Terms

Business Continuity

What is Business Continuity?

Business continuity refers to an organization's ability to maintain critical functions during and after unexpected events, such as natural disasters, cyber attacks, or supply chain disruptions. It involves proactive and reactive planning to prevent operational interruptions and ensure a swift return to normalcy when disruptions occur.

Understanding Key Components

Understanding the key components of business continuity is crucial for effective planning and management. Three main aspects to consider are:

  • Resiliency: The ability of an organization to withstand disruptions and continue functioning with minimal impact. This includes designing systems and processes that can adapt to changing circumstances.
  • Recovery: The process of restoring normal operations after a disruption. This involves identifying critical functions, setting recovery time objectives, and developing strategies to meet those objectives.
  • Contingency: Preparing for unexpected events by developing alternative plans and strategies. This includes identifying potential risks, assessing their impact, and creating contingency plans to address them.

Steps to Ensure Continuity

To ensure continuity, organizations should follow these steps:

  • Conduct a business impact analysis: Evaluate the importance of different business functions and identify the most critical elements to maintain during a disturbance.
  • Establish clear communication: Keep all stakeholders informed about their roles and responsibilities during an emergency, coordinate recovery efforts, and provide updates on the recovery process.
  • Regularly review and update plans: Ensure business continuity plans remain effective and relevant by incorporating changes in the organization's structure, technology, or processes, and lessons learned from previous incidents.
  • Identify critical functions: Understand organizational structures, dependencies, suppliers, and stakeholders through business continuity planning and management.
  • Create a response team: Develop a team responsible for implementing reactive measures to return to an acceptable level of operations following an interruption, disaster, or crisis.
  • Train and test: Prepare and exercise business continuity plans to ensure they perform as anticipated, and provide necessary training to staff.
  • Perform risk assessments: Identify potential hazards, their potential impact, and likelihood to help prioritize recovery efforts.
  • Develop recovery strategies: Set recovery time objectives (RTOs) for different systems, networks, or applications, and establish resource inventories, third-party agreements, and alternative spaces for mission-critical functions.
  • Document the plan: Create a comprehensive business continuity plan that considers unpredictable events and potential threats, enabling the organization to maintain at least minimal operations during a crisis.

Common Challenges

Organizations face several common challenges when it comes to business continuity, including security breaches, natural disasters, power outages, equipment failures, and sudden staff departures. Overcoming these challenges requires a proactive approach and strategic planning.

Some effective strategies to address these challenges include conducting a business impact analysis to evaluate the importance of different functions, ensuring systems and processes are resilient and can withstand disruptions, and having contingency plans in place for unforeseen events. By implementing these strategies, organizations can maintain critical functions, recover from interruptions more quickly, and minimize the risk of financial, personal, and reputational loss.

Best Practices

Adopting best practices in business continuity can help organizations maintain critical functions and recover from disruptions more effectively. Some of these practices include:

  • Evaluating Business Functions: Conduct a business impact analysis to assess the importance of different business functions.
  • Maintaining Critical Elements: Create a plan to maintain the most critical elements during a disturbance.
  • Testing Procedures: Test tools and disaster recovery procedures before an actual disaster occurs.
  • Proactive Measures: Implement proactive measures to prevent operational interruptions, crises, and disasters.
  • Reactive Measures: Develop measures to enable the organization to return to acceptable operations within a desired timescale after an interruption, disaster, or crisis.
  • Risk Awareness Culture: Encourage a culture where employees are aware of everyday risks and their responsibility to report, manage, and mitigate these risks.
  • Clear Guidelines: Establish clear and comprehensive guidelines for maintaining operations during disruptions.
  • Response Prioritization: Define different levels of response, prioritizing the most vital functions and scheduling less critical functions to come back online later.
  • Flexible Response Plan: Create a flexible response plan to address potential risks, detailing how these risks will affect operations and outlining safeguards and procedures for disaster scenarios.

Other terms

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
00 items

Day Sales Outstanding

Learn about day sales outstanding, including calculating your DSO, strategies for reducing DSO, impact of DSO on cash flow, & DSO vs. cash conversion cycle.

Day Sales Outstanding

Customer Data Analysis

Learn about customer data analysis, including benefits of customer data analysis, & key techniques in analyzing customer data.

Customer Data Analysis

Conversational Intelligence?

Learn about conversational intelligence, including its benefits, implementing it strategically, conversational intelligence vs. traditional sales tactics, and its key components.

Conversational Intelligence?

Unique Selling Point

Learn about unique selling point, including identifying your unique selling point, crafting a compelling USP, & unique selling point vs. value proposition.

Unique Selling Point

Sales Lead

Learn about sales lead, including identifying your ideal sales lead, generating quality leads effectively, & comparing sales leads and prospects.

