When an unexpected event disrupts normal operations, organisations need clarity on what happens next. Two terms often thrown around in this context are incident response and business continuity planning. They sound similar, and in practice they overlap, but they serve very different purposes. Understanding the distinction is critical — because confusing the two can leave dangerous gaps in your resilience strategy.
Incident Response: Tackling the Incident Itself
Incident response is your first line of defence. It’s about dealing with the event as it happens — detecting it quickly, containing it, and assessing its impact. The aim is simple: stop the problem from getting worse and decide whether escalation is needed.
A good incident response plan should guide your team through three stages:
- Detection: How will you know an incident has occurred? Fast and reliable notification is essential because early detection allows quicker containment.
- Containment: Apply specific procedures to prevent the incident from spreading or causing further damage. Many incidents end here without any lasting effect on the business.
- Escalation: Assess the actual or potential damage. If the impact crosses agreed thresholds, escalate to the business continuity team and activate the BCP.
Business Continuity: Managing the Impact
Business continuity planning is different. It doesn’t deal with the incident itself — it deals with the effect of the incident. When disruption reaches a level that threatens critical operations, the BCP comes into play. Its purpose is to keep the business running or restore essential services as quickly as possible.
Incident Response vs Incident Management vs Crisis Management vs Business Continuity
These terms often get used interchangeably, but they represent different layers of organisational resilience:
-
Incident Response
Tactical actions taken immediately after an incident occurs to detect, contain, and assess. It’s about stabilising the situation quickly and preventing further damage. -
Incident Management
The broader process of managing incidents from start to finish. It includes coordination, communication, documentation, and lessons learned. Incident management ensures consistency and oversight across all incidents, not just major ones. -
Crisis Management
Strategic leadership and communication during high-impact events that threaten reputation, operations, or stakeholders. It involves decision-making under pressure, external messaging, and maintaining control at the executive level. Crisis Management often activates when an incident escalates beyond operational disruption into reputational or regulatory territory. -
Business Continuity
Strategic actions to maintain or restore critical business operations when an incident’s impact becomes unacceptable. It focuses on keeping essential services running or recovering them quickly.
How They Fit Together
Think of these as layers in a response framework:
Incident Response stabilises the event → Incident Management coordinates the lifecycle → Crisis Management handles strategic decisions and communication → Business Continuity restores operations.
For Many Organisations, One Integrated Plan Makes Sense
While these are distinct disciplines, for many businesses it’s practical to roll all of them into a single Business Continuity Plan. Why? Because integration reduces complexity, avoids gaps, and ensures that escalation paths and responsibilities are clear. A well-structured BCP can include:
- Incident response procedures for common scenarios.
- Governance for incident management.
- Crisis management protocols for leadership and communications.
- Recovery strategies for critical operations.
This approach works particularly well for organisations with limited resources or those just starting their resilience journey. It creates one cohesive framework rather than multiple siloed plans — and if you later decide to separate them, it’s far easier to split a well-integrated plan than to merge disconnected ones.
What Should an Incident Response Plan Include?
Your plan should be practical and actionable. At a minimum, it needs:
- A clear scope and objectives: What types of incidents does it cover?
- Defined roles and responsibilities: Who does what during detection, containment, and escalation?
- Detection procedures: How incidents are identified and reported.
- Escalation criteria: When and how to involve the business continuity team.
- Communication protocols: Internal and external notifications.
- Post-incident review: Capturing lessons learned.
- Specific containment steps for each incident type:
This is critical. The plan should include tailored procedures for the incidents your organisation wants to address — for example:- Cybersecurity breach: Disconnect affected systems, isolate networks, notify IT security.
- Fire: Evacuation routes, shut down power, call emergency services.
- Flood: Move critical equipment, activate water barriers, relocate staff.
What NOT to Include
Avoid turning your incident response plan into a business continuity plan. Do not include detailed recovery strategies, long-term relocation plans, or extended operational procedures. These belong in your BCP, not your incident response plan.
In Summary
- Incident Response = Respond to the incident itself.
- Incident Management = Coordinate the full lifecycle of the incident.
- Business Continuity = Respond to the impact of the incident.
Understanding these distinctions ensures your organisation can react quickly and effectively, minimising disruption and protecting critical operations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is Incident Response?
Incident Response is the immediate action taken to detect, contain, and assess an incident. It focuses on stopping the problem before it escalates.
2. What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?
BCP ensures critical operations continue or recover quickly when disruption reaches unacceptable levels. It deals with the impact of an incident, not the incident itself.
3. What is Incident Management?
Incident Management is the full lifecycle process for handling incidents — from detection through resolution, coordination, communication, and lessons learned.
4. What is Crisis Management?
Crisis Management is strategic leadership and communication during high-impact events that threaten reputation or compliance. It activates when incidents escalate beyond operational disruption.
5. How do Incident Response and Business Continuity work together?
Incident Response stabilises the event. If the impact crosses thresholds, the Business Continuity Plan is activated to maintain or restore operations.
6. Should Incident Response and Business Continuity be separate plans?
Not always. Many organisations roll Incident Response, Incident Management, Crisis Management, and Business Continuity into one integrated BCP to reduce complexity and avoid gaps.
7. What should an Incident Response Plan include?
Detection steps, containment procedures, escalation criteria, roles and responsibilities, communication protocols, and specific actions for incidents like cyber breaches, fire, or flood.
8. What should NOT be in an Incident Response Plan?
Long-term recovery strategies, relocation plans, or extended operational procedures. These belong in the Business Continuity Plan.