Executive Summary of Business Continuity Planning

Disruptions such as violence in the workplace, heart attacks and strokes, the effects of terrorism, leaks of dangerous materials, fires, catastrophic natural disasters and many other threats to "business as usual" are becoming more commonplace, and if not anticipated prudently are much more costly than necessary.

Usually not addressed by protocols for Due Diligence, Loss Prevention, Risk Management, or Workplace Health & Safety - and rarely fully covered or mandated by insurers - wide and readily-observable variances exist in the potential effectiveness of most organizations’ highly detailed plans for maintaining mission-critical operating activities and customer services under such potentially traumatic circumstances.

Comparisons of outcomes from like incidents clearly demonstrate the considerable monetary and social benefits which accrue to organizations of all types and sizes when they have obtained, regularly tested, and updated concise plans for maintaining crucial product and/or service delivery systems. For example, customer and employee relations can be preserved while the various property losses are being mitigated.

In my professional opinion, spanning the last twenty years, approximately 78% of organizations which lacked contingency plans but suffered catastrophic loss of property, records, customer loyalty, a trained workforce as well as cash-flow were gone within two years. Most had insurance - many had business interruption coverage!