If you need more help getting a business or organization prepared, please use the new Business Continuity Planning Suite developed by DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate and FEMA.

This software was created for any business with the need to create, improve, or update its business continuity plan. The Suite is scalable for optimal use by organizations of any size and consists of a business continuity plan (BCP) training, automated BCP and disaster recovery plan (DRP) generators, and a self-directed exercise for testing an implemented BCP. Businesses can utilize this solution to maintain normal operations and provide resilience during a disruption.

Learn about the Tools

The BCP training component of the Suite is a 30 minute video-based course, which examines the importance of BCP, provides an overview on BCP, and prepares users to write their own plans. It is broken into three segments:

1. What is business continuity planning?
2. Why is business continuity planning important?
3. What is the business continuity planning process?

Upon completion of the training, users should possess a basic understanding of BCP, the process of completing a BCP, and the motivation to complete their own plan using the Suite’s BCP Generator.

The Suite’s BCP and DRP Generators, developed to guide businesses through writing BCP and DRP plans, possess an overall functionality similar to automated tax preparation tools. The BCP Generator builds a plan that guides a company through any disruption to normal operations, while the DRP Generator focuses on developing a plan specific to recovery of information technology systems. A Save and Exit option in both Generators enables users to complete their plans in increments, and a Print option enables users to produce and save hard copies.

The final component of the BCP Suite, a self-directed exercise for testing an implemented BCP, allows users to test their newly implemented business continuity and disaster recovery plans. This Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program compliant table top exercise focuses on a business’ recovery efforts following selected business disruptions intended to represent a broad spectrum of threats including hurricane, earthquake, ice storm, and blackout. The goal of the exercise is to improve a business’ overall recovery capabilities and actions and the collective decision making process. It is designed to be an open, thought-provoking exchange of ideas to help develop and expand existing knowledge of policies and procedures within the framework of an organization’s BCP implementation.

Go here for Business Continuity Video Training.

Source: FEMA, “Business Continuity” http://www.ready.gov website. Accessed July 15, 2014. http://www.ready.gov/business-continuity-planning-suite

© Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. This content is strictly for informational purposes and although experts have prepared it, the reader should not substitute this information for professional insurance advice. If you have any questions, please consult your insurance professional before acting on any information presented. Read more.