What would you say are the primary differences and similarities between Business Continuity (engaged in by businesses, companies or corporations) and Continuity of Operations (engaged in by Federal Agencies and now, more and more so, State Agencies)?
Jon
Thanks, Jon. This question points to a bigger issue: "Will private-enterprise business continuity plans (BCPs) and public agency continuity of operations (COOP) plans work together during a wide-scale disaster?" That'll be tomorrow's topic.
Back to your question. BCPs and COOPs are quite similar in that they are created to help the organization - private or public - recover from a disaster. Get back to "business as usual" as quickly as possible.
There are a couple of differences between BCP and a COOP plan. A BCP has a true "profit perspective." It's primary purpose is to recover profit centers and critical operations with the utmost urgency. A for-profit entity usually has very short recovery time objectives (RTOs). The COOP plan certainly intends to recover services to its constituents - the public - quickly, but the urgency may not be as high as in the business world. In short, if the business doesn't recover quickly enough, it may go bankrupt. Government will march on regardless. Theoretically.
Second, the COOP plan must consider and resolve any red-tape conflicting with recovery goals. This conflict could arise from miss-aligned priorities or policies. This issue especially comes into play when developing a community-wide COOP plan where multiple agencies at city, county, and state levels are involved.
In the private sector, bureaucracy is less prominent. If something gets in the way, it's a lot simpler and usually quicker for the CEO to fix it on the spot. Of course, a business must cooperate with outside entities such as first responders and enforcement agencies, but the lines of authority are more clearly drawn.
The bottom line is that BCPs and COOP plans have the same basic goal. Creating them also follows a similar path. Each has its own little gotchas, but these can be overcome.
Hope this helps,
DR Dan
No comments:
Post a Comment