Sales Lead

Sales Enablement

Learn about sales enablement, including the key components of sales enablement, & crafting an effective sales enablement strategy.

Sales Enablement

Sales Sequence

Learn about sales sequence, including crafting an effective sales sequence, key elements of sales sequences, & sales sequence versus email campaigns.

Sales Sequence

Freemium Models

Learn about freemium models, including understanding freemium benefits, steps to implementing freemium, & challenges of freemium models.

Freemium Models

Quarterly Business Review

Learn about quarterly business review, including preparing for a successful quarterly business review, & key components of an effective QBR.

Quarterly Business Review

Demand Forecasting

Learn about demand forecasting, including benefits of demand forecasting, implementing effective forecasting strategies, & common pitfalls to avoid.

Demand Forecasting

Load Balancing

Learn about load balancing, including how load balancing works, benefits of load balancing, load balancing techniques, & challenges in load balancing.

Load Balancing

Unit Economics

Learn about unit economics, including calculating unit economics: step-by-step, key metrics in unit economics, & unit economics vs. overall profitability.

Unit Economics

B2B Intent Data

Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.

B2B Intent Data

No Cold Calls

Learn about no cold calls, including alternatives to cold calling, strategies for warm outreach, & enhancing customer relationships without cold calls.

No Cold Calls

Customer Journey Mapping

Learn about customer journey mapping, including steps to construct a customer journey map, & key components of an effective map.

Customer Journey Mapping

Closed Lost

Learn about closed lost, including understanding common causes of closed lost, & strategies to minimize closed lost scenarios.

Closed Lost

Predictive Lead Generation

Learn about predictive lead generation, including benefits of predictive lead generation, & key components of effective strategies.

Predictive Lead Generation

Consideration Buying Stage

Learn about consideration buying stage, including identifying the consideration stage, key strategies for engagement, & consideration vs. decision stage.

Consideration Buying Stage

Referral Marketing

Learn about referral marketing, including benefits of referral marketing, building a successful referral program, & referral marketing vs. affiliate marketing.

Referral Marketing

Demand

Learn about demand, including key factors influencing demand, elasticity of demand, types of demand, & demand forecasting methods.

Demand

MEDDICC

Learn about MEDDICC, including implementing MEDDICC effectively, key elements of MEDDICC, & MEDDICC versus traditional sales models.

MEDDICC

Marketing Intelligence

Learn about marketing intelligence, including benefits of marketing intelligence, & implementing marketing intelligence strategies.

Marketing Intelligence

Sales Operations Analytics

Learn about sales operations analytics, including key components of sales operations analytics, & implementing sales operations analytics effectively.

Sales Operations Analytics

Objection

Learn about objection, including understanding objections in sales, types of common sales objections, & handling objections effectively.

Objection

Affiliate Networks

Learn about affiliate networks, including introduction to affiliate networks, how affiliate networks work, & benefits of affiliate networks.

Affiliate Networks

Warm Outbound

Learn about warm outbound, including understanding warm outbound, benefits of warm outbound strategies, & implementing warm outbound in your sales process.

Warm Outbound

Internal signals

Learn about internal signals, including identifying key internal signals, strategies for effective monitoring, & impact of internal signals on sales strategy.

Internal signals

Product Champion

Learn about product champion, including identifying potential product champions, & cultivating a product champion mindset.

Product Champion

Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Learn about unique value proposition (UVP), including its definition, key components, how to create one, benefits, and examples of effective UVPs.

Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Targeted Marketing

Learn about targeted marketing, including benefits of targeted marketing, key strategies for effective targeting, & targeted marketing vs. mass marketing.

Targeted Marketing

Smile and Dial

Learn about smile and dial, including the benefits of smile and dial, strategies for effective smile and dial campaigns, & smile and dial vs. digital outreach.

Smile and Dial

Sales Prospecting Techniques

Learn about sales prospecting techniques, including essentials of effective prospecting, & crafting your prospecting strategy.

Sales Prospecting Techniques

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

Learn about REST API, including benefits of using REST API, how to implement REST API, REST API vs. other APIs, and best practices for REST API.

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

B2B Leads

Learn about B2B leads, including identifying quality B2B leads, generating B2B leads effectively, & B2B leads vs. B2C leads: understanding the differences.

B2B Leads

Sales Conversion Rate

Learn about sales conversion rate, including maximizing your sales conversion rate, & factors influencing conversion rates.

Sales Conversion Rate

Average Customer Life

Learn about average customer life, including calculating average customer life, key factors influencing customer life, & improving average customer life.

Average Customer Life

Total Audience Measurement

Learn about total audience measurement, including key components of total audience measurement, & benefits of adopting total audience measurement.

