Beyond the Crib Sheet: Basic Preparations for Improving Your Resilience

In my last post, I talked about how creating a crib sheet listing your most important business processes can give critical guidance to otherwise unprepared companies in the event of an outage. Today, I want to discuss the next step: making the tactical preparations necessary to enable you to restore your disrupted processes in a timely manner.

[Related on MHA Consulting: Introducing the Continuity Crib Sheet: What to Do if You Have No BC Plan]

Identifying Your Critical Processes

Two weeks ago, I blogged about a simple step companies can take to get a head start in recovering from an outage, especially if they don’t have a formal business continuity (BC) program or are just beginning to develop one. My recommendation is that companies develop a crib sheet of one or two pages that lists their five or 10 most critical business processes and the same number of essential IT applications. These are the processes and applications whose loss would have the most significant impact in the hours following a disruption.

(Achieving true resilience requires implementing the comprehensive measures outlined in traditional BC methodologies, but the idea behind these posts is that some preparation is better than none.)

The blog explained the benefit of having these lists: sparing the company the need to identify its critical processes during the emergency, allowing everyone to immediately get to work recovering them and developing workarounds for them. This saves time, reduces stress, and can significantly lower the impact of an outage.

Today’s post picks up where that blog left off.

From Crib Sheet to Tactical Preparations

After developing a crib sheet of its critical processes, the most important step an otherwise unprepared company can take to improve its ability to respond to a disruption is to make the necessary tactical preparations. These are the practical steps that need to be taken ahead of time to facilitate the quick restoration of the critical processes (or the implementation of workarounds).

Identifying the needed preparations requires analyzing each critical process or app and figuring out what resources, tools, or contingencies are required to enable its swift restoration (or the setting up of a workaround for it). The goal is to facilitate timely recovery of your key processes and apps and to avoid situations where you are prevented from restoring them owing to the lack of an essential resource.

Examples of Key Preparations

To illustrate this, let’s look at some examples of the typical preparations needed to enable companies to restore their key processes, tackling them by impact category—people, technology, facilities, and vendors. These examples will give you an idea of the kinds of proactive steps you should consider for each area:

People

If your ability to recover a critical process or develop a workaround depends on substituting for missing workers, it’s essential to assess the training their replacements would require to take on those roles. In this case, your preparation should include identifying possible substitute workers and providing them with the necessary training to ensure they can perform their new duties effectively when needed.

Technology

The preparations needed to recover or work around disrupted technological processes vary. Here are some examples of what you might need to consider in this area:

1. Payroll Process: If your payroll system fails, you might need access to the previous payroll to issue payments. A useful preparation would be storing a copy of the last payroll in a safe and easily accessible location.
2. Manual Forms: For processes like tracking hours or recording orders, a workaround might involve using paper forms. To prepare, have these forms created and stored ahead of time.
3. Use of Runners: In some environments, such as hospitals, workarounds may involve designating runners to physically deliver messages or materials. Preparing for this would involve identifying individuals who could take on this role.
4. Data Snapshots: Many workarounds rely on data from before the disruption. A potential preparation is regularly creating and storing snapshots of critical data to ensure they are available if systems go down.
5. Communication Alternatives: If traditional communication methods like email are unavailable, you might need to use alternatives such as text messaging or meeting apps. Preparation for this could involve securing sufficient licenses and ensuring the team is trained on how to use these alternative tools.

Facilities

Depending on the nature of your physical locations—whether it’s an office, factory, or other facility—there are various preparations you may need to make to recover or work around the loss of access to these spaces. Here are a few examples of potential challenges and the preparations you might need to address them:

1. Heavy Equipment: If a disruption prevents access to essential equipment, such as industrial printers or machinery, what workarounds would be possible? You may need to identify alternative equipment or locations that could fulfill these functions.
2. IT Support: If your IT team is unable to reach a facility, how would they manage equipment on-site or support employees working there? Preparations might involve setting up remote management tools or identifying local staff who can perform basic troubleshooting.
3. Remote Work Challenges: In cases where employees rely on remote work but are affected by events like hurricanes or floods that impact their homes, how would you ensure continuity? Preparations could include providing access to alternate locations or ensuring employees have backup connectivity options.

Vendors

To ensure you can access the supplies and services necessary to restore critical operations, certain preparations may be required. One key step is identifying potential alternate vendors who can step in if your primary supplier is unable to deliver. In some cases, it may also be beneficial to establish advance agreements with these alternate vendors, allowing for prearranged terms that ensure quicker access to needed resources during a disruption.

Building on Your BC Foundation

If you started with no BC program and have now developed a crib sheet and begun implementing these basic preparations—congratulations. You’ve taken an important step toward building a solid continuity program. By continuing to build on this foundation, you’ll significantly enhance your company’s resilience and better protect your stakeholders.

Finally, while this post is primarily aimed at companies without a BC program, these steps are just as valuable for those that already have one. In fact, many organizations with existing programs often fall short in these critical areas of preparation. Strengthening these aspects can greatly improve your overall continuity position.

Enhancing Resilience Through Tactical Preparations

Identifying your critical processes and applications is a crucial first step toward improving your company’s resilience. However, your ability to restore those processes or implement workarounds for them might be hindered if the necessary resources are unavailable. 

To further enhance your resilience, it’s essential to identify and implement the tactical preparations needed to enable your company to restore its critical processes and apps. Whether you already have a formal continuity program or are just getting started with BC, ensuring these advance pieces are in place can significantly improve your organization’s resilience.

Further Reading

• The Retro Revolution:  Why Manual Workarounds  Are a BC Must
• Introducing the Continuity Crib Sheet: What to Do if You Have No BC Plan
• In an Ancient Land, Glimpsing the Future of Business Continuity
• Do the Right Thing: Start a BCM Program
• Get Out the Map: Why Your BCM Program Needs a Roadmap