10 Frequently Asked Questions about Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
1. Why do I need a business continuity plan?
Experience shows that planning in advance for disruptions puts businesses in a much better position to recover effectively if disaster strikes
A tested and validated plan shows banks, investors, customers, staff and suppliers that you understand potential risks to the business and have controls in place
Having a plan could give your business a competitive advantage when bidding or tendering for new work
A business continuity plan is good for staff confidence too as they will appreciate that their employer is taking steps to protect their safety and the workplace
Ultimately, business continuity planning is good business practice, contributing to organisational resilience, helping to maintain financial stability and reputation Learn more
2. What is a business continuity plan?
A documented collection of procedures and information that is developed, compiled and maintained in readiness for use in an incident to enable the organisation to continue to deliver its critical products and services at an acceptable pre-defined level Learn more
3. What is the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery?
Business continuity planning is principally concerned with ensuring that the organisation’s business priorities are understood and adequately resourced in the event of a disruption that forces the business to change the way it operates, even if only on a temporary basis Learn more
Disaster recovery is principally concerned with ensuring that critical IT and communications systems and services are available to the business to support priority activities in the event of a disruption such as a cyber security incident Learn more
It is important to recognise that business continuity and disaster recovery need to operate in tandem, not in isolation. There is little point in ascertaining when a business critical activity needs to be operational following an incident if the IT services are not available to support those needs
4. How do I write a business continuity plan?
Identify your business priorities that you would need to continue if you lost access to resources such as people, premises, IT, equipment, information, suppliers
Determine what resources you will need to continue those priorities and the timescales within which these will need to be available
Document this information into a plan of action and keep it up to date
Work out what you need to do now to make sure you can maintain your business critical work after something goes wrong, for example:
- Take backups offsite
- Identify alternative accommodation and other resources
- Check staff know their responsibilities and how to communicate with their teams in an emergency
- Put a response team in place to manage incidents
- Review business continuity arrangements on a regular basis
5. Why should we use Teed for our business continuity/disaster recovery planning?
We have the experience, the skills and the knowledge to bring the right information together to create a plan that will work in practice
Teed is completely independent so clients can be assured that any recommendations are made in the interests of the client not third parties
We know how long we need to be onsite and will not overstay our welcome
Using Teed means you do not have to take staff away from their jobs to spend time on something they may not fully understand Learn more
6. How long will it take Teed to write a plan for us?
This generally depends on the size and complexity of organisation
An average project can be completed within 3 months including testing the plan, assuming availability of relevant business representatives
7. How much will it cost?
Fees are determined by the complexity of the project and time required
Following initial discussions with a prospective client, we will send a proposal detailing the project stages, deliverables, timescales and fees
We usually work on a fixed fee basis so that the client knows from the outset of the project how much it will cost
We also work on a time spent basis or a client can opt for an annual service contract
8. What about small or medium companies (SMEs) with limited budgets?
Teed has developed three low cost BC packages under £10,000 to suit the smaller budget called Continuity Cover Learn more
9. I already have a plan, but am not sure if it will do the job, can Teed still help?
We are regularly asked to review existing business continuity and/or IT disaster recovery arrangements to establish whether they are fit-for-purpose
Our consultants will provide an independent opinion and advise where there are gaps and suggest a plan of action to close the gaps
We can also design and run an exercise or test to run through the existing planning arrangements which is an excellent way to see how both teams and plans perform
Our consultants are happy to provide support to internal project staff on any element of business continuity and/or IT disaster recovery planning and implementation Learn more
10. I am not sure my staff will know what to do if something happens?
Training and awareness is an integral part of implementing business continuity and/or IT disaster recovery planning
Teed’s consultants will ensure appropriate training and awareness is delivered to key staff during a project
We can also provide additional in-house training for response team members and other staff members, as required, to ensure they know their roles and responsibilities before and after an incident Learn more
Download Teed Business Continuity FAQs 2024.pdf
- Date: 29th January 2024