BCM

Compliance pressures have forced large companies to put disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place, and now these companies are looking at their supply chains and have identified small and mid-sized suppliers as a source of risk, according to Simon Mingay, research vice president at analyst group Gartner.

Tighter integration of the supply chains means that companies have an increased dependency on the availability of their partners' IT systems, and so big companies are insisting that smaller suppliers get their houses in order if they want to do business.

A recent Survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit says "Most businesses are very concerned about business continuity, but two-thirds lack a reliable plan to ensure their business can survive the worst."

Confronting the Conundrums of Business Continuity by Jon William Toigo

In government and business, there continues to be more discussion than doing in the realm of disaster recovery and business continuity. One hears a lot of talk about "10/12" - the next 9/11 - which everyone from the familiar crepe hangers and doomsayers to the most heads-in-the-clouds pollyannas agrees is more or less inevitable.

Add to that the weather-related disaster potentials that NASA weather models predict will worsen this year, the well-documented vulnerabilities of aging power and telecommunications infrastructures, and ongoing problems in information technology that range from poor interoperability standards to improved malware and hacking techniques, and you have a confluence of threats that could best be described as the Perfect Storm.

New initative pushes value of BCM to SME firms

Research commissioned by the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) has revealed that millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK are failing to protect themselves and their employees against the threat of emergencies such as fire, flood or acts of terrorism.

BIBA has launched a campaign to encourage SMEs to address business continuity issues. Government figures suggest nearly 20% of businesses suffer a major disruption every year.

Category Business Continuity Management BCM - RESEARCH - BCM Continuity Forums

Complacency puts UK organisations at risk as emergency planning takes backstage role

We are pleased to announce the findings of the longest running research series in the Industry. Now in its 7th year, this study shows that despite the raised profile of BCM and emergency planning there is still a huge amount to do.

This years' study, undertaken with the Cabinet Office, is the largest yet and shows that organisations are still not planning effectively. Many UK organisations are failing to prepare for disruption, despite evidence outlining the business benefits of disaster planning, says the survey published today by the Chartered Management Institute and supported by the Cabinet Office and Continuity Forum.

New Continuity Forum events get a great response

Over the summer we have successfully lauched a new series of workshop events designed to help develop effective in a practical and accessible way.

The BC Basics workshops are the result of a lot of discussion with organisations in both the public and private sector were we have listened to the problems they have in developing BCM process and designed special workshop sessions to overcome the them.

With participants from all walks of life, covering Local and Central Government, Health, Emergency Services, Management Consultancy, Finance & Insurance, Transportation and Media, the spread of issues and the knowledge shared was extremely good proactive and we'd even go sofar as to say fun!

Wal-Mart takes the reins in emergency planning

With Florida in the path of the season's first tropical storm, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ramped up its emergency operations center yesterday for the kind of disaster relief effort that won it praise for responding faster than the government last year after Hurricane Katrina.

Wal-Mart's emergency management director, Jason Jackson, said that last year's successes raised expectations from the private sector in times of disaster. Because of that, he said, the world's largest retailer would coordinate more closely with government agencies, the American Red Cross, and even business rivals.

Bird flu. Peak oil. Terrorism. Hurricanes... and BCM of course

The past few years have been dominated by these and a thousand other apocalyptic headlines. And businesses, from the smallest SME to the largest multinational, are taking notice. After all, there is something about the feeling of impending catastrophe that tends to concentrate the mind.

With questions of business continuity shooting up the agenda, the disaster planners are in high demand.

Risk Management and BCM imperative in new world of risk

The world is a dangerous place, and becoming more so. Executives face a myriad perils, any of which could close their businesses and cause immense pain to investors and staff alike.

To make life even more difficult, the cost of achieving peace of mind through insurance is increasing. This makes understanding and managing risk very important.

October 27 2005

Business leaders, like everyone else, are being bombarded with news about the risk of a human bird flu pandemic. Executives should consider now what, if anything, they need to do to prepare against this threat.

Decisions must be based on a sober evaluation of the risks. According to most experts, the probability of a human pandemic this winter is small. So there is no cause for panic.

However, many experts think such a pandemic is likely to occur one day. If it does, it could have disastrous consequences. It therefore makes sense to draw up contingency plans to deal with the worst-case scenario. These should be based on two key objectives: to take care of staff and to minimise disruption to the business and its revenues.

While much corporate attention has, over the past several years, been lavished on security - with everything from guards, access control cards and electronic intrusion detection systems now the norm - managing a crisis in the workplace is sometimes neglected.

 The Act splits local responders into two categories, imposing a different set of duties on each. Category 1 responders are those organisations at the core of emergency response (e.g. emergency services, local authorities, Primary Care Trusts), and are subject to the full range of civil protection duties.

UK public health experts have unveiled their plans to deal with an Avian Flu Pandemic in the face of rising concern over this serious health threat in Asia.

The Government has also announced the purchase of over a million doses of vaccine, which to be used primarily for Key Workers. These steps coincide with increased reports and concern from the World Health Organisation concerning Avian Flu.

Business must plan for the worst and hope for the best 

By Jo Valentine Chief Executive London First (supported by the Continuity Forum)

The terrorist attacks of September 11th should have been a wake call for the business community in Britain and across the world. However, nearly four years on, national surveys show nearly 49% of all UK businesses lack plans to keep the wheels turning if the unthinkable happens. Astonishingly, that number has only improved by 5% since the 9/11 attacks. Where there are plans – mostly among the larger and more regulated businesses – one fifth have never been tested.