IT emergency management &
Business Continuity Management

Business Continuity Management | Operational Continuity Management | IT Emergency Management | BSI Standard 200-4 / ISO 22301

We explain exactly what this service is all about …

Business continuity management (BCM) is a crucial aspect of IT emergency preparedness and response planning for any company. IT management is responsible for developing or having developed strategies, plans and measures aimed at protecting critical activities or processes. These measures are essential to prevent serious damage or devastating losses for the company in the event of an interruption.

If you need support in identifying and improving your business-critical systems and processes, we are the ideal partner for you. We work closely with you to set clear goals and support you in the implementation of individual or holistic measures to ensure optimum and continuous availability for your company.

WHAT IS BUSINESS
CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT?

Business continuity management (BCM), also known as business continuity management or emergency management, focuses on the development of strategies, plans and measures to protect internal activities and processes and to enable alternative processes in the event of an emergency. This area of IT security comprises emergency preparedness, which includes preventive measures to avoid emergencies and crises, as well as emergency response planning, including the recovery of business processes and systems.

In addition to business continuity and emergency management, there are also IT emergency management and (IT) crisis management as well as other special sub-disciplines. In the event of emergencies that are not exclusively IT-related (such as damage to buildings caused by fire or water), operational continuity management or the emergency response officer will coordinate the emergency response.

Our IT emergency management focuses on managing risks that can have a significant impact on the availability of IT services. We ensure that your IT can meet the service requirements defined in advance, even in the event of exceptional incidents. We achieve this by implementing jointly agreed risk-reducing measures and developing a targeted recovery plan for your IT services.

With IT emergency management from the experts
Increase your own IT security

The objective of our Business Continuity / IT Disaster Management is to enhance the resilience of individual system components or entire infrastructures against unexpected events or disruptions. harmful influences and events. In addition, data protection risks are to be identified and managed more easily.

The most important standards for continuity management

  • NIST Special Publication 800-34

  • (BSI) 200-4 Emergency management

  • ISO/IEC 27031

In the case of threats to information security, the damage events are
classified into five categories:

Malfunction:
A situation in which an organization’s processes or resources do not function as intended. The resulting damage can be classified as minor.

Security incident:
Can have a major impact on an institution and cause great damage. Such incidents are, for example Misconfigurations or criminal acts such as server hacking, theft of confidential information or sabotage.

Emergency:
An incident in which an organization’s processes or resources do not function as intended. Business operations are severely impaired here.

Crisis:
A loss event that endangers the existence of the organization or the life and health of persons.

Disaster:
Describes a major loss event that is almost impossible to limit in terms of time and location and can have a large-scale impact on people, assets and property.

Malfunction:
A situation in which an organization’s processes or resources do not function as intended. The resulting damage can be classified as minor.

Security incident:
Can have a major impact on an institution and cause great damage. Such incidents are, for example Misconfigurations or criminal acts such as server hacking, theft of confidential information or sabotage.

Emergency:
An incident in which an organization’s processes or resources do not function as intended. Business operations are severely impaired here.

Crisis:
A loss event that endangers the existence of the organization or the life and health of persons.

Disaster:
Describes a major loss event that is almost impossible to limit in terms of time and location and can have a large-scale impact on people, assets and property.

Causes of a deviation in business continuity

There can be many causes of a deviation in business continuity, ranging from natural disasters and technical failures to human error and cyber attacks. These deviations can have a significant impact on business processes. It is therefore crucial to develop and implement robust business continuity management (BCM) plans to ensure business continuity and respond appropriately to unforeseen events.

Direct causes of IT threats

The direct causes of IT threats can be manifold:

  • Organizational deficiencies

  • Outdated production technology

  • Management deficiencies / inexperience

  • Failure of information / communication technology

  • Power failure

  • Fire / Water

  • Terrorism/Crime

  • Natural disasters

Indirect causes of IT threats

There are also a large number of indirect causes of IT threats:

  • Violations of regulatory requirements

  • Strikes

  • Rising commodity prices

  • Exchange rate changes

  • Loss of suppliers

  • political / social instability

What happens in an emergency?

Emergency detection

This often involves the use of monitoring and early warning systems that can respond to various types of emergencies, be it a server failure, a security incident or a natural disaster.

Emergency consultant responds

An emergency consultant specializes in taking immediate action in emergency situations to minimize damage and ensure business continuity.

Emergency is solved

The efficient resolution of an emergency requires well thought-out emergency planning, clear communication and the mobilization of resources to overcome the challenges.

How well-functioning IT emergency management works

To ensure that the IT emergency organization (BCM) runs in a coordinated and structured manner, fixed roles must be defined – one for proactive emergency preparedness and one for reactive emergency response.

Overall responsibility for emergency preparedness is generally assumed by the organizational management and the decision-making body for emergency management. All implementation projects must be managed preventively by the emergency officer. The emergency response team manages the implementation projects in the event of an emergency. The emergency coordinators and the head of the emergency team are responsible for local control in the specialist departments in the event of an emergency. All implementation activities are carried out preventively by the emergency preparedness team and reactively by the emergency response team.

