Two data files are installed with the BC Expert

The first data file contains the User's data that is set up and maintained by the User. The User data already includes suggested data in some modules and in various other look up tables.

The second data file contains detailed Example data delivered with the software installation or software upgrade. The example data area is used to demonstrate to the User the type of information that should be contained in each module. The User is permitted to enter as much temporary data in the example data area as the User wishes.

Throughout the Online Help File and User Manual screenshots have been included using the Example data area. This has been done to add clarity as viewing screenshots with data included provides a more realistic and useful experience for the reader.

Example data from distribution industry

The sample business continuity plan has been based on a client in the distribution industry. This industry has been chosen as the operational structure is relatively straight forward, is fairly easily understood, and has common aspects with many other organizations. The client’s information has been changed to protect confidentiality.

BC Expert available in three scalable versions:

Silver:        Risk, BIA, business continuity (BCP) plans (more)

Gold:          Full functionality for best BCP practise (more)

Platinum: Multi-enterprise BCP version (more)

Please bear in mind that whenever the software is updated with a later software release, or upgraded to a higher version, any data that has been entered into the example data area by the User will be lost and will be overwritten. You will not lose data entered into the User data area during updates or upgrades. Please ensure you are in the User data area before entering your own data. A warning message flashes at the foot of the screen when you are in the example data area.

Business continuity plan impact assessment

When assessing the business for the purposes of improving your BCMS you have access to a sample business continuity plan to assist to identify and assess the likely business impact on the organization from potential disruptive events. This business process is known as impact analysis and this risk based procedure is often considered to be a rather daunting procedure as it often involves making a subjective assessment on disruptive events where the severity can range from minimal to catastrophic. The lack of clarity in this business process can cause confusion and uncertainty and can make the process of defining likely outcomes difficult. This process can be subject to many disagreements about how a meaningful plan result can be achieved. Software is available that removes much of the plan complexity and establishes a simple practical framework that is easy to work with and implement. The BC Expert plan software does provides a simple business plan methodology for achieving this and it really does work.

We offer management and training workshops that help you to quickly get up to speed with the information needed to support the business resilience analysis. These workshops are practical and extremely hands-on thereby ensuring early buy-in to the risk management processes and the development of an effective continuity plan. These business plan workshops are based around the Business Continuity Experts intuitive plan functionality to quickly develop knowledge and confidence in the straightforward processes in the system.

With the BC Expert software there is no need to break the expense budget to obtain a level of functionality that automates many of the critical functions whilst at the same time giving the User full control over the key plan components of the risk processes that allows the User to feel confident and fully in control of the plan process. It is not a "one size fits all" approach as each system is quickly and easily customized to meet the needs of each organization. BC Expert licenses are available on a monthly subscription basis with no requirement to sign a long term contract. BC Expert licenses are available from only US$ 29.00 per month with significant discounts for multiple licenses.

Utilizing our business continuity plan software to develop the recovery process

The first stage in the business continuity plan development process is to identify the organization’s main plan goals and objectives. This will cover all important products and services created and delivered to the customers plus all critical plan compliance items. These critical objectives will be defined during the organization plan components mapping process which should also support dependency analysis and enable the user to cascade established impact values to all related plan operations and operational plan components. Once the products, services and compliance items have been identified, the next plan step is to identify a range of relevant impact categories that relate to the organization. Impact categories would normally include items such as financial loss; loss of profit; environmental loss; or regulatory non-compliance etc. The User will also establishe up to five measurement periods for assessing impact from the moment that the disruptive incident occurs. The business continuity plan software includes a default setting for setting these periods but they can be easily changed to match the User’s specific needs. The User then assesses the likely impact on the organization from the interruption to the critical objectives within each defined period and this creates a recovery objective for the selected item. These business plan values are then automatically cascaded through the mapped components with adjustments for the level of dependency as set by the User. This process results in clear and verifiable criticality values, clear and verifiable business recovery time objectives, and clear and verifiable maximum periods of tolerable disruption. These is also a full audit statement reflecting the components that are part of the calculations.

The first stage in the BCP business continuity plan development cycle is setting up the project scope, policies and responsibilities.. Business Continuity Expert assists with the establishment of Business Continuity Plan scope and policies and also provides guidance on responsibility and management commitment. The second stage is risk identification and this is achieved through examining all the hazards and threats that the organization may be facing and determining which ones may represent a serious threat. Business Continuity Expert includes a wide range of suggested hazards and threats and the the User may add additional threats if needed.

The next stage is to analyse the products and services and the operational components used is the production, preparation or delivery of those products and services.  Business continuity impact categories can be chosen from the list included in the BC Expert BCP system and additional categories may be added if desired. Impact measurement time periods are then chosen for the business impact assessment process. Business Continuity Expert allows the linking of operational plan components together and the cascading of BIA values throughout the full operational plan process. Incident and continuity plans are then developed and tested and competent people allocated to each critical task. A communication plan is prepared and emergency contact details for all critical personnel kept up to date.

Your preparations to guard against disruptive incidents could be crucial in minimizing the costs of disruption and could even enable the organization to survive in the event of a really serious event.