Scrappy Business Contingency Planning: How to Bullet-Proof Your Business and Laugh at Volcanoes, Tornadoes, Locust Plagues, and Hard Drive Crashes (Happy about)

In simple terms, business contingency planning (BCP) is the art of preparing an enterprise for "bad things." The bottom line is that you are trying to enable your organization to withstand an unlikely, though not unexpected, event. But a good business contingency plan should help you weather even an unexpected event, that is, something that "can't happen here." Developing a business contingency program from scratch is not a "quick hit" effort. It is a major undertaking. 'Scrappy Business Contingency Planning' provides a blueprint for the creation of a business contingency program from the ground up. A solid contingency planning program has become a necessity, rather than a nicety, in today's business world. Although there are several very good professional resources available for professional planners, most don't teach you the "tricks" of the trade. I worked side by side with a clever and creative mentor, who taught me many of these tricks. I want to pass them on. This book provides a blueprint for the creation of a business contingency program from the ground up. After reading this book, a corporation without a business contingency plan should understand the scope of their effort to create one. A new contingency planner will find this book a refreshing how-to guide. Even a seasoned BCP professional will walk away with a tip or two, and a new perspective on some of the issues facing planers. Copyright Page 6 Author's Note 7 Meet the Scrappy GuidesTM 8 The Books in the Scrappy GuidesTM Series 9 Meet the Scrappy GuidesTM Executive Editor 10 Become a Scrappy GuidesTM Author 12 Dedication 13 Acknowledgments 14 A Message from Happy About® 15 Contents 17 Graphics 21 Preface 23 Kick Off 27 Scrappy BCP Checklists 29 Chapter 1: What Is BCP? 31 Chapter 2: The Power of Negative Thinking 33 Chapter 3: Developing Your Business Contingency Program 37 The 8 Ps 38 Scope and Project Initiation 40 1. Establish Planning Teams/BCP Task Force 41 2. Identify Scope 42 Impact Analysis 42 1. Identify Assets 43 2. Rate System/Application/Data Criticality 46 3. Determine System/Application/Data Recovery Order 48 4. Determine the "Pain" Threshold 54 5. Determine Existing Vulnerabilities 55 6. Establish Configuration Management 56 7. Examine Potential Threats 56 8. Evaluate Countermeasures 59 9. Review Audits 60 10. Focus on the Loss, Not the Event 60 Strategic Analysis 62 1. Research and Establish Backup Storage Alternatives 62 2. Research and Establish Recovery Alternatives 66 3. Establish Lines of Succession 70 4. Establish Disaster Criteria 70 5. Consider Small Disasters 71 6. Establish Disaster Declaration Criteria 73 7. Establish Relationships with Local Emergency Services 74 8. Develop Communications Plans 75 9. Establish Business Contingency Plan Distribution Strategy 76 10. Establish Return-to-Normal Criteria 78 Plan Content and Subject Matter 79 1. Catalog Personnel Information 79 2. Catalog Job Functions 81 3. Catalog Business Processes: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Etc. 82 4. Draft Detailed Standard Operating Procedures 83 5. Catalog Equipment Requirements 85 6. Develop Manual Procedures 87 7. Establish Call Trees 89 8. Cross-Train Job Functions 91 Emergency Response and Operations 92 1. Identify the Command and Control Requirements of Emergency Management 93 2. Identify Potential Types of Emergencies and the Required Responses 93 3. Develop Emergency Response Procedures 94 4. Provide Status Communications 97 5. Ensure Emergency Response Procedures Align with Public Authority Requirements 97 Chapter 4: Plan Execution 99 1. Situation Evaluation 100 2. Last Known Good Data Point Evaluation—Time of Last Backup 102 3. Make the Decision and Publicize the Announcement 103 4. Relocation 104 5. Clear Work Backlog 104 6. Process Resumption Using Alternative Facilities 105 7. Site Restoration 105 8. Records Maintenance 106 9. Completion of Site Restoration 107 10. Data Restoration 107 11. Relocation to Recovered Site 107 12. Clear Work Backlog (Again) 108 13. Resumption of Normal Operations 108 Chapter 5: Exercising Your Plan 111 1. Call Tree Exercises 112 2. Structured Walk-Throughs 112 3. Checklist Exercises 113 4. Tabletop Exercises 113 5. Parallel Operations Exercises 114 6. Full Simulations 114 Chapter 6: Plan Maintenance 117 Chapter 7: Selling BCP to Management 119 The Insurance Argument 120 The Process Improvement Argument 120 Boring Statistics 121 Chapter 8: Selling to Employees 123 The Job Security Argument 124 The Personal Enhancement Argument 125 The Work Enhancement Argument 126 Paint Your BCP Initiative Green 128 Wrap Up—The BCP Department 131 Appendix A: BC Program Checklist 135 Appendix B: BC Plan Checklist 139 Appendix C: Forms! Forms! Forms! 141 Create the Form 142 Create the Database 149 Enter Data 155 About the Author 167 Other Happy About Books 169 Back Cover 171 Paperback,ISBN:,9781600051500,eBook,ISBN:,9781600051517 Happy About