Chance and uncertainty are part of the world we live in. We cannot predict what tomorrow will bring or whether a disaster will occur—but this doesn’t mean that we cannot plan for it. As an example, the city of Tampa, Florida, is in an area prone to hurricanes. Just because the possibility of a hurricane in winter in Tampa is extremely low doesn’t mean that planning can’t take place to reduce the potential negative impact. This is what the BIA is about. Its purpose is to think through all possible disasters that could take place, assess the risk, quantify the impact, determine the loss, and develop a plan to deal with the incidents that seem most likely to occur.

As a result, the BIA should present a clear picture of what is needed to continue operations if a disaster occurs. The individuals responsible for the BIA must look at the organization from many different angles and use information from a variety of inputs. For the BIA to be successful, the BIA team must know what key business processes are. Questions the team must ask when determining critical processes might include the following: