Risk & Business Continuity British Standards

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82% of managers reduced the impact of disruptions by having effective business continuity plans*

BSI has a range of business continuity management (BCM) standards, books, self-assessment tools, conferences and training which can help your business to reduce the chance and impact of in the event that you experience a disruption.

Why is effective business continuity management essential?

In an increasingly competitive market organizations need to go to greater lengths to survive; where are they if they can’t continue producing their products and services?

‘It won’t happen to me’

Extreme cold weather, cyber attacks, floods; unfortunately the chance of our normal business being disrupted is more common that we think, in fact…

  • 1 in 5 businesses experience a major disruption every year
  • 93% of UK organizations were affected by the snow spell alone in 2010 (costing the economy £280 million a day)


What can you do to minimise the impact of a disruption?

From 10 minutes to 10 days out of action, the costs of returning to normal operations after being disrupted far outweighs having an effective plan B.

This could, for example, be maintaining a level of reserve stock in the case of a supplier not being unable to reach you. Or, ensuring all key company information is backed up at another site in the case that this is destroyed.

From a flood to an outages; companies benefiting from business continuity planning is increasing

In fact;

• 84% of UK managers benefited from activating their business continuity plans during a disruption (an increase of 14% from 2009)

• 82% were able to lessen the impact of the disruption as they had a BCM plan

• 77% recovered faster

So, how can we ensure our business continuity arrangements are going to minimise the cost of disruption and increase the speed of recovery?

The answer: Effective business continuity management (BCM)

This can be ensured by using a business continuity management system which encourages a proactive and systematic approach to business continuity management to make sure you are best prepared.

How do I put a Business Continuity Management system (BCMS) into place in my company?

British Standard BS 25999, written by the UK team of Business Continuity experts, the BCM/1 committee, sets out the fundamentals of a Business continuity management system.

The management system element follows the same approach as found in other british and international standards and uses the ‘plan, do, check, act,’ methodology to drive continuous improvement throughout your organisation.

Following the plan, do, check, act model means you learn from past incidents and continually improve your BCM; something that UK managers did not do, meaning they weren’t better able to cope with the second snow spell in 2010.

Therefore, BS 25999, the most popular way for organizations to judge the effectiveness of their BCMS gives you the assurance you have the controls in place to minimise the impact and costs of any disruption.

What exactly is BS 25999?

BS 25999 is made up of two parts

• Part 1, the Code of Practice, provides BCM best practice recommendations to help you put the requirements for BCMS in to place in your organization.

• Part 2, the Specification, gives you the requirements for a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).
This tried and tested approach ensures continual improvement and enables you to proactively improve your organisation’s resilience

Are you interested in implementing or conducting a gap analysis of your BCMS or want help putting it in to place?


Use our Business Continuity Self-assessment: BS 25999 tool which will

• Guide the design of your business continuity management system (BCMS) by going through each requirement of the BS 25999 with expert guidance and hyperlinks to further help and tips

• Quickly and easily identify elements of your BCM that are working well, needing attention or missing altogether

• Benchmark and compare different parts of your organization, your improvement overtime and your alignment to the BS 25999

Learn more about the Business Continuity Self-assessment: BS 25999

You may also be interested in:

  • Corporate social responsibility and governance
  • Integrated management systems (IMS)
  • Project management
  • Knowledge management
  • Quality management
  • Risk management
  • Supply chain management & risk

  • New business continuity management guidance


    See a short video demonstrating why you need BCM processes in place:

       

      *Survey conducted by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), March 2010


      British Standard BS 25999 is the internationally recognised standard that sets out the fundamentals of a business continuity management system (BCMS).

      Following this standard can give your organization the reassurance that you've got the controls in place to minimise the impact and costs of any disruption it may face.

      What exactly is BS 25999?

      BS 25999 is made up of two parts

      Part 1, the Code of Practice, provides BCM best practice recommendations to help you put the requirements for BCMS in to place in your organization.

      BS 25999-1:2006BS 25999-1:2006
      Business continuity management. Code of practice

       

       

      Part 2, the Specification, gives you the requirements for a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).

