Business Continuity Articles and Resources

Security Watch comments on why Business Continuity extends beyond your IT infrastructure. They comment about the importance of considering an epidemic affecting staff.

If you follow the BS25999 standard you should have made an identification of critical business resources, and of course your staff will fall under that definition.

This is a funny video that goes some way to explaining why your business needs to implement a business continuity management plan. This is a parody of The Office made by www.overlandStorage.com

Defining Business Continuity has always been a rather subjective excercise. It's not possible to issue a simple check list of DOs and DON'Ts as each organisation has its own priorities and unique situations.

The British Standards Institute has long dealt with the need for flexible standards systems which can define a set of best practice guidelines which remain flexible enough to be adopted by all manner of business models, whilst remaining robust enough to ensure they will be accepted by business partners as the industry standard benchmark of quality assurance.

53 flood warnings were issued across the UK as severe weather swept into the south and west. And there was more misery for areas in western England still recovering from the effects of the worst flooding in 60 years, as they were warned of a possible repeat of the chaos seen during the summer.

The UK weather service forecast torrents of rain for the West Midlands, areas in the south west of England and parts of Wales, accompanied by fierce 70 mph winds across London and the south.

Insuring your business against environmental risks, such as Fire, Natural Disaster or criminal activity is second nature to all business professionals. But the risks to your business extend beyond the material items that can be insured against. Identifying these risks and formulating a plan to respond is the mission of a Business Continuity system.

Here are 10 steps you should consider when implementing an effective business continuity plan.

The nature of risk is that it is a result of unusual events, and whilst we may be able to imagine certain circumstances, such as fire, natural disaster or mechanical failure, some indirect risks, such as environmental impacts caused by third parties (the fuel strikes of September 2000), or loss of customer goodwill following a negative press report, may never be fully considered until they happen, or nearly happen.

A fully realised Business Continuity Management strategy is often ignored by Small to Medium enterprises. Most companies are aware of the dangers of sudden data loss caused by computer hardware failure, or malicious attacks from virus or remote hackers, and take steps to maintain backups of their customer and accounts records.

The reality is that risks to business continuity are present in every aspect of your business. Staff, site access, suppliers and customers are all critical factors to the success of your business, which could be interrupted by factors beyond your control.