Understanding BCP Project Elements

Before a BCP project can begin, some basic definitions and assumptions have to be made and understood by everyone on the project team. They are

• Senior management support: The development of a Business Continuity Plan is time consuming, with no immediate or tangible return on investment (ROI). For a BCP project to be successful, it needs the support of senior management, including adequate budget, manpower, and visible statements backing the project. Senior management needs to make explicit statements identifying the responsible parties, as well as the importance of the BCP project, budget, priorities, urgency, and timing.

• Senior management involvement: Senior management can’t just bless the BCP project. Because senior managers and directors may be implicitly and explicitly responsible for the organization’s ability to recover from a disaster, senior management needs to have a degree of direct involvement in the BCP effort. The careers that these people save may be their own.

• Project team membership: Which persons will be chosen to be on the BCP project team? All relevant functions and business units must be represented. Chances are that many of the team members have their usual jobs too, so the team will need to be realistic about how quickly the BCP project can make progress.

• Who brings the donuts: Because it’s critical that BCP meetings are well attended, this is an essential success component.

A BCP project typically has four components: scope determination, the Business Impact Assessment, the Business Continuity Plan, and implementation. We discuss each of these components in the following sections.