Business Continuity Plan Templates - what do you get for free?

10 Free Business Continuity Plan Templates Reviewed

A quick Google search will reveal that there are several free business continuity plan templates available; in this post we review the ones that appear when the term “business continuity plan template" is submitted to Google.

Who offers business continuity plan templates?

A number of organisations offer business continuity templates – local government organisations provide them to assist organisations with business continuity planning, some insurance organisations have business continuity plan downloads on their website (many insurers require organisations to have business continuity plans in place to obtain certain types of insurance) and many business continuity consulting firms offer free business continuity plans as a means to establish contact with potential clients.

A good business continuity plan template should provide the following:

1.      It should recognise that a sound business continuity plan is developed through several stages and should provide the tools to support each stage

2.      It should also recognise that Business Continuity is an ongoing process – a populated document template is a waypoint not a destination. A good business continuity should provide you with a framework for the ongoing management of business continuity in your organisation.

3.      Business Continuity also requires that the whole organisation is aware of the plan and how it relates to them.

4.      It should provide guidance on how to complete the planning process and required content. People looking for a business continuity template are generally looking for some help with creating a business continuity plan – a template also needs guidance and support to complete.

The table below evaluates these free templates

Provider	Format	Comments
Bacula Systems  IT Services Provider	Word Document	A basic “one size fits all” template focussed on IT issues. requires contact details prior to download
HS Direct Business Template Provider	Word Document	A basic, generic “one size fits all” template with little “how to guidance”
UK Government Publishing Service Government Department	Word Document	More of a checklist & little help on content
AXA Insurance Company	Web Page	Some useful information but content cannot be adapted unless copied into a word document or similar. No real guidance for completion
NHS Healthcare	Word & PDF templates	Comprehensive but relevant only to NHS organisations (and a PDF can’t be edited)
Hertfordshire CC Local Government	Word Document	Aimed at smaller organisations – no “how to” guidance
ACCA Global Professional Body	Word Document	Very basic “one size fits all” template - no “how to guidance” included Clicking the link does not take you to a web page, it immediately downloads the file
Royal Greenwich Council Local Government	PDF Document	Basic template, no “how to” guidance is included and format is not editable
Sutton Council Local Government	PDF Document	Basic template, lacks “how to” guidance and format is not editable
Rocket Lawyer Legal Document Templates	Web Page	Multi-form “fill in the blanks” template.  Some customisations for organisation type. “How to” guidance is not available

 So, what do you get for free? A basic tool toll that probably may not fit your organisation. If you are not a business continuity specialist (which is why you are probably searching for a business continuity plan template) these templates may be a hindrance rather than a help for the following reasons:

• There's no "assembly instructions" with them. To a create a business continuity plan you'll need to understand the stages of development and HOW to get those stages done.

• Different tools and formats are required to effectively support each stage of business continuity planning. A single document format is not sufficiently flexible to accommodate that.

• When completed, maintenance can become a real headache because a plan based on a single document format becomes cumbersome and error prone if several different individuals are involved in it's maintenance (and they will be).

• A single document format can become a liability when the plan is used "in anger". Plans containing dozens of pages are unwieldy and confusing in a pressurised situation. Tabular, concise information tailored to guide specific action is required - separate from narrative based information.

A good, well thought out business continuity plan template overcomes these difficulties and will be accompanied with guidance material to support the process of BCP development. Click this link for a video walkthrough of a comprehensive business continuity plan template