Disaster Recovery Journal Winter 2024

BIA Standoff: Value vs. Resistance

W e have all felt the pushback when we open a business impact analysis (BIA) with members of our organiza tions. “Why is this necessary?” “Do we have to do this?” These comments often land hard, with frustrated tones and slouched shoulders. Have you ever had someone audibly groan? I have. People are busy and the questions are tough. In their shoes, I might feel the same. Anti-BIA sentiment comes up on LinkedIn and other forums as well. Even industry practitioners have been known to question its relevance or the value of its outputs. Occasionally, we see a lively response when someone metaphorically throws their hands in the air: “Why are we still doing this?!” To be sure, it’s a worthwhile question. After all, do we not already include ele By SAMUEL MCKNIGHT

1) They are valuable. 2) They provide foundation for BCPs.

ments of critical review and assessment in the plan? When we create scenarios, does this not already include research and assessment of which processes could cause pain if disrupted? However, these intra-industry discus sions usually conclude in the same place: the BIA is the “foundation” or the “back bone” (Bill Meredith’s word) of BCPs or even of the whole process. It would not be too off-base to claim there is even an industry consensus BIAs are key to any program. At the very least, this is the con sensus of certification organizations like BCI, as well as many standards and regu lations, such as those from ISO, Basel, and various governments worldwide. As individual professionals, we have a measure of consensus. Even a quick review of 100-or-so LinkedIn posts on the value of BIAs indicates BC professionals do tend to agree:

3) Our colleagues do not understand them. If the industry brings a united front in terms of value, why do we still face push back? At Least One Root Cause: Communicating Program Value The disconnect lies, in part, in how we communicate about them: either the value of BIAs has not been communicated well enough, or the understanding of its pur pose has not been retained. As a relative newcomer to business continuity, it has already become apparent to me our discipline has sometimes strug gled to communicate its own value and role with permanent effect. We find our selves justifying and re-explaining over and again.

28 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | WINTER 2024