Define business continuity plan overview
Applies to: Dynamics 365
This article explains why you need a business continuity plan when you implement cloud solutions like Dynamics 365. It also describes some tools that can help you create a business continuity plan.
A business continuity plan helps you keep your critical business functions running in case of unexpected disruptions. It includes a framework to identify potential risks, prevent them if possible, and recover quickly if they happen. In today's fast-changing business environment, where digital transformation is common, a strong business continuity plan is more than a good practice. It's a strategic necessity.
Cloud solutions like Dynamics 365 are essential for modern businesses. They power your processes and workflows. But any downtime or data loss can hurt your efficiency and customer trust. That's why you need a clear business continuity plan when you implement Dynamics 365. It helps you protect your critical systems and data.
A successful business continuity plan for Dynamics 365 isn't just a backup plan. It's a strategic investment. You need to understand how this powerful platform works and how to reduce and recover from risks. As Dynamics 365 becomes part of your project, you need to think about data backup, system monitoring, and failover mechanisms. Microsoft protects and manages your software as a service (SaaS) components in the Microsoft tenant. But you also need to consider other components that connect with or are used with your Dynamics 365 components.
In this article, we'll explore the types of tools and options that you should consider when you create a business continuity plan for Dynamics 365 implementations. We'll look at Azure-based solutions and third-party tools that can help you improve your project's resilience and ensure that your business processes are uninterrupted.
We have defined some processes in our business process catalog for business continuity planning. They include a strategic framework with steps to ensure organizational resilience. You start with clear objectives, then do a Business Impact Analysis to assess possible disruptions and prioritize recovery efforts. You identify risks, create a detailed plan, and implement it. You test and validate the plan regularly to make sure it works well. You also update it to reflect changes in technology, processes, and risks. At the same time, you identify and prioritize critical systems and data.
You do a Disaster Risk Assessment to inform recovery objectives, then create and implement a Disaster Recovery Plan. You test, validate, and update the plan to make it adaptable to changing threats and technologies. This way, you're ready and resilient in case of unforeseen disruptions.
You should integrate business continuity planning into your Dynamics 365 implementation project from the beginning. When you define your project objectives and critical business processes, you should also evaluate potential risks and plan for disruptions. Throughout the implementation lifecycle, you should review and improve your business continuity plan as you develop and deploy Dynamics 365 solutions.
By including business continuity planning in your implementation process from the start, you can proactively address risks, protect critical systems, and ensure a strong framework for continuity. This will help you make your Dynamics 365 project successful and sustainable.
Stakeholders
Many people across your organization should contribute to the decision-making and design of the define business continuity plan area. Here are some examples of such stakeholders:
Executive leadership stakeholders include CEOs, CFOs, and CIOs. Executive leaders provide strategic oversight and make sure that business continuity planning aligns with organizational goals and priorities. They're important for resource allocation and decision-making in times of crisis.
IT management stakeholders include CIOs, IT directors, and IT managers. IT management plays a key role in identifying critical systems and data, implementing technical aspects of the continuity plan, and ensuring that IT resources work well with overall organizational resilience strategies.
Risk management stakeholders include Chief Risk Officers (CROs), risk managers, or compliance officers. Risk management professionals assess and reduce potential risks. They do thorough analyses to inform the development of business continuity plans. Their insights are crucial for following compliance standards and industry regulations.
Operations stakeholders include COOs, operations managers, and supply chain managers. Operations management oversees the identification of critical business processes and makes sure that continuity plans are tailored to maintain smooth operations. They contribute by coordinating resources and personnel during disruptions.
Human resources stakeholders include HR directors and HR managers. Human Resources plays a key role in continuity planning by addressing the human element. They contribute by creating plans for employee safety, communication, and welfare during disruptions. They ensure a people-centric approach.
Facilities stakeholders include facilities managers and facility operations directors. Facilities management focuses on the physical aspects of continuity, such as protecting infrastructure and workspaces. They contribute by creating plans for facility evacuation, access control, and restoration.
Communications stakeholders include communications managers and public relations specialists. Communication professionals are vital for maintaining clear and effective communication during disruptions. They contribute by creating communication plans and sharing timely and accurate information with internal and external stakeholders.
Legal and compliance stakeholders include general counsels or compliance managers. Legal and compliance professionals make sure that continuity plans follow legal requirements and industry regulations. They contribute by providing guidance on legal implications and ensuring that plans are ethically and legally sound.
Involving these stakeholders ensures a comprehensive and balanced approach to business continuity planning. It addresses technical, operational, human, and legal aspects that are important for organizational resilience.
Define business continuity plan process flow
The following diagram shows the Define business continuity plan process area.
Each solid gray rectangle on the diagram represents an end-to-end business process. The solid blue rectangle represents the business process area. The diagram shows the subprocesses for the business process area. The arrows on the diagram show the flow of the business process in an organization. If a subprocess can lead to more than one other subprocess, the parallel subprocesses are shown as branches.
