ICTRecht - Header - STAAND - Algemeen (13)

    BIA, BCP and tabletop exercises for business continuity

    Practical continuity management through analysis, preparation and practice.

     

    Get in touch

    Practical Business Continuity Management

    Continuity disruptions can have major consequences for your organisation. Think of cyber incidents, system outages, supplier issues, staff unavailability, or other events that cause critical processes to be temporarily unavailable.

    Business continuity management helps organisations limit the impact of such disruptions and safeguard the continuity of their services. Increasingly, organisations are expected to demonstrate clear insight into their continuity risks, dependencies, and resilience. Various laws and regulations, standards frameworks, and contractual obligations impose requirements in this area.

    A Business Impact Analysis (BIA), Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and tabletop exercises are key instruments for addressing these requirements. On this page, you can read what these instruments entail and how they support your organisation in business continuity management.

    The Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

    A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is an analysis used to determine the potential impact of disruptions on business processes. It examines the processes that are essential to the organisation and the underlying business assets, such as systems, applications, information, suppliers and people.

    A BIA helps, among other things, to determine:

    • critical business processes;
    • dependencies on systems, suppliers and employees;
    • maximum tolerable downtime;
    • desired recovery times;
    • maximum acceptable data loss;
    • recovery priorities in the event of disruptions.

    In this context, terms such as MTO (Maximum Tolerable Outage), RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) are frequently used. These values are used to determine how long a process may be disrupted, how quickly recovery is required and how much data loss is acceptable.

    When do you perform a BIA?

    A BIA is relevant when you want to gain insight into the continuity and availability needs of your organisation. This may be the case, for example, when:

    • drafting or updating a business continuity plan;
    • changes occur in critical processes, systems or suppliers;
    • new products or services are introduced;
    • conducting periodic risk analyses or audits;
    • preparing for certification or compliance frameworks, such as ISO 27001;
    • new or tightened legal (consider, for example, the CRA, NIS2/Cbw and DORA) or contractual obligations apply;
    • evaluating after an incident or continuity disruption.

    By performing a BIA periodically, the continuity plan continues to reflect the actual situation of the organisation.

    What components does a BIA consist of?

    A BIA typically consists of the following components:

    • alignment of scope, approach and methodology;
    • inventory of critical processes and supporting business assets;
    • analysis of dependencies, such as IT systems, suppliers, locations and employees;
    • assessment of the impact of disruption, for example financial, legal, operational or reputational;
    • definition of continuity requirements, such as MTO, RTO and RPO;
    • prioritisation of the recovery sequence.

    The outcomes of the BIA form the basis for an appropriate business continuity plan.

    Lees meerLees minder

    Het Business Continuity Plan (BCP) en tabletop oefening

    A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) describes how an organisation responds to disruptions that impact the continuity of its services. The plan includes, among other things, agreements on roles, responsibilities, communication, escalation and recovery.

    A BCP can incorporate various incident response plans or scenarios. Examples include scenarios for cyber incidents, failure of critical IT systems, supplier disruptions, prolonged unavailability of a location, or other events that affect continuity.

    A tabletop exercise is used to test the BCP in a simulated setting. Participants jointly work through one or more realistic scenarios (incidents/continuity disruptions) and discuss which choices, actions and decisions are required. The outcome is a report containing findings, areas for improvement and recommendations. This input can be used to further enhance the BCP or any supplementary response plans.

    Lees meerLees minder

    We can support you

    ICTRecht supports organisations with:

    • conducting a Business Impact Analysis (BIA);
    • developing or improving a Business Continuity Plan (BCP);
    • designing incident response plans and scenarios;
    • preparing, facilitating and evaluating tabletop exercises.

    This results in a practical approach that helps your organisation be better prepared for continuity disruptions and demonstrably work on managing continuity risks.

    Explore the possibilities
    L1852956

    Need help with a BIA, BCP or tabletop?

    Leave a message via the form and one of our security specialists will contact you.

    When you submit a request, we always start with a no-obligation introductory meeting: by phone, at our office, or at your location.

    Laat je gegevens achter