What are the key risks and impacts that a BIA should assess and quantify?

I have a difference of opinion with the topic itself - BIA does/ should not talk of risks. BIA estimates the impact of your process going down (whatever may be the reason/ risk/ cause). point 1 on the left says ''you can focus your BIA on the most relevant and important areas of your business" - this is also not correct. Relevance and importance (criticality) are the outputs of BIA. BIA needs to be conducted for all processes that are in scope

The BIA is meant to evaluate impacts, regardless of cause. The cause may have implications on returning to normal but the BIA is meant to identify the highest priority process to inform the deployment of resources. At this point time is of the essence and adding a superfluous cause adds unnecessary drag to the response.

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) should assess and quantify key risks and impacts such as financial losses, operational disruptions, reputational damage, regulatory non-compliance, and customer dissatisfaction. It must analyze the potential consequences of business interruptions, prioritize critical processes, and identify dependencies to ensure effective continuity planning. By evaluating these factors, organizations can develop strategies to mitigate risks and enhance resilience against unforeseen events.

To identify the scopes and objectives of a business impact analysis (BIA), start by defining the critical functions and processes within the organization. Understand the dependencies among these functions and identify potential threats and vulnerabilities. Determine the acceptable downtime for each function and prioritize them based on their criticality to business operations. The objective is to assess the potential financial, operational, and reputational impacts of disruptions, guiding the development of effective continuity plans.

A(BIA) should follow these steps to assess and quantify key risks and impacts: Identify Business Processes and Services and determine which are impacted by disruptions. Define Impact Categories: Categorize impacts (e.g., Financial, Customer, Operations, Legal, Reputation).Set Timeframes: Establish specific timeframes (hours, days, weeks, months).Determine RPO, RTO, and MTPD:(RPO: Max tolerable period of data loss.RTO: Targeted recovery duration.MTPD: Max disruption period before severe harm. Identify Peak Periods: Note periods of greater impact. Evaluate Impact Categories: Assess each category within the timeframe to determine criticality and priority. Identify dependencies like applications, employees, vendors, and manual resources.

Dentro do escopo geral de sua BIA, sempre tenha em mente a definição de "processos críticos para a companhia", processos esses, por definição, que são os que contribuem de forma direta e indireta na capacidade operacional da companhia (sem esquecer áreas de apoio). Esses processos precisam ser avaliados sob a ótica da sua capacidade de gerar prejuízos a companhia em fase a uma interrupção grave, prejuízos esses que podem ser avaliados nos campos financeiros, regulatórios, reputacionais, e operacionais. Deve-se considerar também a interdependência entre outros processos críticos, bem como sistemas e fornecedores consumidos por esses processos.

As I have written above, critical business functions are the outcome of BIA. As a first step we estimate the MTPD, then the RTO based on it. We establish criticality based on RTO, and the rest of the parameters are to be estimated only for critical processes. These parameters are MBCO, RPO, Dependencies, Seasonality, Resources etc.

Identifying critical functions and processes is about understanding what keeps the business running smoothly. Look at what parts of the operation directly impact revenue, customer satisfaction, and compliance. Think about which activities are essential for day-to-day operations and serving customers. By involving different teams and considering how each function connects, you'll get a clearer picture of what truly matters for keeping the business afloat.

Conducting a thorough risk assessment aligns with ISO 31000 standards for risk management, which recommends identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks comprehensively. Go beyond known risks by exploring emerging threats using historical data, industry trends, and predictive analytics. Involve cross-functional teams to gain diverse insights and consider "black swan" events—unexpected, high-impact occurrences. This approach aligns with ISO's emphasis on understanding the full range of potential disruptions and their impacts, ensuring your organization is well-prepared for various scenarios and enhancing its resilience.

The only point here is that the risk assessment has to be conducted only for the critical processes (as a rule of thumb about 25% would be critical in any organisation).

When conducting a risk assessment, it's about spotting anything that could shake up your business. Think about what could go wrong, like natural disasters, cyber threats, or problems with suppliers. Consider how likely each risk is and what it could mean for your business if it happened. Get input from different parts of the company to make sure you're covering all bases. The idea is to figure out which risks are most important and come up with ways to deal with them.

There needs to be a balance struck between risk criticality and volume, in that no organisation can identify 100% of its risks as the threat environment is dynamic, but equally there are key risks to operations that have to be teased out. One potential approach is to ask stakeholders to identify the top 5 risks to each activity/process/product that has a BIA and use these to stimulate further discussions. Some areas will end up with more risks than anticipated, some with fewer. But at the end of the process the overall risk portfolio should strike the right balance between criticality and volume.

I was once told by an auditor: if you don't access every process how do you know or prove you've identified all of the "criticals".

Impact analysis, as per ISO 22301, involves quantifying the effects of disruptions on critical functions. Use both quantitative and qualitative methods to estimate impacts on operations, finances, and reputation. Determine the Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for each function, defining the maximum acceptable downtime and data loss. For instance, assess how a one-hour outage could affect revenue or customer trust. This detailed analysis helps in setting realistic recovery goals and ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to minimize disruption impacts.

Avalie os impactos de cada processo sob as óticas financeiras, reputacionais, regulatórias e operacionais em uma linha do tempo, desta forma você conseguirá avaliar em que momento de uma interrupção é aceitável recuperar a malha operacional que sustenta esse processo crítico, definindo métricas importantes de continuidade de negócios como RTO, RPO e MTPD.

Creating an impact analysis involves examining the potential effects of various disruptions on your business. Identify scenarios like supply chain problems or technology failures and assess their consequences on operations, finances, and reputation. Consult with stakeholders to gather comprehensive insights. The objective is to understand the most significant risks and develop plans to mitigate them effectively.

Prioritizing and validating BIA results is essential for aligning with ISO 22301. Validate these findings with stakeholders, including senior management and business unit leaders, to ensure accuracy and relevance. Gather feedback to refine the analysis and ensure it aligns with organizational priorities. Validation exercises, such as simulations and tabletop exercises, can help test assumptions and improve the robustness of the BIA. This ensures that the BIA remains relevant and effective in guiding continuity planning efforts.

A very important point is 'who owns the BIA and who should conduct the BIA'. My answer is that the department/ unit head should own the BIA, and they are the best people to conduct it also. While it's understood that they may not be able to devote enough time, the next best person is the department BC Champion or Coordinator - who is a senior person who knows the 'business of business'

Utilize a ISO/IEC 22317 para elaborar os parâmetros de execução da sua BIA. Essa norma técnica é especifica para estruturação dos elementos mais importantes de uma análise de negócio, e seguindo seus elemento você terá uma BIA absolutamente integrada com as melhores práticas recomendadas. ;)

Engage in peer reviews with industry counterparts to benchmark and learn from their experiences. Consider using blockchain for secure, transparent data sharing across departments and with external partners. This technology enhances trust and collaboration, crucial in crisis situations. Additionally, address the psychological impact on employees during disruptions and incorporate strategies to support their well-being. By considering these aspects, you create a more resilient and comprehensive business continuity plan.

In my experience, the initial BIA is the most important, as subsequent iterations will be reviews and limited updates. The expertise required to completely address the BIA is with SME's driving conversations with delivery teams to ensure quality and relevant data are collected.

Post-incident recovery of personnel is often overlooked. Crisis management in particular can be stressful and disruptive, even for those who are trained and experienced at working in that environment, to say nothing of staff who are pulled in due to their expertise who have never been in that room before then. Debriefs should include consideration of the human impacts of the incident and the condition of those involved, to ensure the right support and future training is deployed.