FEMA Releases Continuity Document for Whole Community

FEMA Releases Continuity Document for Whole Community: Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis Users Guide

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Continuity Programs has released today the Business Process Analysis and Business Impact Analysis User Guide. The document is intended for use by whole community stakeholders. It incorporates the concepts found in the FEMA Continuity Guidance Circular and places them in a user’s guide for those individuals that must determine an organization’s essential functions, how those essential functions are conducted and resourced and how to mitigate impacts to the performance of those functions.

An important first step in creating a continuity program is to identify the essential functions of an organization and its relationships to National Essential Functions. To do so, an entity must conduct a Business Process Analysis (BPA). A BPA is a systematic process that identifies and documents the activities and tasks that are performed within an organization.

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a method of identifying and evaluating the effects that various threats and hazards may have on the ability of an organization to perform its essential functions and the resulting impact of those effects. The BIA facilitates the identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities to ensure that when a disruption or crisis occurs, an organization can perform its essential functions.

To view the document, and for additional information about Continuity and Continuity planning, please visit the Continuity toolkit at https://www.fema.gov/policy-plans-evaluations. The User Guide can be found in the Continuity Guidance Circular, Chapter 2: Building a Capability.