How BCP and DRP Work Together

Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery Planning are two sides of the same coin. Each springs into action when a disaster strikes. But they do have different goals:

check.png BCP: Business Continuity Planning deals with keeping business operations running — perhaps in another location or by using different tools and processes — after a disaster has struck.

check.png DRP: Disaster Recovery Planning deals with restoring normal business operations after the disaster takes place.

While the Business Continuity team is busy keeping business operations running via one of possibly several contingency plans, the Disaster Recovery team members are busy restoring the original facilities and equipment so that they can resume normal operations.

Here’s an analogy. Two boys kick a big anthill — a disaster for the ant colony. Some of the ants scramble to save the eggs and the food supply; that’s Ant City business continuity. Other ants work on rebuilding the anthill; that’s Ant City disaster recovery. Both teams work to ensure the anthill’s survival, but each team has its own role to play.

BCP and DRP projects have these common elements:

check.png Identification of critical business functions: The Business Impact Assessment and Vulnerability Assessment (discussed in the section “Conducting the Business Impact Assessment,” later in this chapter) identify these functions.

check.png Identification of possible disaster scenarios: The planning team identifies all the likely man-made and natural disaster scenarios, ranked by probability and impact to the organization.

check.png Experts: People who understand the organization’s critical business processes.

The similarities end with this list. The BCP project concentrates on continuing business operations, whereas the DRP project focuses on recovering the original business functions. Although both plans deal with the long-term survival of the business, they involve different activities. When a significant disaster occurs, both activities kick into gear at the same time, keeping vital business functions running (BCP) and getting things back to normal as soon as possible (DRP).

Planning for pandemics

In the last hundred years (and indeed, in all of recorded history before the 20th century), several pandemics have swept through the world. A pandemic is a rapid spread of a new disease for which few people have natural immunity. Large numbers of people may fall ill, resulting in high rates of absenteeism; supplier slowdowns; and shortages in materials, goods, and services. Some pandemics have a high mortality rate — many people die.

Contingency planning for a pandemic requires a different approach from that for other types of disasters. When a disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane, or volcano occurs, help in many forms soon comes pouring into the region to help repair transportation, communications, and other vital services. Organizations can rely on outsourced help or operations in other regions to keep critical operations running. But in a pandemic, no outside help may be available, and much larger regions may be affected. In general, a pandemic can induce a global slowdown in manpower, supplies, and services, as well as a depressed demand for most goods and services. Whole national economies can grind to a near-halt.

Businesses affected by a pandemic should expect high rates of absenteeism for extended periods of time. Local or regional municipalities may impose quarantines and travel restrictions, which slows the movement of customers and supplies. Schools may be closed for extended periods of time, which could require working parents to stay at home. Businesses should plan on operating only the most critical business processes, and they may have to rely on cross-trained staff because some of the usual staff members may be ill, or unwilling or unable to travel to work.

COOPeration is the key

Like many disciplines based in technology, BCP and DRP are also changing rapidly. One new approach is COOP, or Continuity of Operations, which is a blending of BCP and DRP into a single mission: keeping the organization running after a disaster.

If you are interested in learning more, an excellent reference for added information on COOP is the FEMA (U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency) guide IS-547, Introduction to COOP, which is available at www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS547lst.asp .

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