BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Business continuity is the ability of an organization to provide service and support for its customers to maintain its viability before, during and after a business interruption event. A business interruption is any event, whether anticipated or unanticipated, which disrupts the normal course of business operations at an organization's location. In the event of a business interruption, can your company recover and resume business operations on a timely basis?

Based upon a proven and successful strategy, The Tracy Group (TTG) can develop a resilient Business Continuity Management Program uniquely designed for your company so that it can stay in business! The development of a Business Continuity Plan is the process of designing and documenting arrangements to respond to an event that lasts for an unacceptable period of time and return to performing its critical functions after a business interruption.

TTG utilizes industry "best practices" such as NFPA Standard 1600, BS25999, FFIEC, and other sources of information to develop the following critical tools for the development of a resilient Business Continuity Management Program: BCP Policy, BCP Strategy Statement, Risk Assessment Analysis Hazard Vulnerability Analysis, Business Impact Analysis, Business Continuity Planning Software, Business Continuity Plans, Continuity of Operations Plans, Business Continuity Testing, On-demand Alerting: Notifications and Communications, Initial Action Checklists, After Action Reports, Special Situation Management Checklists.

Business Continuity Software

Through a strategic alliance with a Business Continuity Software Developer, TTG utilizes a web-based business continuity planning system to assist its clients in maintaining a resilient Business Continuity Management Program. The Business Continuity Software standardizes and streamlines the planning process of both simple and complex organizations and manages the data collection and maintenance update process. In addition, the Business Continuity Software assists in performing a Risk Assessment Analysis, which identifies the risks to an organization, assesses the critical functions necessary for an organization to continue business operations, defines the controls in place to reduce the organization's exposure and evaluates the cost for such controls, a Business Impact Analysis (a process designed to prioritize business functions by assessing the potential quantitative [financial] and qualitative [non-financial] impact that might result if an organization experiences a business interruption event), and a detailed and comprehensive Business Continuity Plan (BCP) detailing BCP teams and responsibilities, required contingency options, primary and alternate facilities, lines of succession, the delegation of authority, communications, plan maintenance, and more.

The Business Continuity Software is capable of creating a hard-copy Microsoft Word document that can be printed, as well as a "Living Plan" that can be updated or modified online at any time. In addition, the software is password protected, secured with 128-bit encryption and can be accessed at any time, 24/7, from any computer with an internet connection.

TTG is an authorized reseller of business continuity planning software relating to:

Governmental Agencies (Continuity of Operations)
Business Institutions
Small to Mid-Size Businesses and Organizations
The Healthcare Industry

Business Continuity Management Program Assessments/Audits

How good is your Business Continuity Management Program?

Based upon an extensive and diversified internal audit and business continuity background, TTG has the ability to perform assessments/audits of Business Continuity Management Programs. The Business Continuity Management Assessment/Audit process is designed to evaluate and improve the performance of a Business Continuity Program. The benefit of a Business Continuity Assessment/Audit is to assess the organization's ability to maintain continuity in the event of a business interruption.

The TTG approach to the Business Continuity Management Assessment/Audit process is based upon the BS25999 Standard and the NFPA 1600 Standard. NFPA 1600 is a Business Continuity, Emergency and Disaster Management Standard that combines the best practices of business continuity management, emergency management and information technology disaster management.

TTG uses the following phases in performing the assessment/audit of the Business Continuity Management Program to measure facts and evidence against accepted standard(s):

Analysis Phase (Risk Analysis, Business Impact Assessment)
Strategy Phase (Definition of Overall Business Continuity Strategy, Senior Management Decision-Making, Cost-Benefit Analysis)
Detailed Implementation Phase
Test Phase
Maintenance Phase

The scope of the typical assessment/audit consists of the following, which are in line with the Professional Practices document published by the Business Continuity Institute and the Disaster Recovery Institute International:

Project Initiation and Management
Risk Analysis and Evaluation
Business Impact Analysis
Development of Business Continuity Plan Strategies
Emergency Response and Operations
Development of Detailed Business Continuity Plans
Business Continuity Training and Awareness
Exercise and Maintenance
Public Relations and Communications
Coordination With Public Authorities

TTG has developed detailed Assessment/Audit Program Guides for each of the ten areas noted above, which are uniquely customized to fit the client's size and industry.

