12 Scenarios Every Business Continuity Plan Must Cover

Business continuity planning is no longer a “check-the-box” exercise—it’s a critical discipline for organizations navigating today’s complex risk landscape. While every industry faces unique challenges, most disruptions fall into a handful of predictable categories: physical facilities, people, technology, and workflows/processes. Addres

sing these areas comprehensively helps organizations prepare for both high-frequency issues like power outages and rare but devastating scenarios such as ransomware or workplace violence.

This curated list of the top 12 scenarios serves as a practical foundation for contingency planning, and highlights scenarios that most organizations should address in their contingency plans. It covers everything from facility damage and utility failures to pandemics, cyberattacks, and critical vendor disruptions. Each scenario highlights why it deserves attention—whether it’s protecting employee safety, safeguarding customer data, or ensuring critical operations like billing, manufacturing, or patient care can continue without interruption.

By building plans around these common disruptions, organizations can strengthen resilience, reduce downtime, and protect reputation. Whether it’s implementing backups and alternate sites, cross-training staff, or preparing for regulatory action, proactive planning turns potential crises into manageable events. Ultimately, a thoughtful business continuity program ensures that when disruption strikes, an organization isn’t scrambling—it’s executing.

High Likelihood (occurs regularly across most organizations)

1. Power Outage or Utility Failure

• Category: Physical Facility

• Why: Even short disruptions to electricity, internet, or HVAC are extremely common. Prolonged loss of electricity, HVAC, water, or internet service can cripple operations. Planning ensures backup power sources (generators, UPS), off-site failover, or graceful shutdown procedures.

2. Telecommunications or Network Outage

• Category: Technology

• Why: Frequent and often caused by ISP issues, hardware failure, or misconfigurations. Voice and data communications are essential for internal operations and customer engagement. Plans should identify redundant systems (e.g., mobile hotspots, secondary ISPs).

3. Software/Application Outage (e.g., ERP, EHR, CRM)

• Category: Workflow/Process

• Why: Business apps fail often due to updates, bugs, or vendor outages. The failure of core business platforms can interrupt billing, manufacturing, patient care, etc. Contingency includes manual workarounds, cloud backups, or alternate systems.

4. IT Infrastructure Failure (e.g., Server Crash, Database Corruption)

• Category: Technology

• Why: Still a routine risk despite cloud migration. A failure in core systems can bring down applications and services. Contingency plans ensure failover environments, restoration processes, and communication with users are defined.

5. Loss of Key Personnel

• Category: People

• Why: Unexpected departures, illnesses, or turnover happen frequently. The sudden loss or departure of executives or specialized staff can disrupt operations, compliance, and decision-making. Contingency planning includes knowledge transfer, cross-training, and role backups.

Moderate Likelihood

6. Cyberattack or Ransomware Incident

• Category: Technology

• Why: Attempts are very likely, but a full-scale crippling incident is less frequent for most organizations; impact is severe when it happens. One of the most disruptive and common modern threats. A ransomware attack can lock down systems and data. Response planning involves backups, incident response, legal considerations, and communication plans.

7. Data Loss or Data Integrity Incident

• Category: Technology

• Why: Common in the form of accidental deletions, sync errors, or corruption, though backups mitigate impact. Data is often a mission-critical asset. Plans must address secure backup/recovery, data validation, and chain-of-custody protections for sensitive information.

8. Critical Third-Party or Supply Chain Disruption

• Category: Workflow/Process

• Why: Increasingly common given global supply chain fragility. Dependency on vendors or logistics partners can expose the organization to risk. Planning includes identifying alternative suppliers, monitoring SLAs, and ensuring data portability.

9. Facility Damage or Inaccessibility (Fire, Flood, Severe Weather)

• Category: Physical Facility

• Why: Seasonal weather events drive much of this risk. Damage to a primary facility can immediately halt operations, especially for organizations dependent on physical spaces (e.g., data centers, print facilities, offices, warehouses). Planning ensures relocation, alternate sites, or remote work transitions are possible.

10. Pandemic or Widespread Illness

• Category: People

• Why: Historically rare, but COVID-19 shifted perceptions and highlighted the importance of continuity planning for mass absenteeism. Smaller flu/RSV waves still create absenteeism. Plans should include remote work readiness, succession planning, and social distancing protocols.

Lower Likelihood but High Impact

11. Workplace Violence or Active Threat

• Category: People

• Why: Thankfully less common, but risk must be addressed due to life-safety implications. Safety incidents can lead to site evacuations, psychological impact, and legal exposure. A response plan helps ensure employee safety, communication with authorities, and business continuity after a disruption.

12. Transportation or Access Disruption

• Category: People / Facility

• Why: Sporadic, tied to weather, civil unrest, or infrastructure issues. Natural disasters, civil unrest, or public transportation failures can prevent employees or customers from reaching the site. Planning includes remote work options or shift changes.