Describe rehearsal, exercise and maintenance of business continuity - Essay Example

Rehearsal, Exercise, and Maintenance of Business Continuity al Affiliation Rehearsal, Exercise, and Maintenance of BusinessContinuityReasons why each of the following components must be considered in plan implementation:Rehearsal Rehearsal or exercise is a crucial component in implementing business continuity plans for the reasons that participants and the resources need to be oriented in terms of their awareness and capability to perform according to expected roles and tasks. As emphasized, the objectives of rehearsal are to enhance awareness of the theoretical frameworks, roles of participants, as well as opportunities that implementation of the plan would generate.

In addition, through exercise, the importance of business continuity is disseminated and imbibed. Likewise, any suggestions or inputs that could be added to the plan could be suggested, evaluated, and incorporated, as required. In the rehearsal or exercise, there are important ingredients that need to be incorporated, according to the proposed exercise checklist, to wit: (1) clarity of objective and format of the plan; (2) budgets and approvals that were obtained; (3) facilities that are specifically identified to be needed; (4) design of alternative scenarios for the exercise process; (5) proper documentation before and after the scheduled exercise; (6) actual exercise activity; (7) learning outcomes; (8) advisory to stakeholders; and (8) revisions of portions where risks have been identified (Credibility, Rehearsals, Exercising, Audits of Plans and Risk Decision-Making, 2014).

Maintenance Maintenance is another relevant component in terms of keeping the plan updated, in the light of new developments, resources, or participants who need to be apprised and oriented. As emphasized, “organizations, its people, and environments are continually changing” (Credibility, Rehearsals, Exercising, Audits of Plans and Risk Decision-Making, 2014, p. 12). The review process, per se, was recognized as part of the maintenance component.Benchmarking Benchmarking is defined as “a measurement of the quality of an organizations policies, products, programs, strategies, etc.

, and their comparison with standard measurements, or similar measurements of its peers. The objectives of benchmarking are (1) to determine what and where improvements are called for, (2) to analyze how other organizations achieve their high performance levels, and (3)to use this information to improve performance” (Benchmarking, 2014). Applying this measurement tool in business continuity plans, benchmarking reviews the plan’s components, structures, objectives, and processes in the light of similarities or disparities with other plans and to incorporate any component that is deemed pertinent for the current organization’s use.

Assurance and Audit Assurance and audit are control processes that ensure from continued monitoring and review of the business continuity plan. When apparent weaknesses have been identified in the plan, through its implementation and continued update, the auditing process would propose methods to correct or address identified deficiencies. As such, this component is an essential part of the plan as a check and balance mechanism. It clearly identified components that perform, as expected; versus those that seem to be misaligned, or needs correction.

ReferencesBenchmarking. (2014). Retrieved from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/benchmarking.html(2014). Credibility, Rehearsals, Exercising, Audits of Plans and Risk Decision-Making.