A business continuity capability statement can be a useful resource for a number of reasons:
It provides a central point of reference for business continuity management and oversight processes that can be useful for auditors and for reducing management time in explaining the "how" of their business continuity arrangements to third parties
It removes superfluous information from response plans - making them more concise and useful when needed in an emergency
It formalises and underpins the organisations business continuity oversight and assurance activities
A business continuity capability statement is the repository of information relating to the organisations approach to business continuity oversight, assurance & governance and should cover:
Overview: Provide a brief overview of the organisation's business continuity plan, including its purpose and scope.
Governance: Describe the governance structure for the business continuity program, including roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, such as executive management, the business continuity team, and external vendors or partners.
Risk Assessment: Explain how the organisation identifies potential risks and assesses their impact on critical business functions - and how these get updated.
Business Impact Analysis (BIA): Describe the process for conducting a BIA to determine the impact of disruptions to key business processes and systems.
Strategy and Planning: Explain the organisation's strategy for managing business continuity, including the development of response and recovery plans, incident management protocols, and communication strategies.
Training and Awareness: Describe the training and awareness programs in place to ensure that all employees understand their roles and responsibilities in the event of a disruption.
Testing and Validation: Explain the process for regularly testing and validating the effectiveness of the organisation's business continuity plans and the types of test performed such as walkthroughs, simulations & red teaming .
Performance Metrics: Describe the metrics used to measure the effectiveness of the organisation's business continuity program across a number of categories - like this:
9. How is the continuing relevance of the plan assessed? Tests, as mentioned above are an important part, but regular monitoring of technical and organisational changes can provide continuous assurance that the relevance of response and recovery plans, incident management protocols, and communication strategies is not eroding.