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Why should we conduct a Business Continuity Plan Test?

 

 Our business continuity plan testing templates  can help you to get the best out of your business continuity plan test and guide to to create and deliver a professional business continuity plan test - and they come with a free online training course to guide you

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BCP Desktop & Walkthrough tests - where to start

Although It’s accepted good practice to test a business continuity plans it's often a challenge to know where to start.

Initially, consider where you are in terms of the maturity of your business continuity. Is this a relatively new business continuity plan undergoing it’s first test or a fairly well established and trusted plan that the organisation is reasonably confident with?

 

For new business continuity plans, a full-blown simulation might be too much too soon.  In this case consider a walkthrough with some challenges to confirm that the plan is based on firm principles.  The walkthrough can be broken down into bite-size “chunks” that evaluate individual parts of the plan as outlined below

Incident Discovery & Notification

Consider the incident response team knowledge of the process and facilities available to detect, declare and mobilise in different situation

  • Incident notification

  • Mobilisation & assembly of Incident Management team

  • Establishing scene control

  • Emergency services notification

  • Accounting for staff contractors and visitors

  • Staff advice & assistance

Operational recovery

Walkthrough the response and recovery plans with individual response team members or response team leaders (i.e. those responsible for critical functions like customer service, finance or call centre) ensuring that the following (where appropriate) are factored into their plans:

  • Alternative workplace Accommodation:  Relocation logistics, capacity & resources available at alternative working location

  • Remote working capabilities

  • Customer Management activities

  • Handling & prioritisation of customer commitments

  • Sourcing replacements for damaged or destroyed equipment / stock / raw materials.

  • Order management / fulfilment resumption / work-in-progress recovery

  • Relationships with other parts of the organisation (such as the incident management team, facilities management and information technology)

 

Ensure that there is clear ownership of all aspects of communication (including ownership & understanding of the platforms used for messaging) for the following:

  • Incident responders & Recovery Teams

  • Communication nd information sharing the wider organisation

  • Social Media

  • Mainstream Media

  • Regulatory Agencies

Internal & External Communication

​​Our business continuity plan testing templates include the tools you need  to conduct an effective business continuity plan walkthrough.

If your business continuity plan is more mature and you are confident in the results of walkthrough tests, you are probably ready for a more rigorous test based around a specific scenario and where the whole response organisation assumes the roles that they would be expected to adopt during a major incident.  This type of test is often called a simulation because it focusses on evaluating the plan in a situation that realistically mimics a real incident such as cyber-attack or damage to property. This type of test requires significantly more planning and facilitation than a basic plan walkthrough.​​

  • Steve Dance Managing Partner
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