Author: eBRP Thoughts

eBRP Thoughts, eBRP’s Blog voice, represents 50 + years of cumulative BCM knowledge gained through experience in corporate BCM program management, consulting & program implementations. We've worked hand-in-hand with governments and private enterprises to develop viable BCM programs. eBRP is an active participant on LinkedIn and Twitter. The opinions expressed in our eBRP.net blog are ours and are intended to engage resiliency planners in conversations about the BCM industry, its standards and its future.

Aligning Cyber Incident Response Planning with Your BC/DR Program

Cyber disruptions – and their impact on both reputations and profitability – have risen to the top of nearly every recent risk study. These increasing concerns weigh heavily on Executive Suites and Boards. In the IT realm, CIO’s and CISO’s now focus their efforts on mitigating those risks, and planning…

What Can You Do when your BCM software Relationship Falls Apart

“This isn’t working.”  “I’ve changed.”  “I don’t see a future with you.”  Those ‘breakup’ lines may apply to your Business Continuity Management software or your latest paramour. Not all relationships succeed.  When things go awry, goodbye may be the best solution.  But that may seem impossible – even when you…

Aligning BC/DR to CSIRP Challenges

The immediate reaction to a cyber-security incident is the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt); more like ‘chickens running around with their head cut off’. An agile response requires tested and documented Incident Response Plans – including Crisis Management, Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery Plans. Automating the workflow facilitates…

Technology Modeling – the eBRP Way

Definition: Technology modeling is a point-in-time snapshot of an Enterprise’s IT Services – including its dependencies on infrastructure – and interfaces to other services and Business Processes which depend on them.  This organizational Technology Model provides executives the critical decision support they need to understand the impacts of a service…

eBIA – The eBRP Way

Definition: A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is the cornerstone of creating a BCM program.  Basically, a BIA helps prioritize restoration efforts in the initial response activities following an operational disruption. A secondary objective of a BIA is identification of all operational dependencies to enable successful business restoration.      

Threats, Impacts, BCPs

Within Business Continuity circles there is ongoing debate about the relevance and role of Risk Assessment in developing a BCM program. Having been in the industry for more than 20 years, I understand the issue from both the sides. Traditional, formalized Risk Assessment aims to identify the threats to which…

The BCM Challenge: Executive Buy-In

As a Business Continuity Management (BCM) solution provider, the first question I ask potential clients is: What are your major program challenges? Here’s what I hear: We don’t have a seat at the executive table where major decisions are made. The program lacks executive buy-in. BCM is at the bottom…

DR Plans – The What, When & Who

As a Business Continuity practitioner with more than 20 years of experience, I have seen, reviewed and created many continuity and disaster recovery plans. I have seen them in various shapes and sizes, from a meager 35 row spreadsheet to more than 1,000 pages in 3-ring binders. In most of…

Disaster Recovery – Exercised

As part of its Resiliency program, one of our clients recently performed their Annual Disaster Recovery test in which they failed over their production data center to a backup data center. The test was scheduled for 96 hours (4 days) to restore their Tier 0 Mission Critical services, and involved…

You have a Risk Department. Why do YOU conduct Risk Assessments?

If you’re new to Business Continuity, you have a lot to learn.  A thorough understanding of Risk – and how to assess Risk – need not be on your To Do list. As a BCM professional, you already know how much time you spend on Risk Assessments.  Have you ever…