Five Ways to Build a Business Case for Business Continuity

It’s hard to believe that there are still C-level executives who don’t realize the critical importance of business continuity planning. But a new article suggests it’s sometimes still the case. Can BC make sense to executives who only care about dollars and cents?

In the article on the CSO.com website, Katherine Walsh says “convincing business executives, who typically think in dollars and cents, of such a plan’s criticality may be a tougher sell. While the fundamental importance of business continuity is fairly obvious, the reason to spend lots of money on it may not be.”

“Far too often business continuity is thought of as an expense, overhead, or something we have to do to please the auditors,” Jack Smith, vice president and manager of global IT business continuity at ABN Amro in Chicago, told Walsh “Look at it as a business opportunity and a competitive advantage instead.”

Walsh spoke to a number of experts for advice. She offers five tips to help make the case for continuity, including:

1. Use regulatory compliance to your advantage.
2. Aim to create a business continuity plan that reflects your company’s culture.
3. Encourage grass-roots support by meeting individually with people in different business units.
4. Stay flexible.
5. Find ways that business continuity can add to the bottom line.