Business Impact Analysis Worksheet
As part of the business continuity planning session is to identify what items need to be a part of the plan, this is done through a risk assessment. Next step is to determine whether they will impact your business financially, operationally, or both. This worksheet will assist you in determining that, along with any interconnected elements.
This Business Impact Analysis Worksheet is an integral part of a quality business continuity plan.
How to conduct the Business Impact Analysis successfully
- Gather senior leadership from all departments of the company to provide insight.
- Review all potential scenarios seriously, no concept is ridiculous, as they can damage your business.
- Don’t build an analysis that contains an overabundance of information, keep it lean and direct. What information is directly related to that section?
- Review the results of the impact with all departments, and review the assessment on a minimum annually.
Possible Loss Scenarios
What are the possible loss scenarios that businesses are faced with, and have the potential of disrupting or interrupting operations? Performing risk assessment will help a company identify its possible loss scenarios. Some of the most common ones that are found across businesses and industries are listed below.
- Accidents: All too often, businesses suffer from losses due to workplace accidents. For example, fire at the factory where the critical operations of the business are performed can cause closure. A burst pipe in the water supply may also incapacitate the work area for quite some time. The machines being used may malfunction and shut down, unable to work unless it undergoes major repair or is replaced with a new one.
- Emergencies: These are unexpected situations that pose considerable danger, thereby calling for immediate action. The immediate action, in this case, is often the stoppage of business operations. Political and civil unrest, for example, may involve riots on the streets and other similar acts of violence. Usually, these will drive businesses to close their doors and stop operating until things have settled down. Although these are not strictly dangerous or perilous, they also count as emergencies that will result to interruption of operations. Examples are:
- Failure of suppliers to deliver raw materials and other goods and services needed on time;
- Failure of suppliers to deliver raw materials and other goods and services needed altogether;
- Labor disputes within the company leading to workers refusing to continue working until their demands have been heard and met by management;
- Utility failures, such as water shortage and shortage of power supply;
- Cyber attacks, when the company’s information system is under threat by external forces; and
- Absenteeism of key employees may also give rise to emergencies.
- Disasters: These could be natural disasters (force majeure) or man-made disasters. Examples are earthquakes, strong typhoons/hurricanes, large-scale bush fires, massive power outages or shutdowns, and volcanic operations. These may result to physical damage to properties, specifically those that are used in the operations.
Do not just assume these are the only incidents that can effect your organization, this is just the list of common incidents that can effect all industries, across all business divisions.
View & Download the Business Impact Analysis Worksheet below
