Planning for a disaster could provide a lifeline

Preparing your business for the worst could mean the difference between a sinking ship and throwing yourself a lifeline at a critical point.

Kevin Howells, Manager of BTG Intelligence, explains the best strategies to use.

"Many organisations have a disaster recovery plan in place but this is most often IT specific. Other, better prepared firms have business continuity plans which cover all of the organisations activities. But few actually test, exercise, maintain and audit their plans to see if they would work in practice.

"Finding out whether the plan will work is crucial should your organisation be affected by an incident. It may just be the key that allows it to continue operating.

"Making a few simple tests which can be escalated to a full rehersal if necessary, the company will be able to test both the plans and the people who will be implementing them.

"By staging a scenario exercise, the role play will show how the plan works in a real situation, leaving the management with detailed information about any gaps, omissions or errors to rectify. It is infinately better to find these in a practice run than when the organisation is crippled by a real life disaster"

Kevin Howells, Manager

BTG Intelligence