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Business Continuity Planning Isn’t Just About Disasters
At Elsevier, we believe business continuity planning is part of good business practice, and we’ve implemented a program to ensure all our business units have Business Continuity Plans.
These BCPs allow business units to continue to operate during incidents or disruptions that may impact their normal operations. Such incidents may range from external threats such as a terrorist attack, natural disaster or pandemic, to localized and more common incidents such as loss of key IT systems. Thus, the plans are not focused on dealing with disasters, but on dealing with all levels of disruption.
In addition, we have a Crisis Management Team for each of our locations. These teams include the managing directors and senior managers for key business units at specific Elsevier locations.
Global Approach, Implemented Locally
To manage our business continuity planning, Elsevier has adopted a global approach focusing on each business unit. To develop and implement its BCP, each business unit follows these steps:
- Completing a Business Impact and Risk Assessment questionnaire relating to key risks and likely impacts of various incidents
- Following up with a workshop, to identify critical elements within the business unit such as key staff, assets and IT systems
- Using information gained from the questionnaire and workshop to populate the main body of the Business Continuity Plan
- Identifying alternative ways of functioning without access to the critical elements
To achieve our BCP objectives, we have utilized the services and experience of a company specializing in such matters. A team from CQR Consulting has worked with us to create our global continuity framework. Their expertise in identifying key areas of risk within a business has been a critical factor in the success of our BCP program.
Implications for Customers
Every organization, whether a publisher or library, should devise its own business continuity plan to fit specific needs and realities. While Elsevier’s Business Continuity Plans are necessarily confidential and regardless couldn’t possibly serve as one-size-fits-all templates for other information organizations, this overview of our approach to continuity planning may offer a leg up to groups considering or involved in continuity planning.
Besides sharing here information that may be taken as general advice to serve in continuity planning, I wish also to offer some general reassurance. At Elsevier, we understand that in today’s increasingly e-world, continuity planning takes on even greater significance. Our business continuity planning seeks to ensure that information resources we provide remain available to you, our customers, to the maximum extent possible and despite untoward circumstances such as power outages.
Elsevier leadership takes seriously our responsibilities to the global library and scholarly community, and I hope this small article conveys the depth and breadth of business continuity planning continuously underway throughout our company. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Greg Inge at greg.inge@cqrconsulting.com. 
Include in each business unit BCP these key sections:
- How crisis and incident management is performed
- Information about your business unit’s critical processes and critical assets they require (e.g., applications, physical records)
- Contact information for key staff, suppliers and other third parties
- Task lists identifying key continuity and resumption actions (e.g., what you can do to keep your business processes going)
- Details of alternate work locations and remote working strategies for key staff in the event of a major incident
- Reference documentation that may be required to support the information contained in the plan
To complete your business continuity planning:
- Appoint a BCP coordinator for each business unit
- Build your BCP plan as per above
- Ensure all staff receive BCP orientation and understand their continuity roles
- Implement a process to ensure regular review of the plan
