Assignment 3: Contingency Planning

Let us consider the following scenario:

You work for a small company with less than fifty employees and a very small IT budget (less than 2% of the total budget of the company). You report to the chief financial officer of the company.

You have been asked to develop a business continuity plan, but you have concerns over the allotted budget and resources for contingency planning in IT. You believe that a proper business continuity plan will require additional financial resources. You want to convince your boss that a business continuity plan is a vital component of an information security proposal in any business, small or large. You must also convince your boss that the current budget is insufficient for a solid business continuity plan.

Tasks:

• In a cover letter, describe business continuity planning from a small business perspective.
• Discuss the potential impact of a business continuity plan on relationships between small businesses and their customer base.
• Discuss how your plan will require more than 2% of the total company's budget and why it is necessary and important. Include in your cover letter a request for additional funds.
• Develop an ideal business continuity plan for a small business that mitigates threats and minimizes risks to a company, with less emphasis on costs. Your plan should evaluate at least five of the critical elements of business continuity planning such as:
  • Data backup and recovery
  • Mission-critical systems
  • Financial and operational assessments
  • Keeping the business moving without IT
  • Informing customers
  • Contingency operations
  • Alternate communications

Support your reasoning with evidence from scholarly, peer-reviewed literature from 2 to 3 scholarly sources. Your paper should be 5–7 pages in length and written in a clear, concise, and organized manner. Your paper should demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA) and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Submission Details:

• Save the assignment as M1_A3_Lastname_Firstname.doc.
• By Week 1, Day 7, submit your assignment to the M1 Assignment 3 Dropbox.

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Described business continuity planning from a small business perspective.	20
Discussed the potential impact of a business continuity plan on relationships between small businesses and their customer base.	20
Discussed how the plan would require more than 2% of the total company's budget and why it is necessary and important. Included in the cover letter a request for additional funds.	20
Developed an ideal business continuity plan for a small business that mitigates threats and minimizes risks to a company, with less emphasis on costs. Evaluated at least five of the critical elements of business continuity planning.	20
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in the accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.	20
Total:	100