Business continuity management (BCM) is a structured, ongoing program that goes beyond a one-time business continuity plan to ensure operational resilience over time.
In this post, we outline how to implement a BCM program that ensures your IT directors and organizational leaders have the proper planning, tools and systems to rebound quickly after any disruption.
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Explore Datto BCDR →What is Business Continuity Management (BCM)?
Business continuity management is the process of managing the strategies, systems and protocols that minimize operational disruptions. It involves the implementation of planning documentation, such as a business continuity plan (BCP), as well as disaster recovery technologies, such as data backup systems.
As part of BCM, a business must routinely assess the risks to its operations, analyze the impact of those disruptions and apply strategies for disaster prevention and recovery. BCM can be handled internally within an organization or with the assistance of third-party business continuity services.
Business Continuity Management vs. Business Continuity Planning
Business continuity management encompasses the entire lifecycle of disaster recovery and business continuity planning. Whereas a DRP and BCP provide the initial documentation for responding to disruptions, business continuity management is the broader, ongoing discipline that governs how those plans are developed, maintained, tested and improved over time.
Organizations often use BCM to ensure their BCPs and DRPs stay aligned with operational, regulatory and risk changes.
Why BCM Matters Operationally
Unexpected disruptions can have devastating consequences for a business. Business continuity management ensures that an organization is proactively planning for disruptive incidents, so that critical operations can continue. Without BCM, businesses increase the risk of a slow, costly recovery.
The foundation of effective BCM is a business continuity plan, but there are several other important components, as defined below.
How BCM Supports Recovery Outcomes
Effective business continuity management transforms recovery from a “best effort” IT task into a predictable, measurable business outcome. By governing the lifecycle of resilience, BCM ensures that technical capabilities align strictly with the organization’s tolerance for downtime.
- Validates RTOs and RPOs: BCM uses a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to define precise Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO). This ensures IT investments match the actual financial cost of downtime, preventing overspending on lower-priority systems or under-protecting critical ones.
- Eliminates Decision Latency: In a crisis, delays are expensive. A mature BCM program provides pre-authorized decision frameworks and communication trees, allowing teams to execute recovery protocols immediately without waiting for executive sign-off.
- Exposes Gaps Through Testing: Unlike a static BCP or DRP document alone, BCM mandates a schedule of testing and exercising (e.g., tabletop exercises). This validates that plans work in reality, not just on paper, and identifies gaps in personnel training or technical failover before a real event occurs.
Phases of Business Continuity Management
Business continuity management is often divided into 5 phases: Establishment, Implementation, Optimization, Testing and Maintenance. Together, these phases form a cyclical framework for implementing an effective, up-to-date plan that builds operational resilience.
Objectives of each phase:
Distinct Spheres of BCM
Business continuity management can encompass all areas of a company’s disaster preparedness, beyond just operational continuity. For example, some organizations will integrate the following 4 disciplines under the umbrella of BCM:
- Emergency response: Immediate actions & safety precautions
- Crisis management: Strategic decision-making and communications
- Disaster recovery: Tech-focused recovery
- Business continuity: Operational resilience
For the purposes of this post, we’re focusing largely on the components of BCM that support operational resilience by mitigating the risk and impact of disruptions.
How to Implement a BCM Program
1) Form Governance & Leadership
A BCM program requires a formal governance structure to secure budget, enforce participation and define risk appetite.
- Establish a Steering Committee: Form a cross-functional group of executives (COO, CIO, Legal, HR) to champion the program, approve budgets and make critical risk-acceptance decisions.
- Define the Policy: Draft a BCM Policy that explicitly outlines the program’s scope, the frequency of required testing and the roles responsible for maintenance. This document empowers the Program Manager to audit other departments for compliance.
2) Analyze Risk & Impact
Before writing a BCP or DRP, you must understand what to protect. This phase aligns IT spending with actual financial value (and potential losses from disruptions).
- Risk Assessment (RA): Identify specific threats to your organization—from ransomware and power outages to supply chain failure—and score them based on likelihood and severity.
- Business Impact Analysis (BIA): Quantify the financial and operational impact of downtime for every business function. This data helps to prioritize recovery investments and goals by severity level.
3) Document Strategy & Procedures
Once requirements are defined, develop the strategies and documentation to meet them.
