Organizational dependency on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) drives the preparedness challenge to cope with business process disruptions. Business Continuity Management (BCM) encompasses effective planning to enable business functions to resume to an acceptable state of operation within a defined timeframe. This paper presents a systematic literature review that communicates the strategic guidelines to streamline the organizational processes in the BCM program, culminating in the Business Continuity Plan design, according to the organization’s maturity. The systematic literature review methodology follows the Evidence-Based Software Engineering protocol assisted by the Parsifal tool, using the EbscoHost, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases, ranging from 2000 to February 2021. International Standards and Frameworks guide the BCM program implementation, however, there is a gap in communicating metrics and what needs to be measured in the BCM program. The major paper result is the confirmation of the identified gap, through the analysis of the studies that, according to the BCM components, report strategic guidelines to streamline the BCM program. The analysis quantifies and discusses the contribution of the studies on each BCM component to design a framework supported by metrics, that allows assessing the organization’s preparedness in each BCM component, focusing on Information Systems and ICT strategies.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) encompasses effective planning to respond to business interruptions and relaunch business in the short term. This study follows the Design Science Research methodology and proposes a framework to systematise Business Continuity Management and streamline the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) design and implementation. The framework defines metrics providing strategical guidance and assessment of the Business Continuity Management initiatives. The framework provides a Business Continuity Management Model, an Implementation Guide, a Self-Assessment System, and a Measurement System. The model was developed based on a systematic literature review and guidelines from Business Continuity Management frameworks and standards. In the first iteration, we demonstrated and evaluated the framework through a Focus Group with experts in Business Continuity Management. In the second iteration, it was used and evaluated by professionals with responsibilities in Business Continuity Plan implementation, representing various business sectors. As a result, the framework is useful and complete, effective and enhances governance and is scalable and adaptable to organisations. This study concludes that the framework adds value to Business Continuity Management monitoring, gaps identification, and practitioner’s guidance on what needs to be planned, done, checked and acted to manage continuity.

The underlying concept of business continuity is that an organization must have the strategic and tactical capability to plan and respond to business incidents and interruptions, in order to continue business operations at an acceptable predefined level. This chapter proposed an approach to business continuity management in an organization through the definition and implementation of a set of four related phases. The authors integrate the main guidelines, based on the literature review and on good practices and concerns, referred to in the ISO standards and on ITIL, CMMI, and COBIT frameworks. This approach will allow organizations to address the most relevant activities for the development of a business continuity management program. By implementing each of the phase activities, the organization will have a systematic overview of the steps required for an optimized planning and response to business incidents and disruptions, supported by the strategy defined framed within their needs.

In a competitive business landscape heavily reliant on information and communication technology, organisations must be prepared to address disruptions in their business operations. Business continuity management involves effective planning for the swift reestablishment of business processes in the short term. However, there are still obstacles to implementing business continuity plans, which can be justified by various factors. The purpose of this study is to present the perspectives and future research paths based on a systematic literature review from the peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021. This systematic literature review adheres to the guidelines established by evidence-based software engineering and leverages the Parsifal online tool. The primary research results identify and establish connections between the common components and activities of business continuity management as defined in international standards and frameworks to identify gaps in the existing knowledge. These findings will contribute to the development of a framework that provides a practical approach applicable to organisations of all sizes, taking into account each aspect of business continuity management, with a particular emphasis on information and communication technology systems. This paper’s contribution lies in offering insights from a systematic literature review regarding the strategic principles for designing and implementing a business continuity plan, along with a comprehensive overview of related research. Furthermore, it presents a path forward to guide future research efforts aimed at addressing the gaps in the literature concerning continuity planning.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is critical for organizations to mitigate disruptions and maintain operations, yet many struggle with fragmented and non-standardized self-assessment tools. Existing frameworks often lack holistic integration, focusing narrowly on isolated components like cyber resilience or risk management, which limits their ability to evaluate BCM maturity comprehensively. This research addresses this gap by proposing a structured Self-Assessment System designed to unify BCM components into an adaptable, standards-aligned methodology. Grounded in Design Science Research, the system integrates a BCM Model comprising eight components and 118 activities, each evaluated through weighted questions to quantify organizational preparedness. The methodology enables organizations to conduct rapid as-is assessments using a 0–100 scoring mechanism with visual indicators (red/yellow/green), benchmark progress over time and against peers, and align with international standards (e.g., ISO 22301, ITIL) while accommodating unique organizational constraints. Demonstrated via focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 10 organizations, the system proved effective in enhancing top management commitment, prioritizing resource allocation, and streamlining BCM implementation—particularly for SMEs with limited resources. Key contributions include a reusable self-assessment tool adaptable to any BCM framework, empirical validation of its utility in identifying weaknesses and guiding continuous improvement, and a pathway from initial assessment to advanced measurement via the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. By bridging the gap between theoretical standards and practical application, this research offers a scalable solution for organizations to systematically evaluate and improve BCM resilience.