Why Business Continuity Matters

Nearly 100 percent of businesses realize they face daily disruptive risks, according to The Conference Board, but only five percent of businesses have a viable business continuity plan. Although creating a business continuity plan may seem daunting, the benefits far outnumber the costs, both tangibly and intangibly.

Business face natural, man-made, and technological disasters on a daily basis. The disasters can range from fires and floods to network failure and server power supply failure to lost data and corrupted data with one commonality: a loss of productivity that equals a loss of money. The bottom line is a continuity plan protects your bottom line.

Without a plan in place, managers will likely assign resources on a first-come, first-serve basis, rather than where the need is greatest. A business continuity plan facilitates uninterrupted continuation of the company's critical functions during any disruptive event. Beyond protecting the bottom line though, adoption of a BCP creates added value for the organization in a number of ways, including:

• enhancing the company's public image and reputation by demonstrating a proactive, you-can-count-on-us attitude,
• identifying relationships between assets, personnel, and financial resources,
• identifying organizational vulnerabilities,
• improving organizational efficiency,
• minimizing crisis impacts on the business, contractors, vendors and customers,
• reducing disruption costs, and
• reducing insurance premiums.

In short, the long-term benefits of developing and implementing a business continuity plan far exceed the minimal four month time investment for research, development, and implementation.
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Carlie Lawson owns Natural Hazards Consulting, based in Norman, OK. NHC specializes in developing and implementing business continuity and hazards plans for businesses and municipalities. Her articles have appeared in "Weather and Society Watch," "Journal of Regional Studies," "Oklahoma College Press," and "eHow." She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism, and film and video studies, and a Master of Regional and City Planning from the University of Oklahoma.