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BPOorganization and this largely depends on the “Risk Appetite” of new interface between which information and resource flows.the Organization.Anything that hinders accurate information exchange such assystem or network downtime can have a dramatic effect onA proper Data analysis will help in achieving the objectives set.operational performance. Successful organizations generallyFigure 2 gives a pictorial representation of the tolerable limitsfocus on delivering benefits continuously to their stakeholders.(Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective) ofWhen these win-win criteria are not met, relationships mayfailure or loss of functions, which is one of the deliverable of abreak down and one or both parties suffer in various ways.BIA. The different strategies that can be adopted depend on thetolerable limits. Many customers in the Banking and Financial Organizations pay a heavy price for lost production and mansectorsare bound legally to ensure that zero data is lost and hours, yet relatively few are putting measures in place to preparehence may opt for Synchronous replication for many for similar crises in the future. Organizations need to carry out aapplications. If the organization can tolerate at least a day of lost comprehensive BIAin order to put in place an effective businessdata and a few days of downtime after a disaster, the continuity plan. While doing so, they also need to consider theirorganization can rely on “tape backup”. Similarly different key business relationships, including those with outsourcingstrategies are developed for the different functions, based on the service providers, in order to accurately reflect their highlyrisk appetite.FIGURE 2inter-connected nature. A well-developed business continuityplan gives comfort and confidence to the organization that isoutsourcing. A service provider establishes confidence and trustwith the client if the organization demonstrates that a detailedBIA was done and the critical processes and the recoverystrategies have been developed, tested and maintained. Theother benefits of a good BIA are:• Identifying critical business functions that are essential to theorganization• Determining the time criticality of individual businessfunctions as related to the organization function• Finding different ways by which the business function can beperformed and eliminating any redundant activities• Identifying different strategies to adopt to meet recoverywindow• Rationalization of continuity and recovery investments• Peace of mind knowing they can respond quickly andminimize disruption of service they provide to their clients.The analyzed data needs to be validated with the participants inthe Data collection for accuracy and relevance. A BIA based oninaccurate or incomplete data can lead to development of a poorBusiness Continuity Plan.4. Reporting Findings: The BIA findings should bedocumented in a formal report. The typical contents in a BIAreport are:• Overview• Project Scope, Objectives• Approach taken• Assumptions• Summary of Business Impacts Quantitative and Qualitative• Detailed findings (by department or functional area)• RecommendationsPresenting to Senior Management: The BIA report ispresented to the Senior Management. The BIA team needs to beready with explanations for not only the findings, but also for therecommendations. This presentation is the critical presentationfor the BIA team to show the Senior Management why BusinessContinuity Planning is important and why it should besupported.A well written and presented BIA report will increaseSenior Management's awareness about disasters and theirimpact and in turn increases the likelihood that SeniorManagement will approve the next stage of the project.With the rapid growth in outsourcing, the benefits ofoutsourcing may be diluted if the organizations do not carefullyconsider how the existing business continuity plan could beaffected by outsourcing strategies. Outsourcing operations canactually add to the risks the company is exposed to in a numberof ways, since outsourcing a business operation introduces aABOUT THE AUTHORSPrabhuu Sinha is the Senior Vice President (Quality & ProcessSolutions) at Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (India). Prabhuuhas over 30 years of experience in the field of IT and Quality. Heis a member on the technical advisory board for the eSourcingCapability Model (eSCM) at Carnegie Mellon University.Satyam is the Founding partner of the consortium at CarnegieMellon University that has developed the eSCM.Madhu. K is currently working as a Lead Consultant in SatyamComputer Services Ltd. Madhu has morethan 9 years of industry experience in ProductDevelopment, Project Management, QualitySystem Assessments and Quality Modeldevelopment. Madhu is an ISO 9000Registered Lead Auditor and has carried outmore than 300 assessments in various sectors.Madhu was also involved in the developmentof the eSourcing Capability Model (eSCM) atCarnegie Mellon University.Bennet Suresh Kumar is a Process Consultant in Satyam'sOutsourcing Process Consulting Practice,enabling the implementation of the eSourcingCapability Model (eSCM) in leading globalorganizations. He is a Visiting Scholar atCarnegie Mellon University, and is a coauthorof the eSCM. Bennet was involved as akey team member throughout the eSCMinitiative, from initial modelconceptualization to final publication. He hasalso published articles / papers and delivered lectures in leadinginternational conferences on Information Technology andProcess Improvement.INDO-AFRICAN BUSINESS 42August-October 2004