How do you benchmark and compare your contingency planning tests with best practices and industry standards?

1 Define your objectives and scope

Before you can benchmark and compare your tests, you need to define your objectives and scope. What are you trying to achieve with your tests? What are the specific scenarios, risks, and impacts you are simulating? What are the expected outcomes, metrics, and indicators of success? How often and how long will you conduct your tests? By answering these questions, you can establish a clear and consistent framework for your testing process and criteria.

2 Identify your sources and benchmarks

To ensure your contingency planning and testing is up to date, you need to identify your sources and benchmarks for comparison. These can include industry standards and guidelines, such as ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management Systems), NIST SP 800-34 (Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems), or NFPA 1600 (Standard on Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management). Best practices and lessons learned from other organizations in your sector, region, or size can be gathered through case studies, reports, surveys, or interviews. Additionally, regulatory requirements and compliance obligations should be taken into consideration. Lastly, stakeholder expectations and feedback can be obtained through surveys, focus groups, or meetings.

4 Implement your actions and improvements

Based on your analysis, you need to implement your actions and improvements. What are the specific steps, resources, and timelines you need to take to close the gaps or maintain the strengths? How will you monitor and measure your progress and impact? How will you communicate and coordinate your actions and improvements with your stakeholders and teams? You can use tools such as action plans, project management software, or dashboards to implement this step.

5 Review and update your tests

Finally, you need to review and update your tests regularly. Contingency planning is not a one-time activity, but a continuous cycle of improvement and adaptation. You need to keep track of the changes in your internal and external environment, such as new risks, technologies, or regulations, that may affect your contingency planning and testing. You also need to collect and evaluate the feedback and data from your tests to identify the lessons learned, best practices, and opportunities for improvement. You can use tools such as audits, reviews, or surveys to conduct this step.