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BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN COORDINATOR DETAILS

Plan Coordinator
Job Title Managing Director, James Miller
Location 2nd floor, Titan Court Hatfield, London

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN

The purpose of this plan is to enable the sustained execution of mission critical activities for HIRETT LIMITED following a severe unexpected event that prevents service delivery under normal operating conditions.

Disaster

 Critical Resources Impacted Mitigation Time to Reinstate

Risk
Power Loss Electricity, internet, telephones
  • Contact electricity company.
  • If delay > 4 hours, use mobile internet.
  • If delay >24 hours, turn on the generator.
 Depends on supplier, usually a few hours MEDIUM
Internet fails Internet Back up mobile broadband service maintained. Can be switched instantly through portable Wi-Fi Depends on supplier used, typically a few hours MEDIUM
Server Failure Data Servers
  •  Backed up offsite
  • Copy held onsite as well
  • records are available up to previous day
  • Two servers run in parallel – can revert to other in event of catastrophic hardware failure within 6 hours. As such, all payment services (except same- day “express” orders) would be completed in
 Typically less than 6 hours MEDIUM
the stated timescale. Back office function is webbased and thus can operate from anywhere in the world once data servers running.
Telephone lines down Telephones, internet
  • Contact telecom company.
  • If delay is longer than 4 hours, redirect phone lines via VOIP supplier.
 Depends on supplier (normally less than 1 day) MEDIUM
Fire Electricity, internet, office space, onsite PCs
  • Relocate to temporary office.
  • Staff to work from home for the first 2-4 days until new premises prepared.
  • Calls rerouted as per routine when telephone lines down.
  • Reroute phone numbers with the phone company.
  • Fire safety standards to be maintained and staff made aware.
 24 hours MEDIUM
Flooding Business premises
  • Relocate to a temporary office.
  • Business insurance.
 24 hours LOW
Burglary PCs,

telephones
  • Building is highly secured and there is video surveillance, all mail is x-rayed and visits accepted by appointments.
  • Telephone loss can be followed as per continuity plan for “telephone lines down”.
 6 hours LOW

EMERGENCY RESPONSE CHECKLIST

The managing director Mr. James Miller is the Business Continuity Plan (the Plan) Coordinator responsible for putting the Plan into effect, ensuring, that all staff understands it and feel confident with their roles and responsibilities. Not all of the following will be relevant in every situation: these points must be checked before any action is taken.

• Check all staff is available and made aware of problem.
• Check electricity is working – if not, contact supplier and take action as per mitigation above.
• Check phone lines working – if not, contact Telecom Company and take action as per mitigation above.
• Check internet working – if not, contact supplier and take action as per mitigation above.
• Check data servers accessible – take action as per mitigation above.
• Staff to be instructed to work from home where necessary (all have been made aware and are able to do so if required).
• Ensure internet (or temporary measure) reinstated within 4 hours – using alternative locations.
• Contact letting agents regarding temporary office rental.

TESTING

Testing the Plan confirms whether the Plan is actionable and appropriate. It also ensures staff are trained in their responsibilities and understand what will happen in a disruptive event.

Types of tests HIRETT LIMITED is using:

• Walkthrough self-assessment

Discussion stepping participants through each part of the Plan during development, review or an update:

–  Allows a step-by-step review and discussion of the content and layout of the Plan
– Ensures key staff awareness and understanding of the Plan
– Provides an early opportunity to identify and correct oversights or discrepancies
– Is easy to conduct and is not time consuming
– Doesn’t assess the effectiveness of response and recovery activities.

• Supervised walkthrough

Facilitated discussion using a scenario to test the Plan. Requires direct supervision by the Business Continuity Plan Coordinator:

–  Uses a mock scenario to allow staff to discuss actions, responsibilities and decisions that they would take when activating the Plan
– Checks the contents of the Plan are complete, accurate and effective and identifies gaps, bottlenecks or weaknesses and where improvements can be made
– Checks resources and timeframes are appropriate for continuity responses
– Checks interdependencies with other Plans
– Easy to prepare and perform
– May lack realism

Business Continuity Plan Test Report documents the outcomes of the test, lessons learned and recommendations for improvements. The Board of Directors reviews the reports to assist with business continuity management.

TEST REPORT

MAINTAINING

The Plan Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the Plan. Maintaining the Plan ensures that it remains current and ready to address any disruptive event. This is achieved by reviewing and updating the Plan:

1) at least annually
2) immediately after testing
3) when significant changes have occurred, such as:

– addition of a new process or modification or removal of an existing process
– introduction of new legislation, program or policy
– changes to key personnel in the Plan
– audit recommendations
– organisational restructures
– lessons learned from a ‘real life’ business interruption.