The Commissioner, the Companies and the (lack of) commitment

Business needs to look in the mirror to discover who needs to do more

Following the terrible attacks on London, there has been increased concern over the levels of planning in London, but it seems to us that the media has been quick to point the finger at those doing MOST to correct the situation rather than lamblast those ignoring the advice that has been repeated time and time again.

Failure to plan is planning to fail and for many years the Corporation of London, City and Metropolitan Police, as well as the Government Office for London and the Continuity Forum has been urging organisations to implement Business Continuity Planning to help mitigate both the risks and harm caused by disruption events.

Yet the messengers are the ones who have been targeted as the media interest soars in Business Continuity and Security. Commissioner Hart of the City Police recently stated that half of Business was not prepared and they should act now to correct this. The press and media have pounced on this message and the result has been criticism of the very people who have been working hard over the past few years to get business to plan properly.

It is interesting to note that few fingers are being pointed at the organisations and particularly their directors, who DESPITE seeing the coverage over recent years, who HAVE received advice from groups such as the Continuity Forum and our partners, who ARE responsible (and liable) to their personnel, customers and stakeholders have FAILED to heed the advice. Visit the Corporation of London or the City Police Websites! Check out London Prepared and you'll quickly see there is plenty of simple, clear advice urging organisations to ACT with loads of compelling information justifying the value of BCM. What more do the media and these companies want?

The information has been in the public domain for years - predating 9/11by the way - but there is still reluctance from many in the boardroom to take responsibility and act to properly develop (and fund) Business Continuity programmes.

The biggest businesses have largely woken up - remember these are the ones with the hardest examination of the business case or value. Millions have been spent improving resilience and BCM programmes and whilst there is still more to do, they have been persuaded to act on the advice given and the value they gain from their efforts.

Commissioner Harts Comments were directed mainly at the laggards in the big business space and smaller organisations who are CHOOSING not to act, not to be responsible and not to gain the value of Business Continuity based on a false premise that they either can't afford it, which is rubbish, or that events won't affect them, which is naive in the extreme.

Next year we'll have a British Standard for Business Continuity Management and next week the committee starts work on translating the current PAS 56 guidance into a formal standard enabling a trust mark for resilience, which will increase still further the commercial advantages (and disadvantages if you don't have it) of Business Continuity Management.

Questions do need to be asked about the levels and effectiveness of the planning and we are probably the most active group in the world researching Business Continuity and its related issues. But we feel that these questions should now be asked of those responsible within the boardroom, not those that are providing the encouragement, support and resources!

If the big companies and government really started insisting on seeing Business Continuity Management covered in their commercial contracts, by making it a condition of tender of contract, the laggards would soon be motivated to address the situation in the their own organisations.

Finally, when thinking about these issues consider what organisations stand to loose if they don't act? Everything!

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