A business impact analysis (BIA) provides valuable information on the short- and long-term effects of a disaster. The analysis is used to determine the effect of an interruption of services on each department within the college and then the total impact on the Dallas College organization as a whole.
College operations are comprised of numerous interrelated tasks and processes all focused on providing a service to either internal customers or external customers. During the planning process of developing a business continuity plan (BCP), it is important to first understand the business processes and their impact on the college.
Not all processes are critical, and yet all processes are required to provide comprehensive educational services. Services that directly impact the ability of the college to meet its mission-critical objectives, such as providing all of the necessary support for the educational requirements of the students, life safety services, etc., must be recovered promptly. Other services, although important, may not require immediate recovery and could be delayed in some cases.