Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

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Senior management at Health Network has decided they want a business impact analysis (BIA) that examines the company’s data center and a business continuity plan (BCP). Because of the importance of risk management to the organization, management has allocated all funds for both efforts. Your team has their full support, as well as permission to contact any of them directly for participation or inclusion in the BIA or BCP. Winter storms on the East Coast have affected the ability of Health Network employees to reach the Arlington offices in a safe and timely manner. However, no BCP plan currently exists to address corporate operations. The Arlington office is the primary location for business units, such as Finance, Legal, and Customer Support. Some of the corporate systems, such as the payroll and accounting applications, are located only in the corporate offices. Each corporate location is able to access the other two, and a remote virtual private network (VPN) exists between each production data center and the corporate locations. The corporate systems are not currently being backed up and should be addressed in the new plan. The BCP should also include some details regarding how the BCP will be tested. For this part of the project:

Research BIAs and BCPs.
Develop a draft BIA plan for the Health Network that focuses on the data center. The BIA should identify:
Critical business functions
Critical resources
Maximum acceptable outage (MAO) and impact
Recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO)
Develop a draft BCP that could recover business operations while efforts are ongoing to restart previous operations.

 

Sample Solution

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

A business impact analysis (BIA) is a process that identifies the critical business processes and systems that an organization depends on to operate. The BIA also identifies the potential impact of disruptions to these critical processes and systems. The BIA is used to develop a business continuity plan (BCP) that outlines how the organization will recover from disruptions.

The Importance of a BIA

A BIA is an essential part of any business continuity plan. Without a BIA, an organization may not be able to identify the critical processes and systems that need to be protected. This could lead to a significant disruption to the organization’s operations if a disruption occurs.

The Components of a BIA

A BIA typically includes the following components:

  • Identification of critical business processes and systems
  • Assessment of the impact of disruptions to critical processes and systems
  • Development of recovery strategies for critical processes and systems
  • Testing of the BCP

The BIA for Health Network

The BIA for Health Network should identify the following critical business processes and systems:

  • The payroll and accounting applications
  • The customer relationship management (CRM) system
  • The website
  • The email system
  • The file server

The BIA should also assess the impact of disruptions to these critical processes and systems. For example, a disruption to the payroll and accounting applications could prevent employees from being paid on time. A disruption to the CRM system could prevent customers from being able to contact the company. A disruption to the website could prevent customers from being able to make purchases.

The BIA should also develop recovery strategies for these critical processes and systems. For example, the company could develop a plan to back up the payroll and accounting applications to an off-site location. The company could also develop a plan to have employees work from home if the office is inaccessible due to a disruption.

Testing the BIA

The BIA should be tested to ensure that it is effective. The company could test the BIA by simulating a disruption to one of the critical processes or systems. The company could also test the BCP by having employees practice the recovery procedures.

Conclusion

A BIA is an essential part of any business continuity plan. The BIA helps an organization identify the critical processes and systems that need to be protected. The BIA also helps an organization develop recovery strategies for these critical processes and systems.

Recommendations

I recommend that Health Network implement the following recommendations:

  • Develop a BIA for the data center.
  • Implement the recovery strategies that are identified in the BIA.
  • Test the BIA and the BCP on a regular basis.

I believe that by implementing these recommendations, Health Network can improve its ability to recover from disruptions.

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