Business owners often think of business continuity management as a form of insurance for a rare event. However, formulating a strong security management system is critical to the everyday maintenance of business procedures and can protect your company and employees.
Business Continuity Management Defined
Business continuity management (BCM) describes a series of integrated policies that keep a company afloat in the case of a disturbance. These policies include:
- Initial or Emergency Response (steps taken immediately after the interruption)
- Business Continuity or Relocation Response (plans for relocating staff or equipment)
- Disaster Recovery or IT Continuity (process for assessing damage and strategizing for restoration)
- Restoration or Crisis Management (sequence for returning to business as usual and maintaining BCM)
The combination of these methods into a single regimen is usually referred to as a business continuity plan (BCP). In many industries, such as finance, healthcare, and energy, federal regulations mandate BCPs, and failure to maintain them is punishable by law. In addition, court rulings that find that companies have failed to prepare or plan can lead to charges of negligence.