- Select Recovery Strategies: Determine how you will recover from each type of disruption identified in the BIA.
- Develop the Plans (BCP & DR): Create specific checklists for response and recovery. Plans should be role-based and action-oriented.
4) Test, Validate & Maintain
A plan that hasn’t been tested is likely to fail. Managing the lifecycle of your continuity planning ensures your program remains “audit-ready” and effective over time.
- Testing & Exercising: Conduct a graduated schedule of business continuity plan testing, ranging from tabletop exercises to full-scale integrated drills.
- Maintenance & Review: Schedule regular reviews of plans and processes to ensure all documentation stays up to date. Plans should be updated at least annually and after significant operational changes.
Defining Key Components of BCM
While the lifecycle outlined above describes the management process, a fully operational BCM program consists of distinct components that must be built and maintained. Below, we define the core assets—the people, plans and technologies—that help to execute your continuity strategy.
1) Business Continuity Plan
Your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a written document that outlines every aspect of your company’s disaster preparedness, response and recovery. It dictates all the steps your team should take during a critical event and outlines preventative measures that mitigate risks.
A BCP should typically include objectives, a risk assessment, business impact analysis (BIA), communication plan and disaster recovery procedures. The plan should also identify IT systems that support continuity objectives, such as data backup and cybersecurity solutions.
2) Planning & Recovery Teams
Recovery personnel help to plan and carry out your company’s emergency procedures. These teams may also be responsible for managing various business continuity strategies, including writing and updating the BCP, conducting risk assessments, identifying preventative solutions, training other personnel and coordinating interdepartmental communication.
Recovery and planning teams often consist of IT personnel and employees from business-critical departments.
3) Risk Assessment
Assessing your company’s unique risks is critical because it allows you to identify your vulnerabilities. This risk assessment helps to guide nearly every other aspect of your business continuity planning and management.
Every business faces its own set of risks, which is why each type of disruption should be identified and documented. Your company may be more susceptible to certain disasters based on factors such as industry, location, proximity to hazards (such as flood-prone areas or risks of severe weather) and others.
4) Impact Analysis
A business impact analysis (BIA) is a secondary component of your risk assessment, as it calculates how each potential disaster will affect your business. As such, the impact analysis allows you to prioritize your recovery planning appropriately.
For most businesses, the impact of a disaster is a financial calculation based on the direct operational impact and consequences of each incident, the potential duration of outages and the estimated cost for recovery. Long reputational damage is an additional cost to consider.
Example of a Business Impact Analysis
In a BCP, most businesses categorize the impact of each risk on a scale of 1 to 5. This makes it easier to gauge the severity from a high-level standpoint, particularly when comparing it against the likelihood.
Risk | Likelihood | Impact |
4 | 4 | |
Server outage | 2 | 4 |
Electricity outage | 2 | 3 |
Fire | 1 | 5 |
Website outage | 3 | 2 |
5) Disaster Response Procedures
Using the threats identified in your risk assessment, you can now define the specific steps that must be taken when each type of disaster occurs. These procedures tell personnel what to do when a disaster strikes in order to maintain continuity and eliminate confusion.
Examples of protocols to document include: recovering data backups, moving business-critical employees to a secondary site, diagnosing affected IT systems, communicating with third-party vendors and so on.
6) Technology
Another fundamental part of BCM is identifying and implementing the technologies that make continuity possible. That includes all the preventive and recovery systems, such as:
- Data backup and recovery solutions
- Cloud storage and SaaS backups
- Cybersecurity solutions
- Firewalls
- Network security
- Internal or external data centers
One of the key roles of business continuity managers is identifying the right technology solutions for a company’s recovery objectives and confirming that existing systems are properly maintained and tested.
7) Backup Locations and Physical Assets
Where would your business go if a disaster suddenly destroyed your office, warehouse or manufacturing plant? To ensure continuity, companies must document contingency plans for securing backup locations, equipment and other redundancies. As part of BCM, this process will also involve taking inventory of emergency backup equipment and identifying those who will manage this transition.
8) Communication Plans
Without the ability to communicate in an emergency, recovery teams can’t do their jobs, restoring operations will take far longer and confusion will mount. Organizations must document detailed communication plans that identify how personnel will reach each other during a disruption, especially if the normal lines of communication are broken.
