As education and awareness about BCP increases, so too, does
the availability of software solutions to assist in the process. This leads to the ever important question –
does my organization need to spend money on software when we already had a
tough sell to convince management to undertake a BCP Program?
There are certainly advantages to considering the purchase
of a software solution to assist in the BCP process within an
organization. A well-designed solution
will provide a solid starting point for organizations wishing to undertake the
exercise independently, guiding the team through the process and providing some
valuable insights into the overall scope of things to consider. Often the solutions provide baseline
templates that provide a great “jumping-off point” for organizations to begin
their BCP Program. Many solutions
support task tracking and management, as well as providing notification
functions. Some solutions are now
available as a Software as a Service (SAAS) offering -- these solutions are
hosted in the cloud and would be readily available in the event of a crisis
occurring that impacts access to internal systems and data.
Most solutions provide security that allows an administrator
to restrict access to information based on roles within the organization, and
will also allow specific users the ability to only read/view the data whereas
others would have the ability to create/edit information.
While there are many advantages to commercially available
solutions, there are also several disadvantages to consider when considering
the purchase of BCP software solutions.
If presented with “out of the box templates”, there is a risk that the
templates may not meet the needs of the organization but not be customizable so
the software will be perceived to be of no value, otherwise if customization is
possible it may come with a lofty price-tag that ultimately add to the total
application and BCP Program costs. If there
is a steep learning curve associated with the setup, use and ongoing
administration of software this too may add to the perceived total cost of
ownership that will incrementally impact the cost of what is already considered
as “an unnecessary expense or exercise”.
Another risk of relying on software solutions is that it creates the
perception that BCP is simply an exercise of ticking boxes and filling in
blanks, undermining the true value of the planning and analysis process and ultimately
minimizing the quality of the outputs.
While there are several pros and cons to acquiring software
to support an organization’s BCP Program, the following should be considered
when faced with deciding on this potential software acquisition:
1)
Does the organization already have sufficient
resources to create and maintain the templates, data and plans required for the
BCP Program using basic office software (i.e. Microsoft Office suite)?
2)
How much does the solution cost, and do the
benefits of using a software solution outweigh the acquisition, implementation
and maintenance costs?
3)
How complex is the organization? (A small and
simple organization may be less
likely to require a software solution than a large and complex one).
4)
Will input be required from multiple or geographically
dispersed units?
5)
Will complex data collection processes, tasks
and notifications be required for the program to be successful? If so, does the organization have the current
infrastructure and skills to support this?
6)
Does the organization require reporting
capabilities, data security, project management and tracking, and versioning of
documents?
7)
What are the auditing requirements for the BCP
Program? Will these audit requirements
be more effectively supported using a commercial software solution?
8)
Would a software solution provide a reasonable
ROI by streamlining the process or
reduce the costs associated of the coordination activities, design, and maintenance?
When contemplating a software
purchase to support a BCP Program, the organization should invest some up-front
time to consider the options. Identify a
small committee to work on testing and grading alternate solutions in terms of
implementation cost/complexity, functionality, overall performance, and
software support to identify which solution would be meet your needs. Not only will this help ensure the “best fit”
solution will be selected for the program, it will also ensure that there is
buy-in from the user community for that solution and likely reduce the change
management efforts required to launch the tool and integrate it into the
program.
Unfortunately, there is no easy
or best answer to the question of whether or not an organization needs a
software solution to support their BCP Program.
As a BCP leader within the organization, a thorough understanding of the
requirements, constraints and challenges you face, and a thorough review of the
alternatives will help make an informed decision as to what will best
contribute to the success of your BCP program.
This article is the third and final of a series prepared by Patrick Rivait and presented in this forum. I appreciate Patrick's contribution as these articles have added another dimension to this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment