Building a resilient business is mission-critical in the face of an evolving risk landscape composed of natural disasters, cyber attacks, and supply chain disruptions. Additionally, non-compliance can impose significant fines and penalties that threaten business continuity.

So, how can businesses become more resilient as the threats to business continuity continue to grow? Organizations need to be aware of threats to their continuity and take steps to mitigate them, becoming more resilient.

We’ll be breaking down some of the most effective ways to establish and optimize resilience practices to help protect continuity, profitability, and reputation. Keep reading to give your business the best chance when facing an uncertain future.

1. Establish a Risk Management Framework

Risk management frameworks take an overarching approach to managing possible risks and minimizing the impacts of any risks that become a reality. Fortunately, you don’t have to start from scratch and build your own framework. Instead, you can adopt existing frameworks and make any necessary changes. 

Frameworks like the NIST RMF (Risk Management Framework) give you the blueprint for staying on top of risks, including conducting risk assessments, implementing mitigation controls, and developing effective incident response plans. Other frameworks are worth considering based on your industry and organizational needs, such as ISO 31000.

2. Develop a Crisis Management Plan

Crisis management plans avoid requiring teams to develop solutions during an active crisis. These plans give response teams a blueprint, allowing them to execute the plan and focus on solving any problems specific to the crisis.

An effective crisis management plan also establishes overarching protocols to enact in the face of any incident, such as how to communicate, pre-designated roles, and when to involve legal teams. Having these plans prepared and practiced minimizes the problems facing the response team. 

3. Enhance Communication and Collaboration

Several possible risks can threaten communication and, in turn, collaboration throughout the organization. For the response team, this means reacting slower and extending the crisis. For everyone else, productivity can be severely affected, including some teams being unable to function.

Having out-of-band communications for response teams to leverage can make a significant difference in mounting an effective response and resolution. For other departments, simply knowing how to handle downed communications can go far in minimizing lost productivity. 

4. Diversify Supply Chains

Supply chain issues have become more common right alongside the growing complexity of a modern supply chain. For example, an issue with a company you don’t work with but supplies your suppliers can directly affect your ability to operate.

Building a diversified supply chain with primary and backup vendors goes a long way in creating a more resilient business. You can also look for local or domestic vendors rather than international suppliers, as there is less risk of external factors interfering with your supply chain.

5. Invest in Cybersecurity Measures

Cyber attacks have become increasingly common and impactful. Preventing an attack from succeeding is critical for creating a lasting business, while quickly responding to a successful attack can minimize its effects.

Mitigating cyber attacks requires ongoing risk assessments and implementing risk mitigation controls, such as preventative solutions or updating to zero trust architecture.

Cyber incident response plans require maintaining communications, having a scenario-specific blueprint to follow, and ongoing practice drills for responding to impactful attacks. 

6. Provide Ongoing Employee Training

Employees must know how to respond to possible disruptions to ensure overall continuity related to their roles. While this includes technical roles, it also includes other departments that may need to enact backup plans should a crisis occur. 

Training focused on business continuity should be specific to each department, helping them understand how to respond to a crisis. For example, what happens if a natural disaster hits the office or data center? Will they know how to respond to keep the business operational?

Provide quarterly or annual training based on the latest risk landscape so that every employee knows their responsibilities in a crisis and how to keep the business going.

7. Continuously Monitor Emerging Risks

The modern risk landscape never rests, with known risks changing and entirely new ones emerging alongside evolving technologies or shifting geopolitical trends. Annual risk assessments are critical to identifying threats, implementing controls, and creating response plans.

The risks facing your business will change over time, so mitigation controls from last year may not be effective against a cyber attack today, for example. Risk assessments can be lengthy, but they’re well worth the investment to ensure business continuity.

8. Prioritize Regulatory Compliance 

Non-compliance with regulatory requirements can significantly disrupt business operations, even suspending your ability to operate. At the same time, your compliance obligations can change dramatically every quarter. 

As a result, creating and optimizing a regulatory compliance program that keeps you aware of any changes and allows for quick implementation of any necessary changes is critical. Don’t underestimate non-compliance, as the reputational damage and direct costs can severely affect continuity and longevity.

9. Conduct Regular Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) focuses on how a successful cyber attack may affect the business, including financially, reputationally, and operationally. Risk assessments help identify specific threats and vulnerabilities, and a BIA evaluates these possible scenarios and how they’ll affect the business.

The result is knowing which risks pose the greatest threat to business continuity. Implement effective mitigation controls and develop robust response plans based on the BIA so the most costly risks are the least likely to become a reality.

10. Regularly Test and Improve Resilience Plans

Plans should be tested before they’re needed in an active incident. Even the best-made plans and leading-edge solutions will fall short if teams aren’t familiar with using them during an incident.

Conduct quarterly or annual drills to execute incident response plans for scenarios threatening continuity. These drills not only prepare teams but may also identify deficiencies that need to be corrected. Beyond response teams, annual drills for issues that may affect them, like a natural disaster, can enhance resilience.

How Resilient Is Your Organization in the Face of Disaster?

Resilience processes focus on keeping the business operating when faced with incidents that may otherwise bring everything to a standstill. Protecting business continuity involves mitigating and responding to crises and disasters to find solutions or alternatives before the business impact worsens.

Is your organization prepared to stay operational as possible disasters emerge? What risks might still bring your business to a slow down or stand still?

We’ve put together a checklist to help you assess your current state of disaster readiness and identify areas to improve upon — check out our disaster readiness checklist today to start improving resilience.