A resident of Franklin Lakes, Taylor Hallman serves as a business continuation associate at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. In this role, Taylor Hallman of Franklin Lakes is responsible for identifying processes and dependencies that are essential to the creation of a viable business continuity plan.
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a strategy that analyzes risks facing a company and allocates the right resources to safeguard the business in the event of a disaster. A BCP consists of essential elements, such as a business impact analysis, recovery strategies, and exercises.
The business impact analysis determines the financial and operational impact caused by a disruption of a specific business function. The analysis may review income losses, increased expenses, customer dissatisfaction, and regulatory fines. The business impact analysis also assesses the timing and duration of the disruption, as this information is necessary for resource allocation.
The next step in a BCP is to develop recovery strategies to avoid or mitigate the risks identified during the business impact analysis. During this stage, managers check whether they have adequate resources in terms of employees, equipment, and technology. Recovery strategies are typically industry-specific, but may include relocation, prioritization, and the outsourcing of tasks.
The last step in a BCP is to test the recovery strategies to ensure that they will work as planned. Any changes as a result of the BCP exercise must be reflected in the plan.
