So you have all of your ducks in a row…but do your vendors/suppliers? Are they keeping you behind the proverbial eight ball?
You’ve been planning, implementing, practicing, editing and doing it all over again and again to protect your organization in the event of a disaster or major service interruption. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten about your service providers and other vendors. Just as important, hopefully they haven’t forgotten about building and having in place a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
Involve these suppliers and vendors in your planning. They should already be involved from a business impact analysis standpoint (this identifies vulnerabilities that could impact vital operations).
Identify your critical vendors. What I mean by that is simple, which vendors services/supplies if not there 10 minutes from now would greatly impact your business and which ones could you survive without for the short term or even find another supplier. So now that you’ve done that, communicate with them. Communicate with them constantly. Not in a badgering, borderline harassment kind of way but consistently.
Include your critical vendors (or all your vendors/suppliers – obviously time and resources permitting) in your BCP exercises. Tell them what you need from them in the event of the unforeseen. Work out a plan that works for them and helps you keep your critical business operations running.
Your Business Continuity Plan is up to date. Are your Vendor’s as diligent? You might just want to check.