Business continuity planning (BCP) is a management process that helps manage the risks to the smooth running of an organisation or the delivery of a service, thereby ensuring that it can continue to operate in the event of a disruption.

Why it matters

Building-in business continuity and making it part of the way you run your business helps prepare you to offer 'business as usual' in the quickest possible time, rather than having to 'firefight' any emergency. Therefore it is just as important that small companies, as well as large corporations, ensure that in the event of a business continuity incident, critical services are maintained and employees understand what is expected of them. This is to ensure that the business survives the disruption.

Without effective business continuity planning, a natural or man-made disaster e.g. Fire, Flood, Adverse Publicity, loss of personnel/premises, I.T. failure. Theft, bomb threat, power failure. Could lead to one or more of the following:

Complete failure of business, loss of income, loss of reputation, legal penalties, impact on insurance payments.