What is business continuity planning?

Broadly defined as a management process that seeks to identify potential threats and impacts to the organization, and provide a strategic and operational framework for ensuring the organization is able to withstand any disruption, interruption, or loss to normal business functions or operation.

An organization's resistance to failure is the ability to withstand changes in its environment and still function. Business continuity is the intended outcome of proper execution of business continuity programs and a disaster recovery plan.

Creating a business continuity plan includes risk assessments, the performance of backup machines and servers, assigning responsibilities and educating employees. Essentially establishing and fulfilling a checklist that includes all of these and additional information for dealing with various scenarios for instance in the event of a fire, flood or earthquake.

Without a business continuity plan, organizations would not be able to continue operating. Moreover, without a recovery time objective they would be further disadvantaged when it becomes possible to return operating - causing significant business disruption.