Preparing for the Worst

For those engaged in outsourcing, a good business-continuity plan (BCP) is vital in ensuring that critical business functions will continue with minimal disruption should a disaster occur.  BCPs are especially important to business process outsourcing, and should be able to be activated relatively quickly, include plans for alternate processing and relocation of employees and knowledge, and take into account the impact of applicable regulatory mandates.

Neil Hirshman, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, explains hurdles for drafting references to disaster recovery and BCP in outsourcing contracts. "While the BCP and disaster-recovery plan that were in place when the parties signed the contract may have been appropriate and applicable," he says, "it may not be the case after there has been a change in the process."

This article appeared in its entirety in the March 1, 2005 edition of Managing Offshore.