Contingency Plan

A contingency plan is a plan devised for handling disasters, although any plan designed for any outcome any than the expected one can be said to be a contingency plan. Often referred to as plan B, it's applied for risks of great magnitude that would have wide reaching consequences for the business. It's often necessary to have a contingency plan in order to avoid the possibility of freeze-out that occurs when someone is faced with a situation previously thought of as unlikely to occur. A contingency plan describes not only how to prepare for disaster but also how one should act in the actual occurrence of one. It usually describes the tasks, responsibilities and competences assigned to the staff of an organisation. Devising an effective contingency plan includes a business impact analysis and assessment stage.

The seven-steps outlined for an IT contingency plan publication are:

1. Develop the contingency planning policy statement. A formal policy provides the authority and guidance necessary to develop an effective contingency plan.

2. Conduct the business impact analysis (BIA). The BIA helps identify and prioritize information systems and components critical to supporting the organization’s mission/business functions.

3. Identify preventive controls. Measures taken to reduce the effects of system disruptions can increase system availability and reduce contingency life cycle costs.

4. Create contingency strategies. Thorough recovery strategies ensure that the system may be recovered quickly and effectively following a disruption.

5. Develop an information system contingency plan. The contingency plan should contain detailed guidance and procedures for restoring a damaged system unique to the system’s security impact level and recovery requirements.

6. Ensure plan testing, training and exercises. Testing validates recovery capabilities, whereas training prepares recovery personnel for plan activation and exercising the plan identifies planning gaps; combined, the activities improve plan effectiveness and overall organization preparedness.

7. Ensure plan maintenance. The plan should be a living document that is updated regularly to remain current with system enhancements and organizational changes.


Reference:

ROUSE, Margaret. Contingency Plan. WhatIs.com Retrieved from <http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/contingency-plan>.