It is important to have a firm focus on the scope of your business continuity and the assurances that you are aiming to obtain from it.  Your business continuity plan test should inlude some the of the main considerations listed here.

 

Assessing the performance of Incident and Recovery Management Teams

This should focus on testing the capabilities response team members ensuring they understand their roles and responsibilities and demonstrate that they will work together under different scenarios.

 

Using Incident Management and Recovery Facilities 

If dedicated  resources are in place to support incident  and recovery management such as incident notification systems, the scope of the business continuity plan test should inlude the use of these resources to enable response team members to practice their use.

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Communication Strategies

During a major incident the organisation will rely on response teams being able to commnicate  both internally and externally. The scope of the business continuity test should cover the ability of response teams to handle external and internal communications effectively.

 

Workplace Recovery Arrangements

Workplace recovery arrangements to enable the organisation to work effectively when it's normal premises are unavailable should be considered as part of a business continuity plan test, establishing that memebrs of the organisation can continue to work effectively, regardless of physical location. 

 

Testing IT Recovery

Establishing that the organisations data,  IT systems and services can be restored in a timely and effective manner should always be subject to confirmation as part of an overall business continuity plan test or conducted a separate exercise

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