Why Every Company Needs a Business Impact Analysis
When discussing business disruption among MSPs, business impact analysis (BIA) doesn’t receive enough attention. By focusing on BIA, MSPs can better prepare for and mitigate the effects of potential disruptions.
BIA is a process that helps organizations predict and prepare for the potential consequences of a business disruption. The goal of the BIA is to ensure operational resilience and continuity during and after a disruption. At its core, it’s a way for you and your team to understand how each customer views the relative importance of assets such as apps, data, and resources. I consider it a first step.
You can’t have a disaster (DR) recovery plan without a BIA. I spoke to a friend who’s in the incident response (IR) world, and he said that in most cases, when they get involved (and it’s always “Right of Boom”), the company and the IT team or MSP are trying to figure things out in real-time, and every function thinks their asset should be prioritized.
I often discuss helping customers with software utilization, but I think BIAs are the first step. Our customers’ technical landscape is changing, and we have to change with it. Having a deeper understanding of their assets, business priorities, and the outcomes they expect is more critical than ever.
Take a look at your customer base. How many of them do you have a regular BIA process for? If it’s not part of your process, you will not have a usable disaster recovery plan and will be unable to manage your customers’ expectations.
But most importantly, you’re not a strategic resource for your customers the way you could or should be, and that’s the most significant risk an MSP can have today.
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vCIO
3 个月Great article! The value of a BIA is often overlooked but in reality it sets the foundation of your BCDR program. A Business Continuity program needs to know the financial impact of failed to systems to include the MAD (Maximum Allowable Downtime) as well as the more common terms such as RPO, RTO, RPA, RTA. All of this is to be documented for each application, system, and business process, to include the subject matter expert for each. For publicly traded companies this is a must, due to SOX control requirements, but more & more I am seeing it come up in annual audits compliance and cyber insurance renewals for SMB's. The first step to creating a clean Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery program is the BIA. We have been using our TAM to gather this information due to existing familiarity with key stakeholders in the environment. He is going to their Christmas Party :). Once you have the data you start determining app criticality and potential impacts and from there, more documentation then on to annual BCDR testing and audit response which is much easier with a completed and evergreen Business Impact Analysis on hand. Thank you for your leadership Gary Pica and bringing the importance of this to the forefront! TruMethods Peer
Managing Director | Secure your IP, streamline IT, and boost productivity—IT management that protects your business and helps you get more done with peace of mind.
3 个月Gary, Is the BIA part of the vCIO or TAM responsibilities? Or is there a new role altogether?