• Review The Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management body of knowledge designed to assist in the development, implementation, and maintenance of business continuity programs.
• Highlight the terms and methodologies presented in The International Glossary for Resiliency and the Professional Practices.
• Prepare you for the Qualifying Examination

Lesson 1: Program Initiation and Management

• Establish the need for a business continuity program.
• Obtain support and funding for the business continuity program.
• Build the organizational framework to support the business continuity program.
• Introduce key concepts, such as program management, risk awareness, identification of critical functions/processes, recovery strategies, training and awareness, and exercising/testing.

Lesson 2: Risk Assessment

• Identify risks that can adversely affect an entity’s resources or image.
• Assess risks to determine the potential impacts to the entity, enabling the entity to determine the most effective use of resources to reduce these potential impacts.

Lesson 3: Business Impact Analysis

• Identify and prioritize the entity’s functions and processes in order to ascertain which ones will have the greatest impact should they not be available.
• Assess the resources required to support the business impact analysis process.
• Analyze the findings to ascertain any gaps between the entity’s requirements and its ability to deliver those requirements.

Lesson 4: Business Continuity Strategies

• Select cost-effective strategies to reduce deficiencies as identified during the risk assessment and business impact analysis processes.

Lesson 5: Incident Response

• Develop and assist with the implementation of an incident management system that defines organizational roles, lines of authority and succession of authority.
• Define requirements to develop and implement the entity’s incident response plan.
• Ensure that incident response is coordinated with outside organizations in a timely and effective manner when appropriate.

Lesson 6: Plan Development and Implementation

• Document plans to be used during an incident that will enable the entity to continue to function.

Lesson 7: Awareness and Training Programs

• Establish and maintain training and awareness programs that result in personnel being able to respond to incidents in a calm and efficient manner.

Lesson 8: Business Continuity Plan Exercise, Assessment and Maintenance

• Establish an exercise, assessment and maintenance program to maintain a state of readiness.

Lesson 9: Crisis Communications

• Provide a framework for developing a crisis communications plan.
• Ensure that the crisis communications plan will provide for timely, effective communication with internal and external parties.

Lesson 10: Coordination with External Agencies

• Establish policies and procedures to coordinate incident response activities with public entities.