With the help of an implementation strategy, guidelines for minimizing development costs, and insight into a proven plan development methodology, Manager's Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters: Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations helps you to:
* Establish a corporate contingency plan policy and strategy that will ensure timely completion of a plan with minimal disruption to operations.
* Minimize plan development costs
* Understand the importance of conducting briefings to communicate the proper mindset before the plan development process begins.
* Save time and money by avoiding the consultant's traditional approach of extensive information-gathering that contributes little to the development of practical solutions
Remember that you have good people on your management team who don't need a lot of detailed instruction on how to do things in an emergency situation. Precisely "how" they do anything will depend on the specific nature of the disaster and the extent of the damage. Addressing complex hypothetical disaster combinations does not make good business sense. Just prepare "what if" strategies for a worst case and rely on the judgment of your line managers to cope with less severe incidents.
From the Inside Flap
As businesses grow more aware of the need to provide some level of protection against an unplanned disaster, management needs to know how to structure such a strategic planning project so that it is completed quickly and with a minimal disruption to operations. Managers need to develop business continuity strategies that will enable the organization to retain market share, service customers, and maintain cash flow if a disaster does occur. Kenneth N. Myers, one of the world’s foremost innovators in the field of disaster recovery and business continuity planning, now provides you with a time-tested contingency planning philosophy, an implementation strategy, and a plan development methodology that matches the low probability of a disaster with the need for low-cost solutions. While other books offer complex and detailed approaches that are difficult to understand and even more costly to implement, Manager’s Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters: Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations presents an unusually straightforward format that deals in "what if" strategies instead of inordinately detailed procedures. It also emphasizes strategies to maintain business continuity, regardless of the cause of the disaster. Myers lays the foundation by prompting you to document a corporate contingency planning policy and strategy in writing before delegating the project to anyone. Solidifying and documenting a contingency planning policy and strategy is, in Myers’s words, "the key to containing development costs and to completing the project on time." He also stresses the importance of documenting the assumptions on which a plan is to be based to prevent "witch-hunting" during plan development. What’s more, you’ll learn that losing the computer system is probably not your most serious threat; losing vital buildings or critical production operations pose much more serious problems. And you’ll also learn that, contrary to popular belief, risk management programs and emergency response plans should not be developed first, but only after "what if" departmental business continuity strategies are documented. The first step is using a "worst case" scenario to cover various disaster possibilities and their impact on your ability to service customers and maintain market share following a physical disaster. Most computer systems can be restored in an alternate location, without the costly expense of computer hot-site agreements, within ten working days. Developing "what if" strategies for continuing to ship products is the real challenge. In a highly competitive world where vital buildings and critical operations are essential for business continuity, your company must have a strategic plan for coping with unplanned disasters that could suddenly threaten its survival. Manager’s Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters: Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations presents a time-tested approach that helps you do just that.
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