No matter how robust a risk management process is, a company will experience catastrophes of ONE sort or another from time to time. There is a need for plans that deal with these because reaction speed is CRITICALLY important in managing them well.

The business continuity plan has the aim of KEEPING all or some of the business running from another venue or with back-up systems or on-call staff, or whatever allows continuous operations. The disaster recovery plan has the mission to restore normal operations as quickly as possible after the business has been interrupted in whole or in part.

In reviewing these plans, key ELEMENTS to look for include:

1. a communication hierarchy for notification that is complete and up to date
2. a decision tree for creating clarity around who can make which decisions
3. a list of third-party resources that have been previously vetted and can be called in to assist – some will be part of any insurance policies that may be TRIGGERED by the risk/loss event.

No matter how robust a risk management process is, a company will experience catastrophes of one sort or another from time to time. There is a need for plans that deal with these because reaction speed is critically important in managing them well.

The business continuity plan has the aim of keeping all or some of the business running from another venue or with back-up systems or on-call staff, or whatever allows continuous operations. The disaster recovery plan has the mission to restore normal operations as quickly as possible after the business has been interrupted in whole or in part.

In reviewing these plans, key elements to look for include: