What is a business impact assessment?
A business impact assessment is conducted in the initial stages of the business continuity process. To conduct this assessment, a short amount of time is spent meeting with and collating information from different business departments to ensure that all essential processes are captured. The assessment is then used to construct a unique, detailed, business continuity plan, specific to the organisation. The purpose of a BIA is to determine the criticality of business activities and associated resource requirements to ensure operational resilience and continuity of operations during and after a business disruption. The assessment identifies critical business functions and determines the maximum amount of time these functions can be disrupted before the impact exceeds a tolerance to risk.
Why is it important?
A BIA is an essential tool in the process of healthy risk management for business and should take place in all companies to predict and identify potential loss scenarios for the business. The main objective of a BIA is to minimise risk. All businesses can be disrupted by accidents and emergencies. These can include a failure of suppliers, labor disputes, utility failures, cyber-attacks and even natural or man-made disasters. The information provided in a BIA can form predictions regarding potential consequences of disruption to business functions and processes and help develop effective recovery strategies. It helps to prioritise which operations will need immediate recovery and which can wait. It can also provide a set of criteria to test recovery plans.
Key questions in a Business Impact Assessment:
As the risks to your business change, so will the potential impacts. Questions to consider when conducting a BIA include:
- What are the potential losses if business activities were to cease?
- How long could each business activity be unavailable for before my business would suffer?
- Do these activities depend on any outside services or products?
- What other resources are required to continue business activities?
Implications of not performing a business impact assessment:
Not performing a BIA can negatively impact your organisation and leave problems in your continuity program. Some of the common implications of not conducting a BIA include:
- Confusion regarding recovery priorities
- Subjective recovery objectives
- Capability gaps
- Inaccurate program scope
- Lack of justification for investments
Contact Resilient Services for your business impact assessment
A BIA is conducted within the process of developing a business continuity plan and will help your organisation be as prepared as possible for an accident, emergency or crisis. A BIA will also help to minimise risk within your business and reduce disruptions following an incident. Contact us today to begin assessing your organisation’s capability to withstand potential business impacts.
Industries that are offered a business continuity plan
We create business continuity plans for a variety of industries and hold specialised knowledge that allows us to tailor a plan to meet all your business’ specific requirements. We can construct a specialised plan to meet your needs whether your business is within:
Aviation
Agribusiness
Electricity Transmission and Distribution
Electricity Generation, including Renewables
Gas Transmission and Distribution
Government
Industrial and manufacturing
Maritime (ports)
Mining
Oil and gas
Water
Office and Corporate
Get a Custom Business Continuity Plan for Your Company?
Enquire with us at Resilient Services to book an assessment for your business continuity plan. We will come to you (dependent on current restrictions) to assess your needs and workplace and answer any questions you may have, or we can deliver our full suite of services digitally. Give us a call on 0439 005 271 or fill out an enquiry form to find out more.
