Business Continuity Testing Explained: Process, Tools, and Common Challenges

Importance and Benefits

Business continuity planning (BCP) emerged in the 1970s, primarily to protect cooling systems, a critical infrastructure for mainframe computers. As technology advanced and risks diversified, BCP expanded to encompass broader Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) goals. Testing the organization’s business continuity is a vital component of this undertaking. Carefully conducting this contributes to the following:

• Diminished vulnerabilities – By simulating various scenarios of disruptions and analyzing their impact, companies can pinpoint weaknesses in their processes and systems and address those gaps proactively.
• Better recovery plans – Business continuity plan testing allows organizations to assess if their strategies can be executed as intended. By validating this, they respond faster and resume product and service delivery immediately after the interruption.
• Improved employee preparedness – Drills and simulations help prepare employees for emergencies, building confidence and strengthening cross-functional collaboration.
• Increased stakeholder confidence – Clients, partners, and investors trust companies committed to proactive risk management because it demonstrates operational resilience, financial stability, and reliability.
• Lesser financial losses – Disastrous events often result in substantial monetary damage. Identifying risks and validating recovery strategies protect the company’s revenue streams and safeguard their long-term viability.

Industry Business Continuity Testing Examples

Large enterprises and small start-ups today understand the importance of integrating a methodically developed business continuity testing policy into their daily operations. Here are some specific examples to adopt:

Simulated Cyberattack Response

This BCP triggers a mock breach alert on dummy systems, assessing how the organization detects attacks, communicates protocols, contains the issue, and restores the system.

Global shipping company Maersk was hit by the NotPetya malware, causing worldwide shutdowns. The organization resumed operations within 10 days, thanks to a comprehensive review of business continuity strategies.

Natural Disaster Drill

Evacuation procedures, alternative work arrangements, and data recovery processes are tested to ensure the company is prepared for earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes.

Toyota has proven its resilience with its swift response to the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. It continues BCP testing to speed up its recovery efforts in future events.

Supply Chain Disruption Exercise

Companies simulate supply chain failures (e.g., shipping delays, production shutdown, raw material shortage) to see how fast procurement and production teams identify alternate suppliers and adjust inventories.

Due to Apple’s periodic supply chain stress tests, the company continued operations despite the pandemic shutdown. The review spurred the decision to lessen over-reliance on Chinese suppliers and diversify production hubs to other countries.

Power Outage Scenario

Total blackouts caused by severe weather conditions, accidents, and cyberattacks affect the company’s entire system. Simulating lighting, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), and equipment failures checks the effectiveness of backup systems (e.g., uninterruptible power supplies and generators).

Large tech companies perform chaos engineering tests, particularly on diesel generators and batteries. However, many Texas data centers were ill-equipped during the unprecedented winter storm of 2021, causing the state’s power grid to fail.

Pandemic Preparedness Plan

The world was caught off-guard by the major public health crisis in 2020. Many companies began to simulate outbreaks (e.g., 30-50% worker unavailability) to check their remote work capabilities, employee health monitoring, and communication protocols.

With effective BCT, tech giants like Microsoft, Zoom, and Amazon successfully established dedicated teams to monitor pandemics, implement safety protocols, and innovate to continue operations despite lockdowns.

Business Continuity Testing Process

Business continuity tests are complex. However, running one can be straightforward, especially when designated teams follow a well-structured approach. Follow this simple guide:

Steps in Business Continuity Testing

Step 1: Define testing objectives.

Decide on the specific aspect of the business continuity plan to test (e.g., IT failover, facility evacuation, supply chain disruption, etc.) and establish its goal. This step also involves determining which critical business function is essential to the operations for prioritization and appropriate resource allocation.

Step 2: Choose the type of business continuity test.

This decision directly impacts the depth and breadth of testing, resource allocation, and insights gained. Here are some types to consider:

• Tabletop exercises or discussion-based planning
• Walkthrough testing or the step-by-step review of roles and tasks
• Live test or simulation, the full-scale execution of the BCP
• Call tree tests go through communication protocols
• Parallel testing, replicating the system in a test environment to minimize operational disruptions
• Functional IT exercises, scrutinizing data recovery, backup restoration, and failover systems

Step 3: Develop a realistic testing scenario.

Create realistic scenarios (e.g., power outages, cyberattacks, or supply chain disruptions) and tailor each to test specific elements of the continuity plan. Here are some examples:

• Lock employees out of systems to test ransomware attacks.
• Prevent access to the company’s primary office in an earthquake drill.
• Cut electricity for 24 hours to simulate a power outage.

Step 4: Execute the test.

Carry out the test as if it were a real event. Involve all stakeholders and assign their roles and responsibilities to ensure smooth execution. Establish effective communication channels for information sharing, decision-making, and proper documentation.

Step 5: Monitor, measure, record, and analyze results.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the test, comparing the expected outcomes to the actual performance of the developed resilience strategies. Here are some business continuity testing best practices:

• Define specific metrics (e.g., response times, recovery times, and recovery points).
• Collect data on various aspects of the test (e.g., participant performance and communication lines).
• Interview participants about their observations, challenges met, and lessons learned.
• Investigate failures by conducting root cause analysis.

Step 6: Conduct a post-testing review to update continuity plans.

This step involves analyzing the results, identifying weaknesses and gaps in the plan, and making the necessary adjustments, such as improving response times, enhancing coordination, and mitigating financial loss.

Overcoming Challenges

Organizations still encounter numerous challenges even when they follow a well-defined BCT framework, primarily because threat landscapes continue to evolve. Get to know these well and prepare for them accordingly:

• Resistance to change – Securing support from key stakeholders is an inherent problem when new initiatives are introduced. This may hinder the adoption of new methodologies and tools.
• Resource constraints – BCT requires sufficient time, funding, and personnel for planning, execution, and post-review work. If top leadership can’t provide this, the endeavor will fail.
• Scenario complexity – Small to medium-sized enterprises struggle to conduct a comprehensive BCT because creating realistic scenarios modeled after real-life disasters is laborious and costly.
• Changing business environments – Evolving regulations, technology, and business practices require new BCTs, which may lead to fatigue, decreased engagement, and test ineffectiveness.

These issues can be solved by utilizing business continuity software. Comprehensive solutions can automate many aspects of the testing process, from scenario development, resource allocation and budgeting, test execution, and result analysis. Streamlining these tasks enables organizations to take proactive measures to minimize these challenges.