      BS 25999-1:2006BS 25999-1:2006
      Business continuity management. Code of practice

       

       

      BS 25999-2:2007BS 25999-2:2007
      Business continuity management. Specification

       

       

      BS ISO/IEC 27031:2011BS ISO/IEC 27031:2011
      Information technology. Security techniques. Guidelines for information and communication technology readiness for business continuity

       

       

      Do you want some expert advice? View our business continuity books...

      The Route Map to BCMThe Route Map to Business Continuity Management. Meeting the Requirements of BS 25999
      John Sharp

      Read more about meeting the BCM requirements of BS 25999

       

      A Practical Approach to Business Impact Analysis. Understanding the Organization through Business Continuity ManagementA Practical Approach to Business Impact Analysis. Understanding the Organization through Business Continuity Management
      Ian Charters

      Read more 

       

      PD 25111PD 25111:2010
      Business continuity management. Guidance on human aspects of business continuity

       

       

      Business continuity management. Guidance on exercising and testing for continuity and contingency programmesPD 25666:2010
      Business continuity management. Guidance on exercising and testing for continuity and contingency programmes

       

       

      Exercising for Excellence: Delivering a Successful Business Continuity Management ExerciseExercising for Excellence: Delivering a Successful Business Continuity Management Exercise
      Crisis Solutions

      Download Chapter 1

       

      Communication Strategies: Write Your Incident Communication Plan Now
      Jim Preen

      Download Chapter 1

       

      Auditing Business Continuity Management Plans
      John Silltow

      Download Chapter 1

       

      bip 2034Disaster and Emergency Management Systems
      Tony Moore

      Download Chapter 1 

       


      Firms 'failing to prepare for disaster recovery'
      26 April 2012

      Business continuity planning 'could boost Olympic revenues'
      05 April 2012

      Business continuity plans 'offer wider advantages'
      17 February 2012

      Warning issued about Olympian business continuity risk
      06 February 2012

      IT decision makers 'concerned about London 2012 business continuity'
      12 January 2012

      Firms offered advice about Olympic business continuity
      11 January 2012

      Good hygiene standards can enhance business continuity management
      10 January 2012

      Good hygiene standards can enhance business continuity management
      09 January 2012

      SMEs 'failing to put effective disaster recovery standards in place'
      06 January 2012

      Majority of firms 'would suffer business continuity problems in severe weather'
      19 December 2011

      Businesses urged to back up data
      16 December 2011

      Business continuity problems affect Post Offices' busiest day
      13 December 2011

      Supply chain disruptions highlight need for better business continuity standards
      07 December 2011

      NHS issues flu warning to younger adults
      23 November 2011

      Business continuity 'should be considered before winter'
      21 November 2011

      Companies urged to draw up business continuity plan
      18 November 2011

      Business continuity procedures 'must be clearly written'
      15 November 2011

      Firms should 'build capability alongside business continuity plans'
      10 November 2011

      Toyota unveils plans to enhance supply chain security
      09 September 2011

      Fujitsu strike 'highlights importance of business continuity'
      07 September 2011


      Visit the Business Continuity news archive

      Return to Business Continuity homepage


      CMI ReportCMI Business survey
      Available now to download from from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

       

       

      Case Studies

      Case Study: London emergency department implements business continuity management system to help save lives in event of disruption
      King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

      Case Study: The BS 25999 Experience: how BS 25999 is delivering for HDNL?
      Eddie Hill, Head of Business Continuity, Shop Direct Group

      Case Study: BS 25999 in a multi-site enterprise
      Andy Mason, Head of Business Continuity, PricewaterhouseCoopers

      Technical Briefing: Business Impact Analysis: understanding what is required for
      BS 25999
      Hilary Estall, Director, Perpetual Solutions Ltd

      BCM helps make the National Health Service resilient

      Review of BCM/1 Development Programmes:

      BS 25777: IT Continuity
      Robin Gaddum, Senior Managing Consultant, IBM

      PD 25888: Recovery Planning
      Wayne Harrop, University of Coventry


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      You can now comment online on any new national Drafts for Public Comment (DPCs). Go to www.bsigroup.com/drafts and register today!

      Business Continuity Management Training Courses

      BS 25999 Users' Workshop - Presentations

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      BCM has continued to rise with 61% of managers reporting that their organization has plans in place in 2012

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