British businesses are becoming better prepared for disruption or disaster, according to a British Standards Institution (BSI) survey
It finds:
four of five of FTSE 250 companies would expect to last up to a week before feeling serious detrimental effects of a disruption or disaster
just under half (45pc) have comprehensive supply chain failure plans
half (51pc) are very well prepared for IT systems failure.
BSI’s annual survey of FTSE 250 companies shows that 61pc recognise the business benefits of Business Continuity Management (BCM) in terms of reducing risk, satisfying customer requirements, remaining competitive and winning new business.
What they say
Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, said: “The FTSE 250 has a market value of more than £260 billion, so the scale of the risk and the opportunity is enormous. While it is encouraging that companies are improving their thinking about continuity management they cannot afford to be complacent when it comes to being fully prepared. That’s why we’ve produced a new Business Continuity Management standard, BS 25999, the first part of which is now available for organisations of all sizes and sectors to use. By helping to put the fundamentals of a BCM system in place the standard is designed to keep businesses going during even the most challenging and unexpected circumstances – protecting staff, preserving reputation and providing a licence to operate.”
Firms feel vulnerable
While the results, the BSI says, are encouraging, the findings reveal many companies are still putting themselves at unnecessary risk despite feeling a high level of vulnerability at the prospect of a crisis: nearly half (46pc) said it would take less than a day for a serious disruption to impact significantly on their business.
Chris Green, Vice Chair, Business Continuity Institute and chairman of the BSI business continuity committee said: “There is little doubt that using standards enhances productivity and competitiveness. Robust BCM standards such as BS 25999 can make supply chains more robust, improve enterprise stability, increase job security and ensure the flow of money into communities. Without this there is a significant risk to both economic growth and employment, let alone the fortunes of individual companies.”
Standards save businesses
For those companies who already implement British standards, there is an increased confidence in managing issues such as supply chain failure (55pc) and forced business relocation (51pc). Interestingly, the standards body adds, 40pc of businesses who are already committed to applying standards agree strongly that compliance with business continuity standards is likely to play an important role in staying competitive and winning new business in future, compared with only 26% of businesses overall.
Proactive
BSI’s research shows the importance of Business Continuity Management is increasingly being recognised, the standards body claims. Companies are far better prepared in 2006 than 2005 to manage risks such as IT failure (51pc in 2006 compared to 27pc in 2005).
About BS 25999
The standards body says that BS 25999 has been developed to establish the process, principles and terminology of Business Continuity Management. It provides a basis for understanding, developing and implementing business continuity within an organisation to offer confidence in business-to-business and business-to-customer dealings.
