Business continuity is often one of those things that people don’t think about, or possibly one of those things that people don’t like to think about. The issue of business continuity exists because you just never know what might happen. Much like an insurance policy, your business continuity policies and procedures exist for when something bad happens. What could that be? It could be a water-leak two floors above yours that eventually floods your area on a weekend. It could be an HVAC chiller pump, and a backup pump, that goes out of service at the same time, eliminating the cool air from entering your server farm. It could be a tornado, an earthquake, a power spike, a loss of power. You never notice it until it’s gone.” Business continuity is kind of like that in a different way – you never think you’ll need it, and you may not notice it’s there, but if you ever need it business continuity will save your bacon.

What does business continuity entail? Essentially, and briefly, it consists of identifying your essential functions and putting measures in place to have the ability to continue providing those functions in the face of a variety of events. When something bad happens, you retain the ability to function. That’s it. Sounds simple, but it can be complicated, and it can be very, very expensive. To make it sound easier, think of business continuity in terms of risk management. Ask four simple questions:

1. What can hurt me?
2. How can it hurt me?
3. How critical am I?
4. What can I do to protect myself?

Stay turned there is more to come.