Business continuity is an ongoing process, not a one-time project. A complete and tested plan means you don’t have to gear up the organization to think about a new problem every time a new business process or technology is implemented. To achieve successful readiness, each year a company’s designated planner should evaluate risks and conduct a business impact analysis. During a risk assessment, potential threats to your business are revealed. Look at threats from natural and environmental events (like weather and earthquakes), from facilities breakdowns, from security breaches, and from technology failures. The business impact analysis evaluates the impact of the risks and threats that were identified. Look at each business function to understand critical functions, and determine what’s lost for the company if a function can’t operate. Next, the business continuity planner develops strategies and procedures for recovery that are workable and affordable, including how to back up vital records. The planner leads a company-wide practice run to see how well the procedures work. Often, companies tell our Avaya consultants that they indeed have disaster recovery plans, but frequently the plans are several years out of date and some were never tested to see if they would work. Often, organizations don’t maintain a comprehensive backup policy for their vital records, which is now required in Sarbanes-Oxley. Records that prove the financial position of an organization must be protected. Accountants and lawyers can help define what constitutes vital records. These could include paper records and work-in-progress records that are on peoples’ desks but not stored on system disks. It is difficult and expensive to make backups of such records, but they shouldn’t be ignored. All of this must be done at least once a year. If you do this, your plan will work. | 
