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Next Version:

We are currently working on the next version (planned for the last quarter of 2008) that will add a module for managing the Prevention Plans of the organization. This module will also include tools to prepare and manage a BIA (Business Impact Analysis) assisting in the definition and updating of scenarios.


Why include Preventive Plans in BCPOrganizer?

When an organization decides to work in Business Continuity Planning, there are two clear approaches:

• prevent the occurrence of operational disturbances (contingencies).
• deploy measures that allow an immediate response in case of a contingency, in order to reestablish an adequate operational level.

In our view, both aspects are necessary and complementary to develop a continuity solution that is both effective and efficient. The prevention measures will minimize the probability of a contingency actually occurring, focusing particularly on those situations for which it is exceedingly difficult (or even impossible) to provide adequate response actions.

When developing Prevention Plans it’s important to consider that they should be adequate for the organization from an economic standpoint, by ensuring that the cost of these plans is lower than the cost of activating the response measures and the losses caused by the contingency.

Before designing the Prevention Plans it’s necessary to identify all risks that would cause an interruption or significant degradation of the operating levels in any critical business process. This is typically achieved by selecting “high exposure” risks, with exposure being defined as a function of the estimated probability and impact of any given risk (using the standard Risk Analysis technique).


Since the impact derived from any interruption can vary wildly depending on when the interruption actually took place and for how long it occurred, the Risk Analysis needs to be performed for several different scenarios by varying these conditions. This technique is what is usually called “Business Impact Analysis” (BIA) and needs to be applied to every critical business process after determining the relevant risks to consider.

The BIA is therefore a good tool to use during the definition of Prevention Plans in order to ensure a proper cost-benefit ratio.

Regardless of how good any Prevention Plan is, however, contingencies can still occur and without a proper response planned, the organization won’t be able to maintain an adequate operational level. These response actions are listed in the Contingency Plans and that’s why the first focus of BCPOrganizer was to help manage these Plans.

Why include the BIA in the module that manages Prevention Plans?

The primary objective of any BIA is measuring the exposure of any identified risks in order to classify them, considering different scenarios, which in our view is only relevant while working on the Prevention Plans and not in the Contingency Plans since the latter need to be able to respond to any contingencies including those not identified in the BIA or with such a low probability that their exposure is considered low.