Business Continuity

Know the true cost
of downtime.

A Business Impact Assessment answers the crucial question: what are the consequences if a process fails? In concrete terms, not abstract ones. Financial loss per hour, reputational damage, contractual penalties, regulatory consequences.

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What is a Business Impact Assessment?

A Business Impact Assessment (BIA) identifies critical business processes, their dependencies and the impact of failure. For each process, the impact of outage is quantified across different time periods. The BIA establishes Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) that drive all subsequent continuity decisions. It is the foundation for every BCP, DRP and backup strategy.

The Service

The foundation of resilience

The team inventories all business processes with your organisation, their mutual dependencies and their reliance on IT systems, data, people and suppliers. For each process, the impact of failure is determined across different time periods.

Based on the BIA, Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) are established. How much downtime is acceptable? How much data loss? These parameters drive all subsequent decisions: from backup strategy to crisis management.

The BIA makes the cost of failure visible for management. That is essential: investing in continuity only becomes defensible when the cost of doing nothing is clear.

Why it matters

Without a BIA, your continuity plan has no foundation

  • Nobody agrees on which processes are truly critical

    Without a structured BIA, every department believes its processes are most critical. The BIA provides an objective, documented prioritisation that drives investment and recovery order decisions.

  • RTO and RPO are guesses without a BIA

    Backup and recovery strategies set to arbitrary values are either over-engineered (wasting money) or under-engineered (failing during a real incident). BIA-driven RTO and RPO ensure investments match actual business requirements.

  • Management does not understand the cost of downtime

    Security and IT investments are hard to justify without quantified business impact. A BIA translates technical risk into business impact: euros per hour, regulatory fines, customer churn. It makes the business case for continuity investment.

Scope

What we analyse

Business process inventory
Dependency analysis (IT, data, people, suppliers)
Impact per time period (1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day, 1 week)
Financial impact (direct costs, revenue loss, fines)
Non-financial impact (reputation, compliance, customer relations)
RTO and RPO per process
Process prioritisation
Input for BCP, DRP and backup strategy
Methodology

How we deliver your BIA

01

Preparation

Inventory of processes and stakeholders. Defining the scope and interview schedule.

02

Interviews

Structured interviews with process owners per department. Each owner describes their process, its dependencies and the impact of failure.

03

Analysis

Quantification of impact across time periods. Identification of dependencies, single points of failure and recovery constraints.

04

RTO/RPO definition

Jointly defining recovery objectives with process owners and management. Balancing business requirements against implementation feasibility.

05

Reporting

BIA report with prioritised process list, impact analysis, dependency mapping and recommendations for BCP, DRP and backup strategy.

What You Receive

Deliverables

  • BIA report
  • Prioritised process list with impact and dependencies
  • RTO and RPO per process
  • Dependency diagram
  • Executive summary for management
  • Input for BCP, DRP and backup strategy
For Whom

Who needs a BIA

Organisations starting business continuity planning

The BIA is the first step. Without it, your BCP and DRP lack the quantified foundation needed for effective planning.

Companies wanting to update their BIA

Business processes, systems and dependencies change. A stale BIA produces a stale BCP. Regular updates keep your continuity planning accurate.

Organisations preparing NIS2, DORA or ISO 22301 compliance

All three frameworks require documented impact analysis as part of continuity planning. The BIA delivers the required evidence.

Management wanting to understand the cost of failure

The BIA translates technical risk into business language. It makes the case for continuity investment in terms management understands.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

How long does a BIA take?
Typically 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the number of processes and departments. Interviews with process owners are the most time-intensive part.
Who needs to be interviewed?
The owners of business-critical processes: operations, finance, sales, IT, HR and other relevant departments. Each department understands the impact of failure on their own processes best.
How do you quantify reputational damage?
Reputational damage is estimated based on impact categories: negligible, limited, significant, serious, catastrophic. Where possible, it is linked to financial indicators such as customer loss or contract termination.
Should we repeat a BIA?
Yes, at minimum annually or upon significant organisational changes (new products, processes, IT systems or suppliers).
What do we do with the BIA results?
The BIA provides input for the BCP, DRP, IT continuity planning, backup strategy and risk management. It directs investment in continuity measures.
Business Continuity Plan

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Disaster Recovery Plan

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DDoS Test

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Know your critical processes
and what failure costs.

Start with a BIA. The foundation of every resilient organisation.

Request a BIA Schedule a call