Total Audience Measurement

Cold Emailing

Learn about cold emailing, including crafting effective cold emails, keys to high-opening cold emails, & cold emailing vs. warm emailing.

Cold Emailing

Cost Per Impression

Learn about cost per impression, including calculating cost per impression, cost per impression vs cost per click, & improving your cost.

Cost Per Impression

Sales Calls

Learn about sales calls, including optimizing sales calls for success, crafting the perfect sales pitch, & beyond cold calling: exploring alternatives.

Sales Calls

Phishing Attacks

Learn about phishing attacks, including sure, & here are four headings for the sections that will follow "what is phishing attacks?" in your glossary article:.

Phishing Attacks

Consultative Sales

Learn about consultative sales, including principles of effective consultative selling, & key benefits of consultative sales.

Consultative Sales

ETL

Learn about ETL, including understanding the ETL process, steps in the ETL workflow, benefits of ETL in outbound sales, & ETL tools to consider.

ETL

Customer Lifecycle

Learn about customer lifecycle, including stages of the customer lifecycle, & key metrics for customer lifecycle analysis.

Customer Lifecycle

Account Development Representative

Learn about account development representative, including key responsibilities of an account development representative.

Account Development Representative

Digital Contracts

Learn about digital contracts, including benefits of digital contracts, best practices for drafting, key features to include, & common pitfalls to avoid.

Digital Contracts

FAB Technique

Learn about FAB technique, including implementing FAB in sales strategies, benefits of the FAB technique, & FAB vs. other sales techniques.

FAB Technique

Buyer Behavior

Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.

Buyer Behavior

Scalability

Learn about scalability, including understanding scalability in business, benefits of scalability, & key elements of scalability.

Scalability

Gated Content

Learn about gated content, including benefits of gated content, crafting effective gated content, & gated vs. ungated content: key differences.

Gated Content

Sales Enablement Technology

Learn about sales enablement technology, including key benefits of sales enablement technology, & essential features of sales enablement platforms.

Sales Enablement Technology

Content Curation

Learn about content curation, including purpose of content curation , key elements to success , & comparing curation and creation .

Content Curation

Mobile Compatibility

Learn about mobile compatibility, including understanding its importance, benefits of mobile compatibility, & adapting websites for mobile.

Mobile Compatibility

Sales Quota

Learn about sales quota, including setting sales quotas: best practices, types of sales quotas explained, & achieving your sales quota: strategies.

Sales Quota

Analytical CRM

Learn about analytical CRM, including benefits of analytical CRM, implementing analytical CRM successfully, & analytical CRM vs. operational CRM.

Analytical CRM

SEO

Learn about SEO, including how it works, benefits, strategies, measuring success, and tips to optimize your website for search engines.

SEO

Sales Pipeline Reporting

Learn about sales pipeline reporting, including essentials of sales pipeline reporting, key metrics to track, & sales pipeline vs. sales forecasting.

Sales Pipeline Reporting

Sales and Marketing Analytics

Learn about sales and marketing analytics, including key benefits of sales and marketing analytics, & implementing analytics successfully.

Sales and Marketing Analytics

Simple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface

Learn about SOAP API, including benefits of SOAP API, how SOAP API works, SOAP API vs. REST API, and common use cases for SOAP API.

Simple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface

Omnichannel Sales

Learn about omnichannel sales, including the benefits of omnichannel sales, crafting an omnichannel strategy, omnichannel vs. multichannel.

Omnichannel Sales

Conversion Path

Learn about conversion path, including designing an effective conversion path, & components of a successful conversion path.

Conversion Path

Prospecting

Learn about prospecting, including strategies for effective prospecting, key principles of successful prospecting, prospecting vs. lead generation.

Prospecting

Cold Calling

Learn about cold calling, including crafting effective cold calling scripts, the art of the follow-up call, cold calling vs. warm calling: u.

Cold Calling

Below the Line

Learn about below the line, including key strategies for below the line marketing, & distinguishing above and below the line tactics.

Below the Line

Account-Based Marketing Benchmarks

Learn about account-based marketing benchmarks, including setting account-based marketing goals, & key metrics for ABM success.

Account-Based Marketing Benchmarks

On Target Earnings

Learn about on target earnings, including calculating on target earnings, factors influencing on target earnings, & on target earnings vs. base salary.

On Target Earnings

Fault Tolerance

Learn about fault tolerance, including understanding fault tolerance, importance of fault tolerance, key components, & implementation strategies.

Fault Tolerance

B2B Marketing Attribution

Learn about B2B marketing attribution, including challenges in B2B marketing attribution, & key metrics for effective attribution.

B2B Marketing Attribution

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Learn about MQL, including identifying quality MQLs, transforming MQLs into SQLs, MQLs vs. SQLs, and its impacts.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Sales Demo

Learn about sales demo, including preparing a winning sales demo, characteristics of successful sales demos, & sales demo versus product demo.

