Why Business Impact Analysis is Important

A certified business continuity professional from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Taylor Hallman has served as a business continuation associate at Prudential Financial since 2012. One of Taylor Hallman’s responsibilities includes performing business impact analysis (BIA).

A business process, BIA involves identifying business functions and predicting the consequences if one of those functions is disrupted. BIA allows for the collection of the needed information to develop recovery strategies that would minimize potential losses. Some of the most common causes of disruption include failure or delay of suppliers in delivering supplies, delay in delivery of purchased services, utility failures, labor disputes, cyber-attacks, and natural or man-made disasters.

Analyses surrounding BIA includes operational and financial impacts of disruptions in business functions and processes. These impacts include delayed sales or income, lost sales or income, increased expenses, contractual penalties including loss of contractual bonus, regulatory fines, customer dissatisfaction, and delay of new business plans.

BIA is important to businesses because it leads to thorough planning to minimize risks. It also allows businesses to execute due diligence. While risks are inherent to businesses, BIA helps the business to survive in the eventual occurrence of unforeseen disruptions.

Earning CBCP Certification from DRI International

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A Franklin Lakes, New Jersey resident, Taylor Hallman serves as a business continuation associate at Prudential Financial, where he is responsible for ensuring business continuity in an event of a disaster. A graduate of Washington College, Taylor Hallman of Franklin Lakes supplements his hands-on experience and formal education with a DRI International certification in business continuity.

Since 1988, DRI International has provided accreditation, education, and leadership services to professionals working in the business sector. To this end, the organization offers a wide range of certifications to individuals at all levels of their career, including the Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) designation.

The CBCP certification is available to professionals who have at least two years of significant experience in business continuity and disaster recovery areas within their organizations. This experience must include familiarity with risk assessment, crisis communications, and other relevant subject areas related to business continuity management as laid out in the Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management.

As long as professionals meet the initial requirements, they are allowed to sit for the certification’s qualifying exam. To pass, professionals must score at least 75 percent on this exam, thus allowing them to complete an application for professional certification and submit application essays about their responsibilities and accomplishments in the field. At least two references per subject area must also be submitted alongside the application to validate each professional’s experience in the field.

Theta Chi Fraternity's Alumni Mentor Network

As a business continuation associate with Prudential Financial, Taylor Hallman of Franklin Lakes, NJ, assists businesses with advance planning efforts to secure operations in the event of an incident or disaster. Prior to joining the company in 2012, Taylor Hallman earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Washington College, where he was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity.

Established in 1856, Theta Chi is one of the oldest fraternities for male students in North America. Its 159 active chapters have a combined membership base of approximately 8,100 students, who gain valuable friendships and support through their respective chapters. In addition to assistance from fellow members, Theta Chi members are granted the opportunity to receive insight and feedback from past members through the Alumni Mentor Network.

The Alumni Mentor Network is an online platform that pairs volunteer alumni with current members for one-on-one conversations concerning academic and career development opportunities. Mentors can assist mentees with mock interviews, job searches, choosing a major, and writing a thesis, among other things. In addition, prospective mentors can choose to make themselves available for job shadowing or volunteering opportunities.

How Improv Can Boost Your Confidence

The recipient of a bachelor's degree in business management from Washington College, Taylor Hallman of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, is a business continuation associate with Prudential Financial. Outside of his professional pursuits, Franklin Lakes resident Taylor Hallman enjoys performing stand-up comedy and acting in improv groups. 

Improv, short for improvisation, is a form of comedy that involves groups of people creating spontaneous scenes with no script and allowing the natural progression of conversation and movement to dictate where the scene goes. Because it requires the actors to think and respond appropriately to random situations on the fly, it's a great exercise for building confidence. 

It's not uncommon to be unsure of what to say in different situations, but regularly performing improv can help you become more articulate in a variety of settings. It can also help you expand mundane conversation to include other topics by noticing more hooks and associations. 

Another reason improv can bolster your confidence is due to the lack of control you feel when participating. Even if you have an idea about where a scene might be going, another actor can easily step in and completely change the direction. This translates to everyday life by making you better suited to cope with unexpected conversational shifts as well as new life experiences.

