Part 2: Recovery Strategies v2
Part 2: Business Continuity Strategy
Business Continuity Strategy(ies) are to be identified and assessed suitable for critical business functions, as only critical business functions need to be recovered during a crisis/ disaster.
Note that the text in italics serves as supporting instructions for participants attending and attempting BCM Institute's Blended Learning assignment
Business Function (Col 2)
Business Function is referred to as the business process carried out by the Business Unit.
- Name of business function. Refer to the BIA questionaire for the original Business functions to be used in the Recovery Strategy section.
- State a name or identifier (of up to 3 words).
- Note (1): Usually, the number of business functions should average around 5 functions and should not be expected to exceed 15. “Nice to have”/”convenient business functions” should be omitted during the final submission in the Business Continuity Strategy phase. Minor business functions that could be accurately grouped into a single bigger function are strongly encouraged.
Business Function Code (Col 3)
The business function code that the will be allocated to the Business Function. E.g. Human Resources – Payroll Processing will be HR-01, and Human Resources – Recruitment will be HR-02; Finance – Accounts Payable will be FIN-01, Finance – Accounts Receivable will be FIN-02.
- The acronym for each business function and its serial number. Refer to the BIA questionaire for the original function codes to be used in the Recovery Strategy section.
- This function number is used as a shorter form of unique identification of each business function within the entire BIA exercise and also as a cross-reference to the rest of the document.
- For example, “HR” is the acronym for Human Resource Department and say, the function is "Payroll". The function number “HR-01” is CBF Number 01 (first of the series of business functions) for the HR Department.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) (Col 4)
The RTO is the maximum acceptable length of time that can elapse before the unavailability of a business function severely impacts the organization. Refer to Business Impact Analysis Template to retrieve the RTOs that have been defined in the Business Impact Analysis stage.
- Transder the RTO value found at Column 17 and 18 - RTO from Part 3: Part 3: Impact Over Time of Business Functions
Business Continuity Strategy (Col 5)
A summary of the BC strategies that are being considered may include but is not limited to the following strategies:
- Provide degraded services
- Apply manual process
- Suspend function temporarily
- Work from the alternate site
- Work from home
- Work from another office (local / overseas)
- Standby at home
- Transfer function / outsource
- A combination of the above
Business Continuity Strategy refers to a strategy implemented following a disaster.
Recovery Location (Col 6)
Recovery Location is the location (designated prior to a disaster) to continue recovery work processes following a disruption. The recovery work location may include the following:
- Alternate Site
- Home
- Another Office
Recovery Location refers to the alternate site/place where staff will go to during the event of workplace disruption. Some examples include:
- Home
- Alternate Office
- Customer Site
- Supplier Site
- If applicable, staff from the same department can go to multiple recovery locations. For example, 2 staff can return home to resume work, while another 2 may be needed at the alternate office
Details of Business Continuity Strategy (Col 7)
Expand upon the chosen Business Continuity Strategy. How many staff are going to the alternate site? What equipment/measures are needed to be taken to ensure that work will resume at the alternate site? Does the alternate site have all the necessary amenities to continue the work process?
Justification of Selected Business Continuity Strategy (Col 8)
Which are the preferred BC Strategies and explain why they were selected over the other alternative. The considerations may include but are not limited to as below:
- Build-out cost
- Maintenance effort / cost
- Availability of support personnel, high skill set and competency level
- Readiness of facilities and/or resources availability
- RTO or SLA requirements
- Costs of recovery strategy vs. estimated benefits
Why is this strategy chosen? Why are these additional measures in place? What purpose do they serve in minimizing the occurrence or impact of the threat?
Remarks (Col 9)
If a business unit has business functions operating in multiple sites, the BC Strategies and Justification are to be assessed for the respective sites where they have a presence in order to provide a business unit consolidated view.
Critical business functions are defined according to the Planning Time Horizon of the Key Planning Scenario that has been determined in the RAR stage.
Anything that does not fit into any of the other columns but has to be noted goes here
Instruction to BL-B-3/5 M2 and WSQ-BCM-320 M2-S1 Participant
The section is for participants attending the BL-B-5 Module 2 or WSQ-BCM-310 Module 2 Session 2 facilitated workshop, this is the additional instruction to complete your Business Continuity Strategy assignment.
Refer to the text of each of the sections within this page which are highlighted in italics for further explanation when attempting the assignment.