towards recovery. This is especially important as it will allow you to continue to operate during an unplanned disruption in service. A Business Continuity plan is a more extensive approach when compared to a disaster recovery plan as it contains contingencies for business processes, owned assets, human resources and, of course, IT infrastructure. To sum it up, a Business Continuity plan analyses every aspect of the business when it’s affected through a holistic approach.
Why is a Business Continuity Plan Important?
There are many reasons why having a Business Continuity plan is important. On average, an IT infrastructure failure can cost around £100,000 an hour, depending on the size of your business. To survive a cybersecurity threat, it is important to implement an effective plan; nowadays, a business must go beyond that, not only creating an effective plan but a reliable one.
To create a Business Continuity plan which is reliable and effective a holistic approach must be taken. This will target all areas of the business so they remain up and running whilst data remains protected, which in turn should help retain your customer base. This shows the importance of a business continuity plan as having one in place can minimize your business’s downtime and help achieve improvements in your IT disaster recovery, corporate crisis management capabilities and IT regulatory compliances such as GDPR.
By integrating a business’s continuity plan, you can train your team from within through IT Consultancy. Doing so will gain you access to a team of experts who are able to advise your business on all aspects of your IT support needs. This information provided can be invaluable as it will inform your business on the best software to use whilst keeping up with constant technological advances. By training your team from within this will shield your business from potential phishing attacks directed towards your sensitive data. If your team is trained, you will be able to avoid a crisis as a whole and potentially save funds lost in downtime.
What Threats can an IT Business Continuity Plan help you with?
In the event of a crisis there are many threats which can impact the stability of your IT Infrastructure and interrupt workflow such as:
· Data loss
· Cyberattacks
· Malware and viruses
· Network & internet disruptions
· Hardware/software failure
These threats are very common nowadays and should be taken seriously as they can cause great number of damage towards your business. The damage that cyber threats bring is not only to your funds but to your business’s reputation. It is estimated that cybercrime will cost the world around $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. This, combined with the fact that your business’s reputation may be on the line, shows the importance of a business continuity plan.
Key features of an effective Business continuity plan
To prevent the potential threats which greatly damage your business, there are many features implemented within an effective business continuity plan which can help, such as:
· GDPR
· Back-Up Protection
· Email Protection
· Patch Management
By implementing these security packages within your business you greatly reduce the chance of a cyber threat crisis and keep your company safe 24/7. This, combined with expert IT Consultancy, can not only prevent a crisis from occurring but teach your business from within to deal with the crisis accordingly.
Conclusion
As it can be seen, the implementation of an effective and strong business continuity plan can help protect your business from within and allow you to resolve a crisis in the most efficient and safe manner possible. Doing so can prevent your business from losing money and keep sensitive data out of the hands of the wrong people. Keeping you and your clients safe in the event of a cyber threat.
At Texaport, we understand the importance of these advancements, and we work with our clients to put a reliable system in place to improve their business efficiency. Our team has a wide range of IT knowledge and remains acquainted with the movements in the IT industry. Find out more here.