Business Perspective

I remember some many years ago when I was growing up, some very famous businessman died and within a few months, all what he had acquired during his life time went down the drain because no one in his family knew where to start from after his death, meaning the business had no business continuity plan and that is why it failed immediately after his death. Usually the business continuity planning involves devising a plan that guards against business disruption in case of unforeseen events like fire, floods or earthquake, the death of the business owner or other key personnel, or a technological disaster such as having all your business data wiped out. A well thought out business continuity plan can mean the difference between your business’s survival and failure in the event of a crisis. Besides ensuring the health and safety of all personnel, the objectives of business continuity planning include minimizing interruptions to the business’s ability to provide its products and/or services, minimizing financial loss, and being able to resume critical operations within a specified time after a disaster. Business continuity planning is an essential part of running any modern organization that takes its business and its clients seriously. With so many potential business disasters looming that can befall an organization at any time, it seems unwise not to take actions to prepare for and try to prevent the devastating impact of such catastrophes. There is a multiplicity of benefits in planning for Business continuity within an organization. Not only will your data, hardware, software, etc., be better protected, but the people that compose your organization will be better safeguarded should a disaster occur. In addition, employees will be informed and rehearsed as to what actions to take to immediately start the recovery process and ensure business continuity if disaster strikes.Without this type of preparation any unexpected event can severely disrupt the operation, continuity, and effectiveness of your business. Disabling events can come in all shapes and varieties.For smaller companies the impact of the above mentioned and even lesser disasters can hit much harder. For example, unexpected non-availability of key workers alone could be catastrophic, potentially causing as much disruption to business continuity as technological hardship, especially if it occurs during the height of the company’s busy season. If only one person is trained to do particular and/or essential tasks, their unexpected absence can severely disrupt productivity. Thus, putting business continuity plans into practice in your organization now can prepare your business for most any potential disaster, help ensure that you will be able to maintain continuity of your business practices, and reduce or even possibly remove the effect such calamities could have on your organization. While other business people lie awake at night, you can rest easy knowing your business continuity plan is ready should the worst happen. Ends