Toolkit application
This tool is designed to help you create checklists and action plans for key personnel in the form of a PDF document which you can circulate to your business continuity planning team to use in the event of a serious business interruption event. It is designed to fill the gap between informal business continuity planning and more sophisticated proprietary software-based applications that typically require an annual user fee but provide an environment for developing complex business continuity plans, often with an online support service. It is primarily aimed at single-location businesses, or businesses with a few similar sites, but may be adapted to accommodate more multifaceted businesses, for example by implementing multiple complimentary set level business continuity plans that cross reference and in totality form a complete plan. Each will require a separate user account on the FPA website.
Tool design and use
You will need to consult with others for information as you work through the pre-event preparation as the ‘owner/administrator’ of your business continuity plan. The tool may take you some time to complete so you should save information as you go, as you might need to pause to source additional information and return to the template.
It is simple to navigate using the page number function at the top of each page, and you can save it as you go by clicking the save changes button at the bottom of each page. You can download the plan as a PDF file when you click the download PDF button.
When you log back in with your unique email address and password, the information you have saved, along with any uploaded documents, will be there for you to continue. If you have all the information to hand, the template will probably take you about two hours to complete.
The step-by-step examples and prompts in the template provide you with the information that you need to complete your business continuity planning, i.e. what actions are needed if the worst happens and a significant interruption to your business occurs.
Some sections have text fields with prompts that disappear when you start typing. This text will then re-appear if you remove your own text from the text box.
Some sections have example wording in the left margin that you can cut and paste into the text field and/or amend as best suits your local business needs e.g.:
Business Impact Analysis
The Recovery Priorities section (page 19) provides templates to prioritise products and activities and the recovery timelines required. This is the basis for a business impact analysis (BIA) to help you predict the consequences of disruptions to business processes, so you have the data you need to proactively create recovery strategies. The BIA will assist you to determine the criticality of business activities and associated resource requirements to help ensure operational resilience and continuity of operations following a business disruption e.g. how losing a key manufacturing process line(s) would affect company operations and revenue at an industrial facility.
Administration and implementation
Spending time now will make decisions and actions much easier to implement at the time of an incident and will be key to business response and recovery, as a coordinated team, ultimately saving your business time and money, maintaining services/product flow to customers, and getting your business back on its feet with the least disruption.
Your business continuity plan is hosted in a secure area which only you can access. The tool identifies you by your unique email address and password. It is safely stored for you to periodically review the information, which is recommended on a 6 monthly basis or as appropriate for your business. It is normal that roles, customers, suppliers, processes and procedures change over time and information must be kept up to date.
You can upload files to be stored in the same secure location but please note these will not be included in the PDF export and essential supporting documents, e.g. site plans must be circulated with your business continuity plan.
