Companies putting continuity planning at the forefront of operations.

Companies are rapidly changing their assumptions for implementing effective business continuity and disaster planning strategies. Recognizing that contingency planning is an integral part of business planning, firms are bringing these plans to the forefront of their business planning process in order to maintain operations during a disaster.

In the past, it was a common assumption that any disaster would be short term, with isolated damage usually limited to a single portion of a building as a result of a power outage or fire, for example.

Today, however, companies realize that they must plan for the potential that both the primary business location and surrounding area could be unexpectedly and potentially permanently lost.

Companies have embarked upon a variety of continuity-related initiatives following the Sept. 11 disaster. Subsequent to that, firms have been actively reformulating their business continuity plans in anticipation of potential, future disasters. These crucial contingency plans enable companies to protect employees and assets during times of crisis and resume operations quickly.

Most firms are enacting global business continuity plans. Their effectiveness is often a function of how deeply these plans are integrated into the regular operations of each of the company's individual units. Optimally, each department should designate a senior person who reports to the contingency department regularly, maintaining a constant flow of information. Clearly, the number of business functions identified as "vital" and in need of recovery within a certain time frame will be defined differently by each company. Regardless, each unit should have a plan in place for short-, medium- and long-term business function recovery.

Business continuity plans typically identify units as to their vital function and prioritize which units must be restored first.

For example, key units that must be functioning within 14 days of a disaster will need to be prepared to activate "hot sites," dedicated locations with pre-positioned work stations and technology to restore basic functionality. Less critical business units, which must be operational within two weeks to one month of a disaster, may not need to be operational as quickly. Using the example of a telecommunications provider, the accounts payable department, albeit an essential function, does not need to be restored as quickly as a fiber optic location or technology unit.

Firms must also be mindful of those vital records (data and essential paperwork, such as corporate bonds) without which their business cannot operate. Furthermore, alternative methods of communications should be available during times of crisis. For example, when phone lines were down on Sept. 11, many people were able to communicate via email by Blackberry devices, or by Nextel phones.

Looking forward to the challenges of 2003, companies must remember that they can not afford to ignore business continuity plans. Businesses need to implement them as a part of everyday business operations.

Furthermore, companies need to focus on maintaining their businesses during a disaster, and not just recover from them.