Small businesses make up 99pc of all businesses in the UK, yet according to some studies only 46pc of them have a plan in place should disaster strikewrites Keith Tilley, managing director UK & senior vice president Europe, SunGard Availability Services.
In the last year high profile incidents such as the Buncefield oil depot explosion and the London bombings have brought sharply into focus the importance of business continuity plans to all sizes of business. However, it is the more mundane incidents such as power outage, flood, fire, or computer virus which are far more likely to affect small businesses.
What classifies as a disaster for one company can be very different to another. If a small accountancy firm fails to back up its data, and has no plans for keeping that data secure in the event of a fire, it could be taken to court for failure to comply with one of the plethora of data storage regulations affecting financial organisations. If a fashion website is put offline because of an IT failure, it will lose not only the custom it would normally receive for that time period, but also new potential customers, and its reputation with existing customers. Recent research carried out by the CBI shows that, despite the fact that 60 per cent of medium-sized firms currently use the internet in their supply chains, less than half of these have no security to cope with online attacks and no backup plans. The reality is that disasters can and will happen (at SunGard Availability Services we deal on average with three invocations from customers per fortnight).
Having access to business critical information at all times is crucial. Many companies have unfortunately learned from experience that even short outages can have a significant effect on revenue, cashflow and ultimately customer satisfaction. A recent YouGov survey commissioned by SunGard showed that 1 in 3 people would go elsewhere if the product they wanted was not available straight away. Small businesses need to start business continuity planning if they have not done so already. Following a recent CBI Report on business continuity CBI Director Digby Jones said that "Having the right plan and the right people in the right places can ensure that your business survives no matter what. It is a vital self-help insurance policy that everyone in business must have."
There are many aspects to an effective business continuity plan. Employers need to think about backing up their data so it is never lost, and having access to alternative locations should their work premises be affected by fire or flood. They also need to have plans in place covering employees. For example, do they work from home if they cannot gain access to their building, or is transport immediately provided to the backup site? SunGard encourages its customers to take a holistic approach to business continuity, stressing the importance of analysing risk, profiling information and planning for scenarios.
Contingency planning should not only focus on backing up technology or ensuring alternative work places are available, but every single aspect of business management down to providing counselling to staff in the wake of a disaster. No two businesses are the same and therefore it is vital that companies assess every element of their business to identify risks and weaknesses. They can then develop a tailored business continuity plan. This plan must in turn be underpinned by a commitment to regular testing of back-up information and procedures.
Small businesses should look upon business continuity planning as a way of increasing productivity, organisational efficiency and actually gaining competitive advantage. Business continuity has moved beyond just thinking of how to recover after a disaster and towards the importance of Information Availability – the process of keeping people connected to the information they need at all times. It can be the difference between loss of profits, operations, customers and reputation – or the integrity and survival of the business.
Indeed the ROI of having an effective business continuity plan in place is more easily measurable than you might think*. For example, one key saving can be seen in lower insurance premiums. Another way of thinking about it is to consider the amount of business and income you would lose if you don’t have a plan in place. SMBs are inevitably part of a supply chain, and some organisations (such as supermarkets) are increasingly insisting on their suppliers having proof of a business continuity plan in place. Understandably, they don’t want to be left with empty shelves, just because one of the links in their supply chain has failed to consider the consequences of a potential disaster.
