The move from Traditional to Adaptive Business Continuity (BC) may be uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most uncomfortable change concerns the general elimination of documentation as a deliverable.
Traditional BC centers almost entirely around documentation. The practitioner begins by obtaining full executive approval, then creates the BC policy document, "the key document that sets out the purpose, context, scope, and governance of the business continuity programme" (BCI GPG p.14). The practitioner then generates an RA, and, from one to four types of BIAs (ibid p.38). The center of the Traditional BC universe is the plan. The job of the BC practitioner is to create the plan, make sure everyone is familiar with the plan, and then update the plan on a regular basis. Tests are then conducted to validate "that the plans are current, accurate, effective, and complete" (ibid p.87). All these documentation activities most likely take place for every department (or process!) within the organization, thus resulting in mounds of proverbial "shelfware."
In stark contrast, the Adaptive BC approach focuses on recovery capabilities.
