Business Continuity Plan Testing is technically noted as the 5th stage (nestled between plan development and plan maintenance) of the Business Continuity Planning Process. Its objective is to serve as the litmus test to determine the plan’s “adequacy, reliability and effectiveness”.[1] In so doing, it ensures that the analytical efforts engaged in the planning process forms a sound premise for the plan construct and, moreover, is consistent with the organization’s assessment of its needs to sustain itself through possible business interruptions.
A tall order indeed and perhaps the Decisive Point on the path to achieving organizational resiliency.
At the core of the “adequacy, reliability and effectiveness” testing triangle (equal lateral: all sides in equal “tension”) is the actual event that serves as the driver for the testing process. For purposes of the discussion, it matters not the type or nature of the event. What is of primary importance is that the testing event involves the business continuity team that will be implementing the plan at the moment of calling. Herein lies the “Center of Gravity” for organizational resiliency in responding to threats to business continuity.
The actual link between the testing event and the business continuity may be identified as Organizational Level of Knowledge on the actual business continuity plan (BCP). I would even go as far as saying that this knowledge, in order to embody the concept of resiliency, must encompass the plan in total and NOT the stove piped columns of knowledge that individual business continuity plan response teams generally are empowered with in order to execute their individual finite pieces (of the plan).
The link of Organizational Level of Knowledge is supported by several knowledge sub-components that support and foster resiliency.
The first, and most critical, is the premise that Knowledge, specifically of the business continuity plan in total AND the premise(s) on which it is founded, constructs an innate sense of resiliency within each response team member. It enables them not only understand/execute their respective part better, but, of greater significance, to seize initiatives when they appear and to make the right decisions and take the right actions as a dynamic situation dictates. This is de-facto empowerment.
Secondly, mastery of the Knowledge contained in the BCP mitigates the paralyzing affects of the “shock and awe” syndrome when initially confronted with a disaster or serious interruption to business continuity. Individuals will respond as the BCP dictates due to the fact that the knowledge imparted by effective training of the BCP overwhelms “uncertainty and mental gridlock,” both of which are known human phenomena to circumstances that stress normal thought processing patterns.
Third, and perhaps more subtle than the previous two points, is the fact that a thorough knowledge of the BCP by key participants will maximize training opportunities when scheduled. The maximization occurs not only in the organizational resiliency sense but also from a fiscal stand point as well. Training demands planning (time, staff resource allocation) and productive participation (time saved by addressing new material/issues and not constantly re-plowing old ground). All of this affects the bottom line and is a significant enough consideration that cannot be overlooked.
John Kunert CBRM, CBRA
Senior Planner
CIRCUMSPEX
[1]Sentryx , Advanced Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery Planning: Course Notes, 2008, Section 9, page2, 2008.
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