From Continuity to Resilience: Using Disaster Intelligence to Strengthen Business Operations

A traditional Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is designed to keep operations afloat during disruptions. But when combined with Disaster Intelligence, it becomes a proactive engine for building long-term resilience.

Rather than waiting for disaster to strike, organizations can use the insights from their BCPs and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify opportunities for adaptive change.

Disaster Intelligence as a Complement to BCP

Disaster Intelligence doesn’t replace your continuity plan—it enhances it. Think of it as a continuous improvement loop powered by analytics and scenario planning.

Getting Started: Even if your organization doesn’t have a formal BCP, you can start today using what you already measure. Begin by identifying your core business functions and the resources that support them—people, processes, systems, and data. Then ask: how resilient is each to disruption?

Step-by-Step Scenario: Order Processing Function

Let’s walk through a practical application of Disaster Intelligence on a critical business function.

Business Function: 📦 Order Processing

📊 Current State Analysis

👥 Human Resources:

• Centralized team located in a single corporate office

💻 IT Resources:

• On-premise software within the office network

🖥️ Physical Assets:

• Company desktops/laptops

📋 Documents:

• Paper-based documents moved between departments

🛡️ Continuity Mitigation Summary

In the event of a localized outage, the team can use VPN and laptops to work remotely. In a major disruption, key personnel relocate to a disaster recovery site to resume operations.

🧠 Applying Disaster Intelligence: Key Questions to Ask

👥 Human Resources

• ❓ Does this team need to be physically in-office?
• 💰 Are there cost or productivity benefits to remote work?
• 🌐 Could a distributed or outsourced model improve agility?

💻 IT Resources

• ☁️ Can we transition operations to cloud-based systems?
• 🔒 Is our VPN infrastructure scalable and secure for full remote access?

🖥️ Physical Assets

• 📱 Would a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model work with proper security controls?
• 💻 Can we reduce costs and risk by adopting virtual desktops?

📋 Documents

• 💰 What is the cost of managing physical documentation?
• ✍️ Can we digitize records and implement secure e-signature workflows?

🚀 Future State: A Resilient Order Processing Function

👥 Human Resources

The team now operates remotely with expanded geographic distribution, increasing resilience and talent access. Cross-regional support ensures business continuity during localized disruptions.

💻 IT Resources

Key systems are virtualized and VPN-enabled. While full cloud migration isn’t feasible, a failover cloud infrastructure supports critical processes in emergencies.

🖥️ Physical Assets

Employees use company-issued laptops with access to virtual desktops, reducing data loss risks and hardware costs.

📋 Documents

Legacy documents are managed offsite for compliance. All new documentation is digital, enabling remote access and streamlined workflows.

📋 Action Plan for Analysts & Leaders

1. 🎯 Identify Core Functions: Select 2–3 core functions to analyze using this model
2. 🗺️ Map Current State: Document the current state of each function
3. ⚠️ Explore Disruptions: Consider potential disruptions and their impacts
4. 💡 Propose Changes: Suggest technology, policy, or process changes to build resilience
5. 📝 Update BCP: Reflect new operational realities in your Business Continuity Plan

🔮 Looking Ahead

When organizations evolve their continuity strategies with data-driven insights, resilience becomes a cultural norm—not just a crisis response.

Disaster Intelligence invites us to continually ask: How can we future-proof our operations today?

💬 Join the Conversation

How is your organization building resilience beyond traditional continuity planning? Share your experiences and insights with the Trailblazer Analytics community.