Three Upcoming Stand-up Comedy Shows in New York City

The recipient of a bachelor's degree in business management from Washington College in Maryland, Taylor Hallman of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, possesses more than six years of experience in his role as a business continuation associate with Prudential Financial. Although he resides in Franklin Lakes, Taylor Hallman regularly travels to New York City to perform and watch stand-up comedy. 

Prominent stand-up comedians performing in New York City in 2019 include:

1. Jerry Seinfeld - Best known for his self-titled NBC sitcom, Seinfeld is one of the best-known comedians in the world. He has been performing stand-up since 1976 and is regarded for his ability to acknowledge and pick apart life's mundanities. He is performing at the Beacon Theatre April 4 and 5.

2. Russell Howard - A 38-year-old native of Bristol, England, Howard is performing at the Gramercy Theatre March 29 and 30. His most recent stand-up special, Recalibrate, was released by Netflix in 2017.

3. Damon Wayans - A 58-year-old comedian and actor who starred in the sitcom My Wife and Kids, Wayans is returning New York City this April for a series of shows at Carolines on Broadway. The New York native's shows run April 4-7.

Top Collectible Watch Sales of 2018

A resident of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Taylor Hallman draws upon more than a decade of diverse experience in his role as a business continuation associate for Prudential Financial in Newark. Outside of his professional life, Taylor Hallman pursues a diverse range of hobbies that includes an interest in horology and watch collecting.

Long considered a functional piece of equipment in the modern world, watches have evolved beyond simple timekeeping instruments into symbols of style, sophistication, and personality. As watch collecting has grown in popularity, prices have risen across the globe for some of the most coveted timepieces, and 2018 was another record-breaking year for the collectible watch industry. Here are a few of the most notable watches to go under auction in 2018:

Rolex Daytona Ref. 6265: Known among enthusiasts as “The Unicorn,” this Rolex Daytona model sold for more than $6 million at an auction in Geneva in the spring of 2018. The stratospheric price tag is the second-highest ever for a watch, trailing only a Rolex Daytona once owned by Paul Newman that sold for nearly $18 million at the end of 2017.

Patek Philippe Serpico y Laino Ref. 2499: The most expensive watch sold by Christie’s auction house in 2018, this 18-karat gold and diamond Patek Philippe model features a perpetual calendar with moon phases and sold for more than $3 million in November.

Elvis Presley’s Omega: This diamond-encrusted watch was designed by Tiffany & Co. for Omega and was presented to Elvis as a gift by RCA Records in 1960. The highest price ever realized for an Omega watch, the timepiece was purchased by the Omega company for $1.8 million and installed at the manufacturer’s watch museum in Switzerland.

Mistakes to Avoid When Developing a Business Continuity Plan

A longtime resident of Franklin Lakes, Taylor Hallman serves as a business continuation associate at Prudential Financial in New Jersey. As a certified business continuation professional living in Franklin Lakes, Taylor Hallman is responsible for developing business continuation plans and testing solutions to improve the level of resilience of the business in the event of a disaster.

Business continuity planning, or BCP, is a thorough and time-consuming process. Managers gather a substantial amount of data and engage in extensive deliberations to develop procedures that are both effective and cost-efficient. Each step in the business continuity planning is inter-connected. Therefore, it is important not to make any assumptions or mistakes that could derail the progress of the BCP.

Failing to conduct a business impact analysis (BIA) is a serious oversight and should never happen during a BCP. A business impact analysis is the first step of the process and helps managers identify all areas of the business that are prone to vulnerabilities from internal and external threats.

Another mistake that should be avoided is not getting the support from senior management and employees. Any change, however small, is significant and often requires time, money, and employee participation. It is always helpful to get the approval of the senior management and the full commitment of the employees to carry out their roles and responsibilities. 

Moreover, managers should not skip conducting BCP exercises regularly. BCP exercises test the outcomes of the continuity plan and reveal any idle steps or additional gaps that must be corrected. Any changes to the BCP should be retested before they can be operational.