I’ve had the privilege of consulting with organizations on IT and cyber-related risks for the last 26 years. These companies have ranged in size from less than 10 to over 150,000 employees. When it comes to business continuity planning (BCP), enterprise organizations typically have an edge over their smaller counterparts.
In my experience, small to medium-sized companies that don’t have a fully implemented and tested BCP typically fail to do so for one of the following reasons:
1. Task Intimidation – The complexity of developing and implementing a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and BCP is intimidating. Intimidating both from the perspective of the size and complexity of the tasks and a general lack of (concise) guidance on the specific steps required to implement them. A 2021 Disaster Recovery Institute International survey found that 62% of SMEs felt that the perceived complexity of BCP was a significant barrier to implementation.
This perception can be compounded by the fact that when these companies look for outside help to create a BIA and BCP, the top hits in their search are enterprise consulting companies like Deloitte or PwC.
2. Budget and Personnel Constraints – if you are looking for an article that will tell you that you can implement a meaningful BIA and BCP with a summer intern and a magic software package, this isn’t it. Implementing a business-relevant program takes a lot of time and effort. According to the 2022 Global State of Business Continuity Survey by Continuity Central, 52% of small businesses cited budget constraints as the primary reason for not having a BCP.
Personnel constraints are a related but even more significant challenge. Few but the largest companies can afford to have dedicated business continuity experts on staff. This often leaves IT managers with the choice of adding one more (large) task to an already oversubscribed pool of resources.
3. Tyranny of the Urgent – Very often, day-to-day operational demands for ‘real’ priorities supersede more strategic and long-term objectives. In a 2022 survey by the Business Continuity Institute, 58% of businesses admitted that urgent operational issues often delayed strategic initiatives like BCP.
4. Perceived Irrelevance for Business Size – Many smaller businesses believe BCP isn’t necessary for their size organization. The twin engines of experience (it hasn’t been needed so far, e.g., the gambler’s fallacy) and hubris (we’re small but scrappy and can fix whatever breaks without formal planning) typically fuel this misconception. Yet, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports that 40% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster and another 25% fail within a year.
Sure, there are other factors that may contribute to a business not having a continuity plan (like lack of awareness) but these are the ones I’ve found to be most prevalent.
So – we mentioned that we could help with three of these factors. Here’s how:
1. Task Intimidation – Vizius has created a framework that we are giving away that contains a process flowchart, asset discovery processes, asset risk spreadsheets, BIA workshop templates, a BC/DR policy template, and a complete BC Plan template. You are welcome to download them here. No strings attached, no trackers, no newsletter signup required.
We hope you will leverage these tools to move your BIA and BCP forward into the ‘done’ column of your ‘to-do’ list.
2. Budget and Personnel Constraints—The toolkit (above) is free and only requires elbow grease to implement. It won’t help with your resource constraints, but if you get stuck and need help, we will answer questions sent to us via Teams, e-mail, or phone calls.
If you need more help than an email or chat can provide, we offer professional services engagements that can help you over the hump so that this can be a process your company ‘owns’ from the ground up.
3. Tyranny of the Urgent – If a BIA and BCP is something that your company requires, but you do not have enough resources to implement one, Vizius offers a short, high-impact engagement that could deliver a fully functional plan in roughly 45 days. Mileage varies based on the size and complexity, but the engagement consists of a dedicated team, operating on a fixed fee, that will turn out a viable process your company will own from that point forward.
4. Perceived Irrelevance for Business Size – If you aren’t convinced you need BCP, there really isn’t anything we can do to change your mind. People believe what they want to. However, we can point you to a great disaster recovery partner of ours if things don’t go as planned.
Is business continuity planning still lingering on your to-do list? Let Vizius help you take action today. Download our free, no-strings-attached BC/DR toolkit to simplify the process, or connect with our team for expert support. Whether you need answers to a quick question or a fully implemented plan, we’re here to help you secure your business’s future. Get started now!
