Disruption is something every business wants to avoid, but it’s a reality many face. A disruptive event is anything that causes downtime or data loss – it could be as serious as a natural disaster or as simple as an employee deleting an important document.
Most Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) leaders understand the importance of a business continuity strategy in keeping the organisation functioning should a disruptive event occur. Yet, it can be difficult to see the value of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) beyond this point.
Unless your business experiences a crisis of some kind, it might seem that there’s no true Return on Investment (ROI). So if your business is ticking along fine, and you perceive the chances of a disruptive event occurring to be minimal, then you probably won’t make BCP a priority. Perhaps you don’t have a strategy at all.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to experience a disaster to yield a ROI from a business continuity strategy. Reason being, BCP forces you to take a closer look at the inner workings of your organisation.
As we explained in a previous blog, planning for business continuity involves identifying your company’s RTOs and RPOs – recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives. The purpose of setting RTOs is to know the maximum time that you can be without your data before your business gets into serious trouble, whilst RPOs tell you how much data you can afford to lose without damaging your business.
Not only does this determine which processes are essential to continuing business operations, but you’re likely to discover new opportunities for cost savings or even revenue generation.
The thinking that a business continuity strategy only offers value when something goes wrong means it’s not a priority for many SMEs with limited budgets.
But aside from the obvious value a business continuity strategy delivers – keeping your organisation running when disaster strikes – there are a number of indirect benefits. Neglecting business continuity planning means you’re missing out on multiple opportunities for a return on investment – regardless of whether you ever actually experience a disruptive event.
Business continuity programs should be seen as an asset to the business, not as an overhead expense. With a solid strategy in place, your business has an advantage over competitors who choose to go without. You can’t put a price on that.
Download your free eBook today on Backup vs. Business Continuity.