Business Continuity – Could your business cope should the worst happen?

Business continuity is defined as the ability of an organisation to continue the delivery of its products/services to a minimum desired level following a major disruptive incident.

Such disruptive incidents can affect businesses of any size or type and can include any of the following:

• A computer virus attacking your server,
• Bad weather (E.g. Flooding),
• A burst water main or fire,
• A senior manager departing and,
• An issue with a supplier.

The question is, could your business cope? Events such as the arson attack on South Oxfordshire District Council’s head office would have left most businesses on the edge of extinction.

A company would have had to of waited for the completion of an investigation, followed by a potentially lengthy battle with insurance companies.

Even though South Oxfordshire District Council had contingencies in place, the event still had an extremely significant effect on its operations in the form of asking residents not to submit any new planning applications.

Therefore it is only prudent to protect your business to the best of your ability.

A Rise in Popularity

It doesn’t matter whether your business relies on computers or stores all its records in a physical format, every business is at risk of falling foul from potentially catastrophic unforeseen events.

As time progresses, more and more business may be recognising the need for business continuity but why do the majority keep putting it off?

It might be because it does not contribute directly to revenue income and that it focuses more on the “What if’s” rather than any certainties.

Other arguments include that it takes away man power while others are either in denial about the chances of something happening to them or don’t know where to start.

Some of these statements may be true but is it a risk worth taking? With regards to not knowing where to start when implementing Business Continuity Management, there are many options.

One of these options is to implement the internationally recognised ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Standard.

This standard is a comprehensive and systematic process driven approach that also focuses on continuous improvement.

What’s Involved in Business Continuity Management?

The main areas that the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Standard focuses on are:

• The context of the organisation – every organisation is different.
• Leadership – Without management buy in, the success of the Business Continuity planning is limited.
• Planning – Highlighting the main risks, limiting the risks and what should happen if an event occurs.
• Support – Staff must be properly trained and must have the necessary resources.
• Operation – Put into operation all of the above.
• Performance Evaluation – Measure the performance of the system, are procedures successfully in place.
• Improvement – Improvements made as an outcome of the performance evaluation.

How can it benefit my company?

As well as obvious benefits of reducing the risks to the businesses future, there are a number of additional benefits that come with the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Standard. Some of these include:

• Improved understanding of the business as gained through risk identification and analysis
• Operational resilience which results from implementing risk reduction
• Reduced downtime when alternative processes and workarounds are identified
• Health & safety legislation can be correctly considered.
• Protection of both the physical and knowledge assets
• Ensures continuous supply even if there is a supplier issue.
• Customers are confident that you can fulfil all your obligations

If you would like more information regarding the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Standard, please contact the team direct via email or phone on info@isoqsltd.com / 01905 670303. Alternatively, click HERE.

ISO Quality Services Ltd are proud to specialise in the implementation and certification of the Internationally recognised ISO and BS EN Management Standards.

Primarily working with clients throughout the whole of the UK and Ireland, ISO Quality Services Ltd also cover Europe and the UAE.

Do you want to get ahead of your competition? Win more tenders or save time and money on reoccurring issues? Contact us today!