The preparation of the business continuity plan (CFP) often poses challenges for organizations. Even though much of the required information is already available, it is often unclear what content is mandatory and what structure the CFP needs.
In the run-up to business continuity planning, organizations deal with the identification of critical business processes. Process maps and information on the organizational structure are usually already available. Most organizations have also already documented the dependency of the processes on certain applications or systems of the company, as well as the responsibilities, contacts and alarm chains.
If you take a look at a CFP (e.g., the BSI templates), you will quickly see that the existing information largely corresponds to the table of contents. In theory, you should "only" have to fill in the chapters.
So where exactly is the hurdle?
To understand the problem, it is necessary to understand the two ways in which business continuity plans are written: directly in a document or supported by a tool.
If the CFP is written directly in a document, it quickly becomes apparent that the subsections are very dynamic. Each critical resource must be considered accordingly, and changes in previous steps require revisions to the chapter components. It is only a matter of time before one loses the overview and the plans contain incorrect information.
Tools offer a clear advantage here: Individual changes flow into the CFP in an all-encompassing manner. If a contact person changes or the reporting chain is adjusted, the plans are automatically updated. However, maintaining texts for strategies, workarounds and measures for critical resources is often not as easy as in a document.
But shouldn't it be particularly easy to get started with an emergency planning tool?
We'll show you how: All steps taken in the run-up to the CFP are automatically incorporated into the respective CFP. If centrally provided data changes, it is automatically reloaded. A life preview shows the current processing status of the CFP at any time. In addition, a questionnaire document with the data in the CFP can be sent to responsible colleagues. They now work as in a document and can maintain information on workarounds and measures. Optional text modules are available for this purpose. If information is missing, it can be created directly. After approval, the CFP is automatically updated. So nothing can be forgotten and a fast processing by the departments is guaranteed.
Come to our booth and we will be happy to show you how easy it is to create a CFP according to BSI Standard 200-4 in HiScout!
