Testing Exercising Your Business Continuity Plan

This book will help you to design, develop and conduct tests to ensure that this plan meets all critical business continuity objectives. You will learn how to design, develop, implement and evaluate for main types of tests - Telephone Notification, Walk through, Integrated and Simulation tests. These tests, especially the advanced testing methods of integrated and simulation tests, would empower the organization with capability to recover quickly from any interruption or disaster. Comprehensive instructions, guidance and examples are included.

Rather than providing readers with only one perspective on testing contingency plans, Mr. Rothstein has taken the powerful approach of carefully assembling a panel of thirty professionals to contribute their unique expertise in 36 detailed chapters, 360 pages, covering such subject areas as:- test planning and management, including management's role, budgeting, justification and politics- test participants and resources, including professional development, human factors, the test team, self-assessment, the roles of vendors, consultants, auditors, clients, software- testing methods, including walkthroughs, simulations, joint testing, surprise testing, real disasters as the ultimate test- what is being tested, including business units, locations, data centers, voice / data communications, trading floors, local area networks- many other practical considerations, such as test monitoring, first-time testing, feedback, reporting and follow-up;even a sample test plan is included.

Rather than providing readers with only one perspective on testing contingency plans, Mr. Rothstein has taken the powerful approach of carefully assembling a panel of thirty professionals to contribute their unique expertise in 36 detailed chapters, 350+ pages,covering such subject areas as:- test planning and management, including management's role, budgeting, justification and politics- test participants and resources, including professional development, human factors, the test team, self-assessment, the roles of vendors, consultants, auditors, clients, software- testing methods, including walkthroughs, simulations, joint testing, surprise testing, real disasters as the ultimate test- what is being tested, including business units, locations, data centers, voice / data communications, trading floors, local area networks- any other practical considerations, such as test monitoring, first-time testing, feedback, reporting and follow-up;even a sample test plan is included.

Management, Quality management, Organizations, Commerce, Business continuity, Management operations, Enterprises, Risk assessment

An Unexercised Continuity Plan Could Be More Dangerous Than No Plan At All! Is exercising your continuity program too time-consuming, costly, or difficult to justify in the face of conflicting organizational priorities or senior management buy-in? What if you could use quick, cost-effective, easy exercises to get valuable results with only a relatively modest commitment? Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or just getting started, Charlie Maclean-Bristol provides you with expert guidance, a practical framework, and lots of proven examples, tools, tips, techniques and scenarios to get your business continuity exercise program moving! You can carry out any of the 18 simple yet effective exercises detailed in this book in less than an hour, regardless of your level of experience. Plus, you will find all the support you will need to produce successful exercises. Build your teams’ knowledge, experience, confidence and abilities while validating your business continuity program, plans and procedures with these proven resources! Business Continuity Exercises: Quick Exercises to Validate Your Plan Will Help You To: Understand the process of planning and conducting business exercises efficiently while achieving maximum results. Develop the most appropriate strategy framework for conducting and assessing your exercise. Overcome obstacles to your business continuity exercise program, whether due to budget restrictions, time constraints, or conflicting priorities. Choose the most appropriate and effective exercise scenario, purpose and objectives. Plan and conduct your exercise using a straightforward, proven methodology with extensive tools and resources. Conduct exercises suitable for responding to all types of business interruptions and emergencies, including cyber incidents and civil disasters. Conduct exercises for newcomers to business continuity as well as for experienced practitioners. Create a comprehensive post-exercise report to achieve valuable insights, keep management and participants in the loop, and to further your objectives.

