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Business continuity market 2008
02/05/08
Activity, an
independent security specialist, has unveiled research that
indicates that many mid-market organisations may have insufficient
business continuity plans to protect their businesses or could be
vulnerable because their plans are not tested correctly.
Activity's
survey of 200 mid-market companies (250-999 employees) conducted
with research specialists Vanson Bourne, found that while 81 per
cent of companies have a business continuity plan of some sort, over
half had not been fully tested. In addition, 18 per cent of
companies had not tested their plans at all.
Worryingly,
only 15 per cent of organisations surveyed were confident that their
plans would work and had fully tested them.
The research
also showed that a quarter of smaller mid-market companies (250-500
employees) and 19 per cent of the total surveyed do not have a
business continuity plan for their organisations, placing
considerable risk on the companies' ability to survive an unexpected
event.
A positive
sign was that business continuity practices in most of the companies
incorporated senior management input but the majority of respondents
(more than 60 per cent) felt that business continuity should be more
of a priority.
The research
also looked at how prepared the mid-market felt in terms of dealing
with the unexpected. In the event of a major disaster affecting
physical operations or human resources more than 60 per cent said it
would not be easy to resume business quickly.
Commenting on
the research, Neil O'Connor, one of Activity's principal consultants
said, "The findings show that British businesses are not taking the
best approach to business continuity even though they recognise that
it is important. Often business continuity efforts are hampered by
lack of a cohesive approach, piecemeal planning and not actually
testing the continuity plan. Risk management has to be all
encompassing, with plans tested and constantly reviewed. With the
right approach it is possible for this to be achieved in a
manageable way for the organisation. In addition to safeguarding
business operations, business continuity can also help a company
review its own practices and enhance its services and operations."
He went on to
recommend that organisations look at developing and implementing
their business continuity plans against the world's first business
continuity standard BS25999, "The British standard for business
continuity management introduced last year has been developed to
help provide businesses of all sizes with a framework for best
practice. We are recommending this approach to our clients and are
helping them to achieve compliance with this standard."
BS 25999 is
designed to help organisations minimise disruptions to their
business and demonstrate their ability to cope with major threats to
their operations - protecting staff, preserving reputation and
providing a licence to trade. The standard can be used as a
framework, so that those organisations without a business continuity
plan can quickly establish one and those that already have a plan
can ensure it meets best practice.
Activity helps
organisations achieve compliance with BS 25999, providing a full
range of services such as assessment of current plans against
standard requirements; business impact analysis; authoring of plans;
internal awareness and training; testing and auditing.
http://www.activityim.com/services/bs+25999.htm
Established in
2004, Activity is an independent security specialist that helps
commercial and public sector organisations protect their business
operations, data networks, business information and online assets.
Activity provides advice on best practice information security and
business continuity strategies to a wide range of organisations from
mid-sized companies to world leading enterprises, government
institutions and public sector services. Activity's clients include
the Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, Metropolitan Police
Service, Atos Origin UK, Rolls-Royce.
Nick Gibson, editor
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