Practical Business Continuity Management 2: 101 More Tips for Effective, Real-World Business Continuity Management by Osborne Andy

Author:Osborne, Andy [Osborne, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flying Squad Books
Published: 2021-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

It may be that you have a compelling reason for using software, and that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. So by all means look into whether or not it’s right for you. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that software will do all the work for you – it won’t. And don’t be fooled into thinking that a software package is a substitute for knowledge or experience. Think about it – in the same way that buying a copy of Word won’t make you into an instant novelist, buying a business continuity planning software package won’t guarantee a business continuity plan that’s any good.

The soft option – part 2

Having majored on the disadvantages of business continuity software tools in the previous tip, this one aims to redress the balance a little. Because one distinct advantage that some software tools have over the more ‘traditional’ word processor-based plan is that they provide mobile app capability, allowing the plans to be viewed and easily navigated on a mobile phone or tablet.

It’s true that it’s eminently possible to save a Word-based plan (other word processors are available!) as a PDF file that can be stored on or accessed via a mobile device. However, it can be difficult, if not nigh-on impossible, to read and navigate through what’s typically a fairly lengthy and complex document if it hasn’t been carefully formatted to be read on a screen not much larger than your hand. And if it has, it probably doesn’t lend itself to being read on larger screens.

Mobile app-based plans are more likely to be structured so as to be easy to view and simple to navigate, via menus and links, rather than the endless scrolling that’s more typical when trying to read a ‘traditional’ plan on a mobile phone.

The downside is that this comes at a cost. But as the saying goes ‘you pays your money and you takes your choice’.

A premium quality business continuity plan?

A question that’s sometimes asked of the business continuity manager is ‘Will our business continuity plan get us a discount on our insurance premiums?’.

Sadly, the answer is almost always ‘no’. It might help you get cover in the first place, as some insurers may refuse to provide certain types of insurance without evidence of a robust risk management and/or business continuity capability, but it’s quite rare (though not completely unheard of) to get a significant discount just because you have a business continuity plan.

However, your business continuity plan or, more to the point, your business continuity capability , might work to your advantage in other ways. Because it should help you to understand what levels of cover you need, particularly on your business interruption insurance.

A robust business continuity capability could reduce your potential losses and enable you to get back to normal quicker, in which case you might save money by choosing a lower level of cover in the form of a shorter indemnity period and/or a reduced level of insured losses.

There’s a big fat caveat, however, that you ignore at your peril.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.