This section explains how to manage plans, available in the Continuity module.
There are three default types of plans provided with the system: Business Continuity Plan, Disaster Recovery Plan, and Incident Management Plan. Custom types can be created through the Objects and Attributes section of the Administration module. Once saved, the plan type will be immediately available for use in the Continuity module. Each plan must be associated with at least one object for which it is intended. These objects can be strategic business components, tactical business components, or assets. Plans can be created at any time for any of these objects, regardless of whether they underwent a business impact analysis or were classified as critical.
Plans have certain general properties, such as the person responsible for it, the objective of the plan, and the estimated time it takes to execute it. As an estimated execution time can be provided for each procedure, the system will provide two suggestions for the estimated execution time of the plan as a whole, based on the best- and worst-case scenarios for the procedures. The best-case scenario assumes each procedure is executed in parallel, while the worst-case scenario assumes the procedures are executed sequentially and is therefore a sum of all the execution times provided for each procedure. The execution time of each plan should be compared against the RPO, RTO, and MTPD values provided for the objects associated with it to ensure that the time it takes to execute the plan does not exceed these values.
Plans can be associated with one or more published procedures in the Procedures tab, which are the more granular, detailed instructions that should be carried out and by whom. These are created in the Procedure Repository section of this module. The resources to be used in normal operating mode and in contingency mode can also be specified for each plan in the Resources tab, along with details to explain how each will be used.
Published plans can be associated with plans still being edited, allowing them to be grouped together as needed. All plans will be available for association, regardless of any other associations they might already have with other plans and regardless of your permissions. Access control is only verified when attempting to view the associated plan.
Each plan includes an Attachments tab, where images and other types of files can be attached that will be available in the HTML version of the plan. When the plan is viewed in the system, links will be provided to each image and other files attached.
A call tree can be created for the plan in the Call Tree tab, which allows you to select the people who must be called when the plan is executed and the people responsible for calling them. The call tree displays information that was previously registered in the Organization module for the person who must be called, in addition to the person responsible for calling them. Any attributes created for people in the Objects and Attributes section of the Administration module can also be included as column options for the person being called, except for Image attributes. The attributes to be displayed can be selected in the Customizations section of this module. Note that all the column options available in this section will be displayed in the HTML version of the plan regardless how the columns are configured in the list. Also note that if any information regarding the person is edited in the Organization module, the changes will only be reflected on this tab after clicking Synchronize Data, or the next time the plan is published.
Finally, attributes can be created for plans and applied to one or more plan types in the Administration module. All types of attributes are supported except for Outline and Relationship attributes, and follow the same publication rules for asset attributes. The order in which they appear can also be specified. These will be available in the Attributes tab of each plan and are included in the HTML version of the plan. For details, see Chapter 17: Administration -> Customizations -> Objects and Attributes.
Each plan has an ID that is generated based on the client ID followed by 8 digits, and the versions are automatically defined. A published plan cannot be deleted, but any version being edited can, and the previously published version will be restored.
Published plans can be validated to check whether there are any inconsistencies that may invalidate them. You can check for inconsistencies resulting from changes in objects associated with the plan or related to the plan execution time.
Events can also be created through the Continuity module for any plan that has already been published or that is still being edited. Once created, a HTML version of the plan will be attached in the Progress tab, which can be accessed by any user who has access to the event. A link to the plan will also be available on the Associated Plan tab, but it will only be accessible to users with permission to both the Continuity module and the plan. This function must be enabled for specific types of events in the Object Types section of the Administration module.