How municipalities can build crisis-ready business continuity plans
Sponsored by CDW Canada
Delivering essential services, protecting citizens, and safeguarding critical infrastructure are top priorities for municipalities in the face of a crisis. However, unique pressures such as budget constraints and prioritization of services may stifle their contingency efforts.
Unique Challenges Faced by Municipal Governments
Building a robust business continuity plan can help municipalities prepare for unexpected events and account for risks with greater resilience:
- 1. Diverse range of services – Municipalities manage a vast portfolio, from libraries and emergency response to utilities and housing. It can be hard to prioritize services during a disruption.
- 2. Emergency services prioritization – Emergency services are becoming more technology dependent. A solid plan must be in place to continue operations
- 3. Geographic and climate considerations – Municipalities have smaller geographic footprints. Building disaster recovery sites at an adequate distance from the primary location can be challenging.
Building a Crisis-Ready Business Continuity Plan
Municipal assets, such as wastewater systems or energy infrastructure, include sensitive systems that present unique challenges to protect against cyberattacks.
1. Prioritize services with a business impact analysis
A business impact analysis helps municipalities identify their most critical services and understand the safety, financial, and operational implications when those services go down. With the help of a business impact analysis, municipalities can pinpoint:
- which functions must be restored first during a disruption
- what resources are required
- how long you can afford them to be offline
This ensures planning is grounded in the realities of service delivery and community impact.
2. Plan for your most relevant risks
Given their reliance on IT for emergency response, utilities, and critical functions, municipalities face challenges during outages.
Implementing comprehensive contingency strategies, such as manual processes and alternative communication methods, can maintain operations and safeguard public safety.
3. Test plans and engage the community
Regular backup and recovery testing can ensure that recovery strategies will function in the event of a major incident. Tabletop exercises can ensure staff know their roles, and communication plans keep the public informed.
Building Local Resilience
Municipal business continuity can be supported in several impactful ways:
- Assess and prioritize – Conduct impact analyses to help municipalities identify critical services and recovery timelines.
- Strengthen resilience – Evaluate disaster recovery readiness, secure critical infrastructure, and design practical continuity solutions.
- Test and guide – Facilitate tabletop exercises and offer expert guidance backed by a broad network of trusted technology partners.
These measures can go a long way in building local resilience.
To learn more about CDW Canada’s risk advisory services, visit www.cdw.ca/riskadvisory. MW
✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in Jared Carter’s article: Funding growth infrastructure: The growing divide between federal plans and municipal resources.
Courtney Larmand is the team lead for risk advisory sales at CDW Canada with seven years of experience in governance, risk and compliance. With CISSP, CISA, CIPP/C and ABCP certifications, she brings risk expertise to municipal clients.
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