A new
Sourceforconsulting.com report published today (6
th September 2011) has found that despite the majority of C-suite executives surveyed (82 per cent)
having plans in place to get critical business processes back up and running after an incident,
three quarters (75 per cent) see significant room for improvement in their business continuity processes. A similar number (68 per cent) say they need more money to make their business more resilient.
These findings are published in a new Sourceforconsulting.com report commissioned by SunGard Availability Services, the pioneer and leading provider of information availability and business continuity services. The report surveyed 100 companies with 500 or more employees and also interviewed 22 business continuity practitioners from retail, central government, professional services, manufacturing and finance companies; from which a number, including Sainsbury’s, Centrica, LexisNexis, Nationwide, Clifford Chance, and Irwin Mitchell were identified as trailblazers in business continuity management.
The Sourceforconsulting.com report discusses the ways in which the trailblazers set themselves apart. In each case they:
- Have a respected and influential business continuity manager
- Embed responsibility for business continuity throughout their organisation
- Keep plans as simple as possible
- Consider objectively a range of resilience options
- Put business resilience to the test
- Recognise that we’re all human
- Ensure business resilience features in key business decisions
- Think broadly about business continuity issues and strategy
Mike Threlfall, European, UK&I consulting & software director , SunGard Availability Services, said:
“This report highlights that in the same way that having strategy management does not necessarily imply a company has a competitor beating strategy, simply having business continuity management does not necessarily mean a truly resilient organisation. The report also identifies the common traits of organisations that are truly resilient – the ones that set themselves apart.”
Finding the right person
The report found that two thirds of C-suite executives say it’s difficult to get senior managers to invest time and resources in business continuity management. The report says that finding the right person to lead business continuity management, and influence these senior managers, is a vital, but an often overlooked element towards successful business continuity.
Working remotely should only form part of the plan
Nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of those surveyed lacked concern about being denied access to a particular building as a result of an incident, as they felt employees could use their laptops to work remotely. However, the report says that this confidence may be misplaced as working remotely isn’t the answer to all problems. Indeed it finds not only that many teams actually need to work together to operate effectively, but that many people do not have the space, facilities or appropriate environment to work effectively from home in the first place.
Daniel Bridge, senior manager – business continuity & director, Nationwide, supported this view saying:
“We have remote working capability but it’s not something we rely on in our recovery planning. Remote working is great for enabling people to be more flexible but if you’ve got key dependencies on people for certain business processes then you need to make sure there’s the right kind of provision there, whether it be work area recovery or split responsibilities across sites.”
Whilst remote working forms part of business continuity plans, the trailblazers use a range of resilience options such as diversely located self-owned buildings or using external organisations to provide dedicated or shared workplace recovery centres. The report found that this use of external support is becoming more and more valued with 70 per cent of respondents saying that they would consider outsourcing parts of their business continuity infrastructure and support.
Putting resilience to the test
Almost all (80 per cent) of the large companies surveyed are running regular IT testing exercises, but the trailblazers are taking testing to a new level. Mario Pascoe, head of business continuity, Centrica, said: “The big change is we now get lots of people involved. We used to do tests with 10 people where we’d check that the technical elements are in place. Now, we regularly send 200 people to the work area recovery sites and expect them to carry out their jobs.”
For further information on the Sourceforconsulting.com report: Leaders in business continuity and resilience: the key lessons for the next decade, visit www.sourceforconsulting.com or contact Julie Cleasby on +44 (0)20 3178 6445.