How We Implemented Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

Until recently, you could solely focus on your business as an owner or strategic manager. Consecutive years of global pandemics and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine have changed the way business managers strategize. 

Events as shocking as large-scale cyberattacks, pandemics, or wars are no longer considered implausible. On the other hand, such circumstances open the way for new strategies and business models. 

As a mature IT services provider operating in the field for years, at Geniusee, we timely composed a business continuity planning (BCP) initiative, and we will share it with you here. Let’s first start with learning what BCP is. 

In this article:

What Is BCP?

BCP is the process in which a business entity formulates and implements a strategy for continuing regular operations in external threats such as cybercrimes, wars, or natural disasters. BCP reassures stakeholders regarding the company's long-term reliability and operational sustainability when uncertain external events challenge its functionality. 

When Do We Implement It?

BCP is not a typical business process. Instead, it is a contingency plan for your business in case of any threatening events. Here’s how we approach BCP implementation at Geniusee.

• Flexible timing and support. As we are dealing with uncertain events, we keep the timing of our BCP implementation highly flexible. Our goal is to ensure safety and assistance for our employees in specific times of need. 
• Business continuity. We have planned our initiatives with this goal in mind to keep Geniusee trouble-proof and fully operational. Being adaptive to your situation and surroundings holds the key to success. 

The Geniusee team devised its BCP action plan based on these two principles. 

Geniusee BCP in Action

Geniusee promptly prepared and executed our BCP when Russian forces invaded Ukraine, our homeland and an independent state. Take a look below at our courses of action.

Our timely actions helped us keep interruptions to the minimum. 

Possible Concerns We Are Ready to Dissolve

Despite our prompt efforts, there are still uncertainties about the future of the war. Questions and concerns may still trouble our stakeholders and well-wishers. A few such concerns are below, and see how we would resolve them. 

What if There's Major Trouble With Electricity Because Of the War?

We are located in Lviv, a city west of Ukraine. The western regions are far from the frontline, and Lviv is connected to the European electricity grid, so the risk of a major power outage is minor. Also, Lviv is connected to multiple other electricity sources in an emergency. 

Moreover, we have our independent electricity generator as a backup solution for temporary power cuts. 

What If the War Moves to the West of Ukraine?

Lviv is 70 km from the Polish border, a NATO territory, and we are welcome there. Geniusee has set up a backup office in Poland where we can move immediately. 

We supported our teammates extensively with relocation when the war began. As a result, more than 30% of our teammates are now in Europe. 

We also started local hiring programs in eastern Europe to reduce risk further. Thus, our clients can now choose the location of their dedicated team.  

What If the Team Is Physically Destroyed and the Project Stops?

Geniusee’s management has taken every possible step to prevent this risk. We have relocated 97% of all the Ukrainian staff members to the West. Our team, in general, is 20% international, and more than 30% of the Ukrainian part is now abroad. 

We stay in touch with every employee daily and regularly update our relocation plan according to the current situation to prevent all risks.

What if My Dedicated Team Members Get Conscripted into the Army?

There is a strict order of conscription for Ukrainian men. However, as IT is the one fully working export sector of Ukraine, it is vital to keep the IT sector functional and the economy alive. 

Also, the IT sector (and Geniusee) has been regularly donating to the Army. As a result, IT professionals are in the last priority stage of conscription on the legal level. Besides, women team members comprise 30% of our team at Geniusee, further mitigating any potential conscription-related risk. 

What if Geniusee Loses all the Data?

We follow ISO-standard best practices to protect our client data, including VPN and cloud-based infrastructure. So your data is not vulnerable to any war-related or other scenarios. 

We keep our data on European cloud servers instead of any physical server to make it even safer. We strictly maintain access management and lost device management through ISO-standard.

What if Internet Connectivity is Cut Off?

You will have your deliverables on schedule due to the following reasons:

• We continuously back up all of our project documentation. There is also an option to substitute any expert with the same level one if a person gets offline. A sizable part of our staff is now in Europe, where the situation is stable. 
• The Ukrainian part has access to multiple channels of internet connection. We can also use Starlink if necessary. So you will have your deliverables on schedule.

Thus, let us reassure you with our contingency plan and preparation if things get worse. 

Final Words

Our BCP includes different plans for different possible events. However, implementation depends on the magnitude and type of the event. We are flexible to adapt to our external environment quickly while keeping everything operational. That’s how the safety of our Geniusee team and continuous company operations provide our business continuity.