Start
A parallel branch from Start connects to the Forecast to plan end-to-end process, which connects to Define strategic and operational plans, which also connects to Define business continuity objectives.
Administer to operate
A parallel branch connects to the business process area for Monitor systems, environments, and capacity under Administer to operate, which connects to Manage system compliance, which connects to Support systems. All three business process areas have a parallel connection to Test and validate the business continuity plan.
Define business continuity plan
Define business continuity objectives
Conduct business impact analysis
Conduct a risk assessment
Identify critical systems and data
Identify business continuity risks
Develop a business continuity plan
Implement a business continuity plan
Test and validate the business continuity plan
A parallel branch connects to Test and validate the disaster recovery plan
Maintain and update the business continuity plan
A parallel branch connects to Mitigate and update the disaster recovery plan
Define recovery objectives
Develop a disaster recovery plan
Implement and test the disaster recovery plan
A parallel branch connects to Train users and increase adoption under the Administer to operate end-to-end process shown on the right side of the diagram, which connects to Monitor systems, environment, and capacity.
Test and validate the disaster recovery plan
Parallel branches connect to Monitor systems, environments, and capacity, Manage system compliance, and Support systems, which connects to End.
Mitigate and update the disaster recovery plan
Parallel branches connect to each of the following business process areas under the Administer to operate end-to-end process: Train users and increase adoption, Monitor systems, environments, and capacity, Manage system compliance, and Support systems.
End
Define business continuity plan benefits
Here are some key benefits that you can use to monitor and measure how well you implement technology to support the define business continuity plan processes.
Enhance operational resilience
When you use Dynamics 365 to support your business process, many of the business continuity planning processes are included with the service-level agreement (SLA) of the solution. This ensures that your critical business functions keep running even during disruptions. The Dynamics 365 cloud-based architecture enables real-time data access and collaboration, reducing downtime risks. You can measure operational resilience by how much you reduce downtime during disruptions and how well you maintain essential business processes without affecting productivity.
Optimize response time
Dynamics 365 is built on Azure and uses Azure services for disaster recovery and high availability out of the box. You can also use Azure services for extra components in your architecture, which improves your agility and responsiveness in recovery efforts. Azure's scalable infrastructure allows you to deploy resources quickly, ensuring fast recovery of critical systems and data in case of a disaster. You can measure response time optimization by how fast you restore critical systems, minimizing the overall impact on your business operations.
High availability and reliability with Microsoft SLA
Microsoft's SLA for Dynamics 365 guarantees high availability and reliability of the platform. By following the SLA, you benefit from a robust and stable environment, reducing the risk of service disruptions and ensuring business continuity. You can measure SLA adherence by monitoring system uptime, tracking any unplanned downtime, and ensuring that the platform meets the agreed-upon service levels.
Seamless collaboration and communication
The collaborative features of Dynamics 365 enable seamless communication and coordination during business continuity planning and execution. Teams can work together in real time, share critical information, and respond quickly to emerging challenges, fostering a culture of proactive collaboration. You can measure improved collaboration through feedback on communication effectiveness during simulated tests and real disruptions, and the overall efficiency of information sharing.
Enhanced plan effectiveness through continuous improvement
By using Dynamics 365 and Azure for business continuity planning, you benefit from data-driven insights and analytics. This enables continuous improvement of your plans based on real-world testing outcomes, evolving risks, and technological advancements. You can measure plan effectiveness by regularly assessing and updating your plans, incorporating lessons learned from testing, and ensuring that your plans evolve in alignment with your organization's changing landscape.
These benefits highlight the synergy between Dynamics 365, Azure, and effective business continuity planning. They emphasize the tangible advantages of using Microsoft cloud services for a resilient and responsive organizational infrastructure.
Next steps
If you want to implement Dynamics 365 solutions to assist with your administer to operate business processes, you can use the following resources and steps to learn more. (Links are added, when the articles are ready.)
- Define business continuity plan (The article you're currently reading.)
- Manage licensing and entitlements
- Administer system features
- Manage system access and security
- Train users and increase adoption
- Monitor systems, environments, and capacity
- Manage background jobs
- Manage notifications alerts
- Uptake software releases
- Manage data synchronization
- Manage system compliance
- Support systems
Related information
You can use the following resources to learn more about business continuity.
- Service-level agreements
- Business continuity and disaster recovery for Dynamics 365 SaaS apps
- Business continuity and disaster recovery - Finance & Operations
- Resiliency and continuity - Microsoft Service Assurance
- Customer and cloud partner enterprise business continuity responsibilities
- Considerations for your enterprise business continuity management plan
- Enterprise business continuity management plan rehearsal and user training
- Microsoft 365 for enterprise business continuity management mitigations
- Strengthening operational resilience and reducing concentration risk in financial services
Contributors
This article is maintained by Microsoft. It was originally written by the following contributors.
Principal author:
- Rachel Profitt | Principal Program Manager