Responsibilities and obligations

Tasks and responsibilities of the emergency coordinator

The IT emergency management coordinator manages all activities relating to IT emergency preparedness and is involved in the associated tasks. He is responsible for the creation, implementation, maintenance and support of IT emergency management and the associated documents and regulations. As part of IT emergency management, he plans measures to fulfill the IT emergency management objectives, determines the IT services required for the critical business processes and creates and maintains service and work instructions for IT emergency management.

In addition, the emergency coordinator, in coordination with the IT management, manages the provision of resources for the employee groups involved in IT emergency preparedness planning and IT emergency response. He is responsible for planning and coordinating training courses and thus sensitizes all internal employees to IT emergency management.

The IT emergency manual (including the IT emergency / restart plans) is also created and regularly updated by the emergency coordinator. He checks the implementation of the IT emergency management measures, plans and conducts IT emergency drills and coordinates the planning with the IT management. The emergency coordinator is also involved in updating the IT security concept, thereby ensuring that the IT emergency management concerns are met.

In addition, after IT emergency exercises or IT emergencies that have occurred, he analyzes the overall course of IT emergency management measures, draws up corresponding reports, evaluates them and files them for IT emergency management.

Tasks and responsibilities of the emergency team

The emergency team advises the emergency coordinators on special topics or implements the specifications and measures of the strategic IT emergency preparedness planning. If necessary, the team members also take part in the preparation, implementation and follow-up of tests and exercises.

The operational part of IT emergency management is carried out by various emergency teams. These are responsible for restarting or restoring business processes, applications or systems. The IT emergency teams are only bound by the instructions of the IT emergency staff or the IT emergency coordinators when dealing with IT emergencies.

The IT emergency coordinators lead their respective emergency team and are required to report to the emergency officer at regular intervals during the IT emergency response. They collect the information on site, pass it on to the emergency coordinator and monitor the implementation of the measures ordered on site.

How IT emergency management is quality-checked

Key figures are essential to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of IT emergency management.

Typical Key Goal Indicators (KGI)

  • NIST Special Publication 800-34

  • BSI 200-4 Emergency Management

  • ISO/IEC 27031

The emergency team advises the emergency coordinators on special topics or implements the specifications and measures of the strategic IT emergency preparedness planning. If necessary, the team members also take part in the preparation, implementation and follow-up of tests and exercises.

The operational part of IT emergency management is carried out by various emergency teams. These are responsible for restarting or restoring business processes, applications or systems. The IT emergency teams are only bound by the instructions of the IT emergency staff or the IT emergency coordinators when dealing with IT emergencies.

The IT emergency coordinators lead their respective emergency team and are required to report to the emergency officer at regular intervals during the IT emergency response. They collect the information on site, pass it on to the emergency coordinator and monitor the implementation of the measures ordered on site.

What you get from the expert after successful business continuity management

Typical handover objects in IT emergency management are essentially the required documents from BSI Standard 100-4, the guideline for emergency management (if applicable as a guideline in the ISMS):

  • The emergency preparedness concept
  • The Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
  • The risk analysis
  • The emergency manual

In addition, an exercise manual, an exercise plan, exercise concepts and protocols as well as a training and sensitization concept for your company are created. Reports, logs and other recording aids also serve as supporting documents or bases for decisions.

The emergency plans provided also give you specific instructions for action with the aim of minimizing possible downtimes of your IT systems and IT applications so that regular operations can be resumed promptly in the event of a malfunction.

Typical handover objects in IT emergency management are essentially the required documents from BSI Standard 100-4, the guideline for emergency management (if applicable as a guideline in the ISMS):

  • the emergency preparedness concept
  • the Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
  • the risk analysis
  • the emergency manual

In addition, an exercise manual, an exercise plan, exercise concepts and protocols as well as a training and sensitization concept for your company are created. Reports, logs and other recording aids also serve as supporting documents or bases for decisions.

The emergency plans provided also give you specific instructions for action with the aim of minimizing possible downtimes of your IT systems and IT applications so that regular operations can be resumed promptly in the event of a malfunction.

Cyber Curriculum ® ensures optimum IT security – even in an emergency!

Do you rely on the functioning of individual system components or entire infrastructures because your customers expect round-the-clock service? With our concepts and expertise, you can achieve exactly the level of availability and security you need!

We at Cyber Curriculum® are experts in business continuity and crisis and emergency management and will work with you to develop emergency concepts to restore your business operations and give you expert tips on how to ensure continuous IT security in your company.

Contact us now and we will advise you personally on a business continuity management solution that suits your needs and budget exactly!

Personal support
throughout Germany

From our headquarters in Berlin, we advise our customers nationwide, whether virtually or live on site.

Security services for SMEs
and large corporations

Our satisfied customers include companies of all sizes from various industries.

Certified expertise
in IT security

We use certified IT experts for your data security who are familiar with all areas.

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