Sales Demo

Cybersecurity

Learn about cybersecurity, including how cybersecurity works, benefits of strong cybersecurity, & best practices in cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity

Subscription Models

Learn about subscription models, including how subscription models work, advantages of subscription models, & implementing subscription pricing.

Subscription Models

B2B Data Solutions

Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.

B2B Data Solutions

Copyright Compliance

Learn about copyright compliance, including how to ensure copyright compliance , & key benefits of copyright compliance .

Copyright Compliance

LPI

Learn about LPI, including understanding LPI in sales context, implementing LPI strategies effectively, & comparing LPI with traditional sales metrics.

LPI

CPM

Learn about CPM, including understanding CPM calculation, types of CPM models, importance of CPM in sales, & CPM vs. alternative metrics.

CPM

B2B Data

Learn about B2B data, including sources and types of B2B data, leveraging B2B data for sales success, & ensuring the accuracy of B2B data.

B2B Data

Marketing Funnel

Learn about marketing funnel, including stages of the marketing funnel, building a successful marketing funnel, & marketing funnel vs. sales funnel.

Marketing Funnel

CSS

Learn about CSS, including understanding CSS benefits , how CSS improves user experience , & essential components of CSS .

CSS

Marketing Attribution

Learn about marketing attribution, including the importance of marketing attribution, & models of marketing attribution explained.

Marketing Attribution

Product-Market Fit

Learn about product-market fit, including identifying product-market fit, key metrics for product-market fit, & strategies to achieve product-market fit.

Product-Market Fit

Sales Forecast

Learn about sales forecast, including key elements of sales forecasting, methods for accurate sales projections, sales forecasting vs. sales goals.

Sales Forecast

Customer Buying Signals

Learn about customer buying signals, including identifying common buying signals, interpreting non-verbal cues, & effective response strategies.

Customer Buying Signals

Persona Map

Learn about persona map, including building an effective persona map, key elements of a persona map, persona map vs. target market.

Persona Map

Lead Generation Tactics

Learn about lead generation tactics, including strategies for successful lead generation, & key components of effective lead generation.

Lead Generation Tactics

Mobile Optimization

Learn about mobile optimization, including understanding its importance, best practices, common mistakes, & future trends.

Mobile Optimization

Cloud-based CRM

Learn about cloud-based CRM, including benefits of cloud-based CRM, key features of cloud-based CRM, & cloud-based CRM vs. on-premises solutions.

Cloud-based CRM

Hard Sell

Learn about hard sell, including strategies for effective hard selling, key elements of a successful hard sell, & understanding the impact of hard selling.

Hard Sell

Persona

Learn about persona, including different types of personas, creating a user persona, benefits of using personas, & persona development process.

Persona

Lead Qualification Process

Learn about lead qualification process, including identifying key lead qualification criteria, & steps in a successful qualification process.

Lead Qualification Process

Sales Productivity

Learn about sales productivity, including maximizing sales productivity: strategies and tools, & key metrics for measuring sales productivity.

Sales Productivity

No Spam

Learn about no spam, including ensuring compliance with no spam rules, strategies for effective no spam practices, & no spam vs. traditional email marketing.

No Spam

Always Be Closing

Learn about always be closing, including implementing ABC in your sales strategy, key strategies for effective closing, & ABC vs. other sales techniques.

Always Be Closing

Key Performance Indicators

Learn about key performance indicators, including identifying crucial KPIs for success, crafting effective KPI goals, KPIs vs. performance metrics: understanding the differences.

Key Performance Indicators

Ideal Customer Profile

Learn about ideal customer profile, including crafting your ideal customer profile, & elements of a strong customer profile.

Ideal Customer Profile

Dark Funnel

Learn about dark funnel, including unraveling the dark funnel mystery, strategies to illuminate the dark funnel, & dark funnel vs. traditional sales funnels.

Dark Funnel

Inside Sales Rep

Learn about inside sales rep, including characteristics of effective inside sales reps, & skills required for inside sales success.

Inside Sales Rep

Scrum

Learn about scrum, including advantages of scrum, implementing scrum in sales, scrum roles explained, & common scrum mistakes.

Scrum

Account View Through Rate

Learn about account view through rate, including maximizing account view through rate, & key metrics to track and improve.

Account View Through Rate

Sales Compensation

Learn about sales compensation, including types of sales compensation plans, key components of effective compensation, & sales compensation vs. base salary.

Sales Compensation
Clay brand asset shaped as a 3D group of abstract objects made out of purple and pink clayClay brand asset shaped as a 3D group of abstract objects made out of purple and pink clay

Scale your outbound motion in seconds, not months

14 day free Pro trial - No credit card required

Try Clay free