At this critical point in your Business Continuity Management studies and research, you need one definitive, comprehensive professional textbook that will take you to the next step. In his 4th edition of Business Continuity Management: Global Best Practices, Andrew Hiles gives you a wealth of real-world analysis and advice – based on international standards and grounded in best practices -- a textbook for today, a reference for your entire career. With so much to learn in this changing profession, you don't want to risk missing out on something you’ll need later. Does one of these describe you? Preparing for a Business Continuity Management career, needing step-by-step guidelines, Working in BCM, looking to deepen knowledge and stay current -- and create, update, or test a Business Continuity Plan. Managing in BCM, finance, facilities, emergency preparedness or other field, seeking to know as much as much as possible to make the decisions to keep the company going in the face of a business interruption. Hiles has designed the book for readers on three distinct levels: Initiate, Foundation, and Practitioner. Each chapter ends with an Action Plan, pinpointing the primary message of the chapter and a Business Continuity Road Map, outlining the actions for the reader at that level. NEW in the 4th Edition: Supply chain risk -- extensive chapter with valuable advice on contracting. Standards -- timely information and analysis of global/country-specific standards, with detailed appendices on ISO 22301/22313 and NFPA 1600. New technologies and their impact – mobile computing, cloud computing, bring your own device, Internet of things, and more. Case studies – vivid examples of crises and disruptions and responses to them. Horizon scanning of new risks – and a hint of the future of BCM. Professional certification and training – explores issues so important to your career. Proven techniques to win consensus on BC strategy and planning. BCP testing – advice and suggestions on conducting a successful exercise or test of your plan To assist with learning -- chapter learning objectives, case studies, real-life examples, self-examination and discussion questions, forms, checklists, charts and graphs, glossary, and index. Downloadable resources and tools – hundreds of pages, including project plans, risk analysis forms, BIA spreadsheets, BC plan formats, and more. Instructional Materials -- valuable classroom tools, including Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and slides -- available for use by approved adopters in college courses and professional development training.

Powerful Earthquake Triggers Tsunami in Pacific. Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall in the Gulf Coast. Avalanche Buries Highway in Denver. Tornado Touches Down in Georgia. These headlines not only have caught the attention of people around the world, they have had a significant effect on IT professionals as well. As technology continues to become more integral to corporate operations at every level of the organization, the job of IT has expanded to become almost all-encompassing. These days, it’s difficult to find corners of a company that technology does not touch. As a result, the need to plan for potential disruptions to technology services has increased exponentially. That is what Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is: a methodology used to create a plan for how an organization will recover after a disaster of various types. It takes into account both security and corporate risk management tatics. There is a lot of movement around this initiative in the industry: the British Standards Institute is releasing a new standard for BCP this year. Trade shows are popping up covering the topic. * Complete coverage of the 3 categories of disaster: natural hazards, human-caused hazards, and accidental and technical hazards. * Only published source of information on the new BCI standards and government requirements. * Up dated information on recovery from cyber attacks, rioting, protests, product tampering, bombs, explosions, and terrorism.

This comprehensive how-to guide captures the distilled wisdom and experience of Jim Burtles, a founding fellow of the Business Continuity Institute; an internationally renowned figure in business continuity with over 30 years of experience and teaching across 22 countries; and a veteran of practical experience that includes recovery work with victims of events such as bombings, earthquakes, storms and fires, along with technical assistance/ support in more than 90 disasters, and advice/guidance for clients in over 200 emergency situations. As such, this book is a gold mine of practical information, based on solid theoretical underpinnings. It is an ideal combination of the practice of business continuity - standards, best practices, global perspectives - and, the process of business continuity - planning, development, implementation, and maintenance. Jim presents a clear picture of not only how to do what needs to be done, but why. By striking a balance between theory and practice, Jim's approach makes the reader's job much easier and more effective. Illustrated with numerous charts, forms and checklists, the book covers business continuity management from start to finish: understanding risks; assessing impact and developing a Business Impact Analysis; choosing contingency strategies; emergency response processes and procedures; salvage and restoration; disaster recovery; developing business continuity plans, including those for business continuity, emergency response, crisis management, function restoration, and disaster recovery; maintaining long term continuity; reviewing and auditing plans; exercising and testing plans; crisis management; dealing with various personnel issues before, during and after a crisis; and working with a variety of agencies and people, including local authorities, regulators, insurers, fire and rescue personnel, and neighbors. This comprehensive reference based on years of practical experience will ensure that the reader is in a position to engage in all of the activities associated with the development, delivery, exercise and maintenance of a business continuity program. There is a glossary of 90 business continuity terms. The accompanying downloadable BCP Tool Kit has 24 planning and analysis tools, including sample plans for evacuation, emergency response, and crisis management; scripts and plot development tools for creating exercises to test and audit plans; analysis tools for fire exposure, service impact, resource requirements, etc. It also includes checklists, case studies, and Web references. In addition to those highlighted above, this book includes additional important features: Ideal for senior undergraduate, MBA, certificate, and corporate training programs. Chapter overviews and conclusions; charts, graphs and checklists throughout Glossy of 90 business continuity terms. Downloadable Business Continuity Tool Kit, including templates of a sample business continuity plan, evacuation plan, emergency response plan, crisis management plan; case studies and exercises; student assignments; Websites; reader self-assessment. Instructor Materials, including PowerPoint slides, Syllabus and Instructor's Manual for 8-week course, with emphasis on student role playing. Author is a business continuity management pioneer and legend