Put simply, Business Continuity Planning is the process of working out how to keep your business running in the event of widespread disaster such as a swine flu pandemic.

A pandemic may cause extreme disruption to traditional communications channels, transportation systems, and even data networks. The global financial and economic impact of a pandemic would likely be enormous.

The Local Government Association of South Australia has published a useful guide titled Human Pandemic Influenza Business Continuity Guidelines (PDF).

Ultimately, it is never too early to start planning your business continuity strategy for a pandemic, or any other event that might disrupt your business.

A list of specific business continuity planning specialists will be assembled on this page shortly. In the meantime, a Google search produces a number of detailed continuity plans and guidelines.