--- sourceDocument: Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/yokohama/governance-risk-compliance Release : - yokohama ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance ft:clusterId : - grc bundleId : - grc workflow : - Technology --- # Configuring plan template # Configuring plan template {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Yokohama * * Updated July 31, 2025 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Configuring plan template As a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) manager using the ServiceNow Business Continuity Management application, you can create and manage business continuity plans tailored to your business units to prepare for disruptive events. The application offers pre-configured business continuity plan templates that streamline plan creation by providing a standard layout, including document sections, loss scenarios, and primary recovery elements. These templates enable you to focus on plan content, tasks, and effective implementation, helping your organization identify critical processes, locations, and assets that require prioritized recovery. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Pre-configured Plan Templates:** The application provides demo data templates for various recovery needs: * **Application DR Plan:** Focuses on recovering IT applications after disruption. * **Business Continuity Plan:** Ensures continuity of core business processes during disruptions affecting workplaces, applications, or vendors. * **Datacenter Recovery Plan:** Targets recovery of datacenters impacted by natural disasters or significant events. * **Workplace Recovery Plan:** Addresses recovery of physical workplace locations that become unusable. * **Custom Plan Template Creation:** Beyond demo templates, you can create custom plan templates tailored to your specific business requirements, including different primary elements like Employees or Web Servers. * **Plan Authoring Types:** Custom templates can be configured for various plan components such as documentation, loss scenarios, and recovery tasks. * **Access and Management:** Pre-configured plan templates are accessible in the General Administration section of the application navigator for easy viewing and management. ## Key Outcomes * Accelerates the development of comprehensive and standardized business continuity plans using pre-built templates. * Enhances focus on critical recovery priorities by identifying key elements and recovery timelines specific to each plan type. * Allows customization of plan templates to align closely with unique business continuity requirements and recovery objectives. * Supports efficient plan management and implementation, enabling your organization to respond effectively to disruptive events. As a BCP plan manager, you can create a business continuity plan that can be used for your respective business units during a disruptive event. The Business Continuity Management application provides pre-configured business continuity plan templates. You can streamline the process of a plan creation by using pre-configured plan templates. You can also create a plan template for your business requirement. You can view the pre-configured plan templates for business continuity planning in the General Administration section in the application navigator. Using a plan template gives you a standard plan layout that has the document sections, loss scenarios, and primary elements that are to be recovered. Plan templates help you to focus on the plan content, its tasks, and the effective implementation of the plan. Creating a plan helps an organization to identify processes, locations, and assets that must be recovered as a priority when there is a disruption. Selecting a plan type helps to identify the elements for recovery and the time by which it should be done. ## Using business continuity plan templates {#bcp-admin-plan-templates__section_a4b_3r4_qxb} The Business Continuity Management application provides the following business continuity plan templates that are installed with demo data: * Application DR Plan * Business Continuity Plan * Datacenter Recovery Plan * Workplace Recovery Plan {#bcp-admin-plan-templates__ul_lmh_sr4_qxb} The business continuity plan templates that are installed with demo data are shown in the following example. See the following table for more information on different types of demo data plan templates that you can use in the Business Continuity Management application.{#bcp-admin-plan-templates__table_b5d_ss4_qxb__entry__3} | Name | Primary element recovered | Description | |-|-|-| | Application DR Plan | Applications | Plan to recover an IT application following a disruptive event. A sample Application DR Plan template is shown in the following example. | | Business Continuity Plan | Business Processes | Plan to continue operations of a core business process or processes during a disruption to workplaces, applications, or critical vendors. A sample Business Continuity Plan template is shown in the following example. | | Datacenter Recovery Plan | Datacenters | Plan to recover a datacenter following a natural disaster or significant event that impacts the availability of a datacenter. A sample Datacenter Recovery Plan template is shown in the following example. | | Workplace Recovery Plan | Locations | Plan to recover a workplace in the event that one of them becomes unusable or uninhabitable. A sample Workplace Recovery Plan template is shown in the following example. | [Table 1. Demo data plan templates] {#bcp-admin-plan-templates__table_b5d_ss4_qxb} ## Creating a plan template for your business requirement {#bcp-admin-plan-templates__section_zfk_h54_qxb} Instead of using the demo data templates, you can create a template for your specific requirement. For more information on creating a plan template for your business requirement, see [Configure the business continuity plan template](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/4v5O9K1ETH5vVjHk0Uzkeg "Configure the business continuity plan template in the Business Continuity Management application for your business. You can use the plan template to recover a specific primary element such as Employees or Web Servers. Similarly, you can create a plan template for different plan authoring types such as documentation, loss scenarios, and recovery tasks."). * **[Configure the business continuity plan template](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/4v5O9K1ETH5vVjHk0Uzkeg)** Configure the business continuity plan template in the Business Continuity Management application for your business. You can use the plan template to recover a specific primary element such as Employees or Web Servers. Similarly, you can create a plan template for different plan authoring types such as documentation, loss scenarios, and recovery tasks.