How do you align your BCP with your resilience testing framework?

In my experience, an exercise program aids in building resilience, by delivering exercises to validate Business Continuity Plans. As part of Business Continuity Management, an exercise program may leverage BIA findings and set objectives in support of the organizational mission. Relevant impact scenarios are developed and business areas with high priority functions (typically) come together to exercise recovery strategies that are outlined in the Business Continuity Plan. Support technology is tested in coordination with plan exercises to determine recovery capabilities meet business requirements. Together, tech and business teams review areas where gaps exist and discuss/develop mitigation strategies. Business resilience.

The biggest challenge is 'what does Resilience mean to you?'. IBM had been in touch with me for over three years to get a Resiliency Testing training delivered, but they were not able to define whether it was BCM, IT Resilience, or a mix of these or something else. So, I went ahead and developed my own way-a House of Resiliency which is a mix of 11 components-Incident Management, Emergency Management, Employee Health & Safety, Crisis Management, IT DR, Risk Management, BCM, Crisis Communication, Physical Security Management, Information Security Management, Cybersecurity Management. So, the scope is huge, its big and complex and there is a lot to be done. Hence I say 'Designing, Developing, and Delivering a Resiliency Test' is an art.

Alinhar seu Plano de Continuidade de Negócios (BCP) com a estrutura de testes de resiliência é essencial para garantir que sua organiza??o esteja preparada para enfrentar crises. Projetar testes eficazes, como Call Trees, Tabletops e Testes de Recupera??o de Desastres (DR), é uma prática recomendada. As Call Trees ajudam a estabelecer uma comunica??o rápida entre os membros da equipe, enquanto os testes Tabletops fornecem um espa?o seguro para discutir cenários e respostas. Por fim, os testes de DR colocam em prática as estratégias do BCP, permitindo observar falhas e pontos de melhoria em tempo real. Essa abordagem holística fortalece a resiliência organizacional e a maturidade de seu programa de continuidade de negócios.

Maybe it is just me, but I have never developed an exercise that is considered a test. Business resilience is not measured by how many answers you get right. Its "measurement" is more appropriately determined through exercising recovery strategies, walking through recovery steps, and more importantly, resulting in staff knowing what the strategies are and how to implement them during a challenging time.

There is a lot to designing a BC and Resiliency Test and cannot be covered in 750 characters. In short - scenario, audience/ participation, time, date, place, duration, degree of complexity, preparation, reporting, communication, resources (including budget) - all matter in designing a BC or Resiliency Test. I was part of a test with UK Police for their preparations for the last London Olympics - had to read 2 dialogues from a given script - the preparations were 6 months long (it was an international test)! God practice is to raise the bar in a planned way - over a period keep increasing the complexity of your tests.

A revis?o e a melhoria contínuas do seu BCP com base nos resultados dos testes de resiliência s?o cruciais para manter a relevancia e eficácia do plano. Após cada teste, é fundamental analisar o desempenho, documentar as li??es aprendidas e ajustar o BCP conforme necessário. Essa prática n?o apenas identifica vulnerabilidades, mas também promove uma cultura de aprendizado e adapta??o dentro da organiza??o. Ao incorporar feedback e resultados dos testes, você garante que seu BCP evolua junto com business e, assim, aumente a capacidade de resposta em situa??es de crise, assegurando a prote??o e a continuidade das opera??es.

I would like to say the final step is long - write a report, and publish the report to relevant interested parties (it is possible that an action emerges in the name of a person who was not part of the test - the report must go to him/ her also). All actions must be tracked to closure (this may take months also). And the test is not over yet! A test must be re-run with those cases that failed, and upon passing a report must be written (as above) - this is the end point of a BC or Resiliency Test (or any test).

Here is a story (a real one, a chapter in my book): I was on an implementation consulting assignment. Over the journey, I designed and developed a BC Test for them. The scenario, cases and the test plan were reviewed and approved. A day before the test, the BC Manager said: a) Daman, our CMT will not participate in the test. Some person missing is OK (his/ her backup must participate), but the whole CMT? Even if that were to happen, let all of them be represented by their backups - simple! But, they didnt agree. b) Case 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 out of 10 will not be execured. And my simple response was 'what is left in the test then?' Such a test would be a question on the consultant who designed, developed, and delivered the test - not me!