Impact analysis plays a fundamental role in the management of adverse situations that may jeopardize the continuity of an organization. Thanks to it, we can develop contingency plans that guarantee a quick recovery and start-up of operations after the event.
If you want to know what it is, what is obtained and what is the importance of impact analysis, this article is for you.
What is an impact analysis?
An impact analysis is a structured assessment that allows companies to determine the consequences of a disruption to their operations. These interruptions can have various causes such as natural disasters, security attacks, accidents, power losses and many more.
Once we know the impact of each risk, we can design contingency plans to minimize its effects on the production process. The difference between a risk analysis and an impact analysis is that the latter determines how productivity is affected by unforeseen events.
What can we achieve with an impact analysis?
An impact analysis helps to identify each of a company’s processes and what would happen if they were disrupted. With this information, we can establish plans and priorities that guarantee a quick recovery and start-up of the business, minimizing the losses incurred.
In this way, instead of improvising at the time of disruption, we can follow a pre-established plan based on informed decisions. This will make the measures taken more effective, since they were consciously analyzed and are not the product of random or desperate decisions.
Another advantage of an impact analysis is that we can prioritize the responses for each process involved. This allows us to concentrate resources where they are most needed and then focus on those processes that by their nature can wait.
Phases of business impact analysis
The development of an impact analysis involves four stages: planning, data collection, analysis and development of contingency plans, and implementation. The following is a brief description of each of these stages.
Planning
This is a preparation stage in which the way in which the impact analysis will be carried out is defined. During planning, the teams responsible, the processes to be analyzed, the methodology to be used and how the information collected will be stored are formed.
Data collection
Once you have finished planning, it is time to collect all the relevant information on the processes you are going to analyze. Although there are many ways to do this, the most commonly used collection tools are questionnaires and personal interviews.
It is very important to get as much data as possible such as:
- Name of the process.
- Detailed description of all operations involved in the process.
- A list of the resources and tools you use.
- The number of workers involved in the area.
- The operational, financial, legal and regulatory impacts of the process.
Analysis and development of contingency plans
This is the most important stage in the creation of an impact assessment, as it is during this stage that all the data collected is analyzed. For each process analyzed, the team must answer three essential questions:
- What are the most relevant processes for the company?
- What are the minimum resources required for the processes to function normally?
- In case of interruption, how long would it take to get the process up and running again?
By knowing exactly these three points, we can assign priorities and create contingency plans for each of them according to their impact on operations.
Implementation
Once we have analyzed the data and created contingency plans for each process, we present our recommendations to the organization. From then on, the company’s management will begin to implement each plan according to the priority assigned to the analyzed processes.
Some of the plans can be implemented quickly due to their simplicity or low cost. Others, however, may require an investment and take a little longer to get up and running.
Protect your business with an impact analysis
Now that you know the importance of an impact analysis, don’t wait any longer to start evaluating your company’s processes. In this way, you will be protected and guarantee the continuity of your business in the event of undesired events that interrupt your operations.
