BC COMMUNITY

Business Continuity

BCLE 2000
Cost: Please call or email.
Duration: 4.5 Days (Four full days of instruction 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., followed by one half-day Examination 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
32 Continuing Education Activity Points (CEAPs) may be awarded toward recertification if applicable
Examination: Q Exam

Description

An in-depth course using real-world examples and hands-on workshop exercises, Business Continuity (BCLE 2000) is the course for you if you are entering the business continuity field and want to develop a robust program that will protect your organization. During your time with an experienced instructor, you will work through the major elements of business continuity planning including evaluating risks, gaining executive buy-in, communicating in a crisis, conducting program audits, and more. Interactive workshop exercises are designed to immerse you in the process, enable you to learn by doing, and ensure that you leave this course having outlined a firm foundation for your program that is specific to your organization.

This course is designed to give students all the tools they need to pass the Qualifying Examination and continue on the path toward becoming a DRI Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP), Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP), Certified Functional Continuity Professional (CFCP), or Certified Business Continuity Vendor (CBCV).

Objective

Learn the elements of a disaster recovery, emergency management, and business continuity program, as defined by the DRI International Professional Practices
Understand industry terminology in the Professional Practices
Use the Professional Practices to develop a business continuity management program
Prepare to pass the DRI Qualifying Examination with a minimum passing grade of 75%

Outline

Lesson 1: Program Initiation and Management

Learn how to establish the need for and obtain management support of a business continuity program in your organization, as well as how to manage the process of developing such a program
Identify the requirements and imperatives of project management methodologies required to develop an enterprise-wide business continuity program
Workshop Exercise: Learn about practical application by developing a presentation for senior management on the importance of business continuity, relevant industry regulations, project resource requirements, and a project plan overview with well-defined deliverables

Lesson 2: Risk Evaluation and Control

Learn the basic concepts of risk management
Understand why a risk assessment is important to a business continuity program, the elements of a risk assessment, and how these are utilized to build a business continuity program
Learn the practical application of risk analysis, prevention, and mitigation
Workshop Exercise: Develop a presentation for senior management identifying three significant threats, determining what controls are currently in place for these threats, and your recommendations to improve current controls or implement new controls for each threat

Lesson 3: Business Impact Analysis

Learn the reasons for and value of conducting a business impact analysis (BIA)
Understand methodologies, terms, and definitions (such as mission-critical business processes, recovery time objectives (RTO), and acceptable exposure to loss)
Learn the practical applications of the BIA
Workshop Exercise: Develop a prioritized list of business functions and processes, the criticality category of each business function and process, and their RTOs

Lesson 4: Developing Business Continuity Strategies

Discover the challenges of selecting appropriate strategies for recovery of business processes, critical functions, operations, and the supporting information technologies within the specified RTO
Learn about alternative strategies, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and identify methods for presentation to senior management
Learn the process steps involved in analysis and strategy determination, supported by the risk assessment and BIA
Workshop Exercise: Build on previous exercises to identify recovery strategies, including a brief description, the advantages and disadvantages, and a subjective cost estimate of each strategy. Discuss how you would present recommendations for management approval

Lesson 5: Emergency Preparedness and Response

Learn the emergency management structure and the planning necessary to manage a crisis, including identification, escalation, and notification procedures
Discover the challenges of reviewing and coordinating existing emergency evacuation programs, or working to develop a new program
Participate in a detailed review of life safety procedures, emergency response procedures, and plan activation procedures, including activating the emergency operations center and corresponding command centers, securing the area, assessing damage, and salvage and restoration activities
Workshop Exercise: Develop a floor warden training program that includes vital training subjects, frequency, selection process, and other emergency response recommendations

Lesson 6: Business Continuity Plan Development and Implementation

Learn how to put the business continuity management (BCM) program into action by identifying all plan components including methodology, implementation, organization, and documentation
Explore the process of developing the plan document, including how to choose the approach, methodology, and plan document structure
Learn the elements of plan administration and plan documentation
Workshop Exercise: Identify the type of BCM plan needed by your organization, develop the plan’s scope, objectives and assumptions, and outline basic information about the plan and how it relates to the BCM program

Lesson 7: Awareness and Training Programs

Learn how to develop and implement a BCM awareness program as well as how to train staff and other affected parties
Workshop Exercise: Identify the elements you will need to implement your organization’s business continuity awareness and training program

Lesson 8: Business Continuity Plan Exercise, Audit, and Maintenance

Discover the components needed to establish an exercise, testing, maintenance, and audit program
Learn why a BCM program must implement a regular exercise schedule and how to do it
Learn how to track and document BCM activities in order to evaluate the ongoing state of readiness, allow for continuous improvement of recovery capabilities, and ensure that plans remain current and relevant
Explore why and how establishing an audit process will validate that plans are complete, accurate, and in compliance with organizational goals and industry standards as appropriate
Workshop Exercise: Identify an appropriate exercise for your organization’s current needs, assess the resources needed, develop an exercise scenario, and write an exercise script

Lesson 9: Crisis Communications

Learn how to develop procedures that will allow you to effectively communicate with all audiences, identify and train spokespersons, develop key messages, and work effectively with the media
Workshop Exercise: Determine whether an event is a potential crisis, the nature of the crisis, the stakeholders, the spokesperson(s), and the key message

Lesson 10: Coordination with External Agencies

Learn how to apply communication techniques and investigate partnering
Review the incident command system (ICS)
Explore compliance issues, including applicable statutes or regulations
Learn about the priorities of first responders, how to interface with emergency agencies, and the roles of the public and private sectors during an emergency

Lesson 11: Qualifying Examination Review

Review the important concepts from each of the earlier lessons
Prepare for the Qualifying Examination through a review of the Practice Examination questions