Business continuity management

Business continuity management is about planning ahead for incidents and emergencies that could affect your business - including your company's brand and reputation or the service you provide to your customers. Incidents could be anything from a burst pipe flooding your premises or illness of key staff, to criminal damage or a terrorist threat.

With foresight and careful planning, any disruption from an emergency incident can be minimised, allowing you to continue providing business as usual for your customers.

Business continuity planning should be considered by all businesses, both large and small, and should be tailored to the specific needs of your business.

Continuity planning

Identify any potential crises that could affect your business then consider how you would minimise the risks of these impacting on your business.

If you use any IT equipment in your business, an IT continuity plan is vital. This should include procedures for back-up and recovery of data, mirrored servers in different locations (so you are not reliant on one data store) and power supply back-up in case of power failures. Remember to test your plan and keep it up-to-date.

Download a guide to business continuity for small businesses from the Business Continuity Institute.

Useful links

There are several organisations which provide advice and planning services to help you prepare for the unexpected. Visit the Useful links which can be found under the Related Pages section of this page.