Upon completion of the assessment/audit, a formal written report is issued to top management, which contains the findings, analytical results and recommendations with justification as to the benefit(s) of implementing the recommendations. In addition to the issuance of the assessment/audit report, TTG goes beyond the typical assessment/audit process by assisting the client in the implementation of the recommendations and develops Implementation Status Reports detailing the current status of the report's recommendations, if accepted and implemented, and the planned implementation date of the outstanding recommendations to monitor the progress of the implementation process.

Business Continuity Testing and Exercising

How can you be certain that your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) deals effectively with a wide range of potential disruptions or disasters? How can top management be certain that all the elements of the enterprise will recover using the BCPs, or that they will stand up to a regulator?

A BCP is worthless to an organization unless it is tested. A comprehensive, multidimensional and ongoing BCP test/exercise program is the only way for C-Suite executives to achieve a high level of confidence that the organization will survive a business interruption.

TTG recommends that all Business Continuity Plans be tested at a minimum on an annual basis or more frequently, as deemed necessary by the organization's senior management. For purposes of business continuity testing, the term testing refers to the process of verifying that a recovery strategy or procedure works correctly. Such tests are intended to isolate errors and omissions in the business continuity plan itself, rather than in the execution of the actual plan.

The term exercising refers to the process of rehearsing recovery teams to both reinforce training and verify their ability to execute the business continuity plan. In short, an exercise focuses on performance. It also is used to verify that the business continuity plan documents are being kept current and that documented recovery procedures are being routinely observed. The type of business continuity test or exercise to be conducted is determined by the company's continuity personnel based on the current status of the business unit's business continuity plan.

Benefits of Testing:

Testing the business continuity plan helps to verify that recovery procedures work as planned and that supporting documentation (e.g., forms and checklists) are accurate. Testing also provides an opportunity to verify that a planned strategy or procedure is, in practice, the most effective way of achieving its objective and to determine whether personnel are adequately prepared to perform their assigned duties. A test verifies that recovery procedures are complete, accurate and will work as documented in the business continuity plan.

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Benefits of Exercising:

Exercises focus on verifying that recovery information is current. Exercises may also identify strategies that no longer satisfy business objectives. An exercise can be used to train alternate personnel to perform the recovery responsibilities. In addition, the use of periodic exercises can be utilized to help ensur

Benefits of Exercising:

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Exercise/Test Scenarios:

A scenario is a pre-defined set of business continuity events and conditions that describe, for planning purposes, an interruption, disruption, or loss related to some aspect(s) of an organization's business operations to support conducting a Business Impact Analysis, developing a continuity strategy and developing

Exercise/Test Scenarios:

Over the years, The Tracy Group has developed numerous realistic and challenging BCP Test/Exercise scenarios that are designed for utilization through performing table-top exercises to help ensure that the Business Continuity Plan will allow the organization to continue to function and survive the business interruption.

The Tracy Group provides the following types of tests and exercises to its clients:

The Walk-Through
The Simulation
The Desk Check

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Table-top Exercise

Business Continuity Test Policy

The Tracy Group develops for its clients an enterprise-wide Business Continuity Test/Exercise Policy and organizational Business Continuity Strategy that sets expectations for business units and supports functions to follow in implementing testing strategies and test plans. The testing policy utilized by TTG incorporates the use of the client's Risk Assessment Analysis and a Business Impact Analysis for developing the enterprise-wide business continuity testing strategies.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Business Continuity Software

Business Continuity Management Program Assessments/Audits

Business Continuity Testing and Exercising

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