Your communication plan might include emergency contact methods, calling trees, backup devices and procedures for communicating with external parties, such as the media or customers when necessary.
9) Testing & Mock Recovery
Companies should regularly put their BCPs to the test by simulating different types of disasters with tabletop exercises and mock recoveries. Routine testing ensures that the procedures in your plan are effective. This identifies strengths and weaknesses in your plan, informs your future decisions and tells recovery teams they need to go back to the drawing board.
10) Plan Review and Updates
A key component of business continuity management is routinely reviewing the documentation to ensure the content is still accurate, effective and up to date. If any new gaps are identified, they should be documented along with action steps for resolving them. Set a schedule for how often the BCP should be reviewed and organize periodic meetings for the recovery team to discuss any updates.
Regulatory Compliance Considerations
For many types of companies, BCM is a regulatory requirement in addition to an operational necessity. For example, in industries such as financial services or healthcare, a company’s ability to stay open has a direct effect on the welfare of those who use the business. As such, organizations must comply with strict regulations on how they manage continuity strategies.
Business continuity management is essential for such companies as it ensures they are meeting the complex and ever-changing compliance requirements, such as:
- Federal Financial Institution’s Examination Council (FFIEC)
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
- Financial Services Authority (FSA)
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
Business Continuity Management Software
Business continuity management software can help to streamline and automate BCM processes. Some software solutions provide integrated tools for risk assessments, impact analyses, plan development, testing and other components. The platforms also provide a central repository for critical information, helping to facilitate communication during crises and enable real-time tracking of recovery efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions about BCM
1) What is business continuity management (BCM)?
Business continuity management is an ongoing program that ensures an organization can continue critical operations during disruptions by governing continuity planning, testing and improvement.
2) What are the three main areas of business continuity management?
The three main areas of business continuity management are 1) Risk assessments, 2) Business impact analyses and 3) Continuity plan development. Together, these areas help a business determine the appropriate strategies for mitigating every possible disruption.
Business continuity management is also sometimes referred to as disaster recovery management, which focuses more on recovery procedures.
3) What are the 4 Ps of business continuity?
The 4 Ps of business continuity are People, Processes, Premises and Providers. These four “Ps” are a helpful mnemonic device for remembering the key areas of focus for maintaining critical functions during disruptions, prioritizing safety and ensuring operational resilience.
4) What is the difference between BCM and BCP?
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a central component of business continuity management (BCM). BCM refers to the overall management of continuity strategies and implementations, whereas BCP refers specifically to the documentation.
5) Which technologies are part of business continuity management?
Any form of technology that helps a business maintain operations is part of business continuity management. Traditionally, a business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solution is the most important technology, as it enables businesses to recover lost data, applications and operating systems. However, a wide range of other tech plays a role, such as antivirus software, network firewalls and backup power generators.
6) Is BCM required for compliance?
BCM is often required or strongly recommended in regulated industries such as healthcare, finance and manufacturing to support operational resilience and risk management.
7) What is the difference between BCM and disaster recovery?
BCM focuses on maintaining business operations during disruptions, while disaster recovery focuses specifically on restoring IT systems and data after an incident.
8) What is the BCM process?
The BCM process is a continuous lifecycle of analysis, implementation and validation. It begins with a comprehensive business continuity plan (BCP) that prioritizes risks with a business impact analysis (BIA), followed by recovery strategy development and ongoing testing to ensure operational resilience.
9) How to create a BCM?
a. Conduct a business impact analysis to prioritize critical functions. b. Develop and document continuity strategies in a formal plan. c. Establish a recurring schedule for training, testing the strategies documented and updating the plan.
Conclusion
Business continuity management is an essential, ongoing process that helps organizations prepare for potential disruptions to their critical operations. Because of the high costs of downtime, every business should develop a business continuity plan containing an extensive business impact analysis and proactively manage recovery protocols to ensure that disruptive incidents are prevented and mitigated.
Maintain Continuity with Invenio IT
At Invenio IT, we help businesses avoid costly interruptions with effective continuity planning, from BCP development to the deployment of BCDR solutions like Datto SIRIS. Schedule a call with one of our data protection specialists at Invenio IT or request Datto SIRIS pricing to learn more. You can also reach us by calling (646) 395-1170 or emailing success@invenioIT.com
