Continuity Planning is a process that documents strategies and conditions under which the critical functions, services, and operations of the campus can occur, with as little disruption as possible, even when an emergency incident impacts the campus community.
The goal of a Continuity Plan is to create a plan of action that, in the event of disruption or emergency, specifies the key resources and staff, as well as a process and procedures for re-establishing services and functions.
Planning Guidance:
- As you begin your Business Continuity plan, try not to think about specific scenarios. Remember, power outages, snow days, or a gas leak can be just as disruptive as a major emergency. Business Continuity planning process involves:
- Document all the aspects of your normal operations; Identify critical functions
- Assess the sensitivity of each function. Consider, are there single points of failure?
- Develop coping strategies to deal with the "What If?" questions.
- As you develop your plan it may be more useful to consider non-hazard specific types of impacts. For example:
- In an emergency, all or part of offices, records, and equipment may be inaccessible.
- Data network, communications, and utility services may be disrupted in the one facility or campus-wide.
- Critical hardcopy and digital records may be damaged or destroyed.
- An emergency event may directly impact staff members, limiting their ability come to work.