Maintaining BCM momentum
Angela Robinson, Chair of the BCI, discusses 
the changing role of BCM and considers the 
extent to which this is being driven by events 
such as swine flu and the financial crisis, and 
by increasing levels of professionalism and 
greater strategic recognition 
To what extent have the challenges posed by the financial crisis that their organisation is well managed. Business continuity falls
and the ongoing pandemic situation served to raise the importance squarely into this category. You must be vigilant at all times to
of a robust resilience strategy in the minds of senior managers?
ensure that you are prepared to face any disruptive event.
As your previous question suggests, you have to maintain this
In my opinion, these two issues have helped to raise the importance level of robustness. It is no good saying that we put together a plan
of BCM in the minds of senior managers. However, the issue that three years ago, and while we haven’t reviewed it since then, we
we face is that BCM means different things to different people. can simply put it into action whenever we need it. Three years is
In fact, in your question you refer to ‘a robust resilience strategy’ a long time and a lot will have changed during that period both
– for some that may refer to effective, comprehensive continuity internally and externally, meaning that potentially that plan will no
arrangements; while for others that may mean having a plan in longer be effective.
place to tackle the pandemic.
As a discipline, one of the big issues we must face up to going In your opinion, to what extent has BCM moved from being an
forward is our ability to understand our own terminology. Part of the operational-orientated discipline to one which plays a more
BCI’s definition of BCM is about providing a framework for building
proactive role in enabling organisations to achieve their strategic
organisational resilience with a capability for effective response.
objectives?
We would therefore say that BCM is a contributor to resilience.
Resilience can mean that if you have identified a single point of I think this evolution is clearly underway. One of the key
failure that you have put some measure in place to ensure that you components of BCM is the need to understand your business.
are no longer dependent on that single point. It does not necessarily That encompasses all of the critical activities of your organisation
mean that you have the ability to respond if something does go that are a part of your strategic objectives and the processes
wrong as a result of a disruption, taking the actions necessary to and procedures required to keep those activities going. This is
keep your business going. fundamental to business continuity and as a result it is an excellent
I would also add that we have had similar situations in the past fit with the strategic objectives of any company. If you do not have
where an event has served to highlight the importance of BCM. a clear understanding of your critical activities as a result of your
Perhaps the most notable one is the Y2K incident. In that case, the business impact analysis then you simply will not be in a position
profile was raised at that time, but it was not maintained. For some to ensure these activities can be maintained in the event of a
organisations, once the Y2K situation had passed, they decided disruptive incident and therefore the strategic objectives of your
that they did not need to devote the same level of resourcing to company may not be met.
planning for disruptive events. There is an increasing awareness that the information which
The danger is that we will not be able to maintain the interest in is gained from conducting a business impact analysis is also
BCM that has been generated from the pandemic situation and the important to the ongoing management of the company. The data
financial crisis. We need to convince organisations that there will generated from the BIA can prove invaluable in facilitating more
always be unexpected disruptive events out there waiting to happen informed decision making across the organisation. The lifecycle
and that they need to maintain their level of vigilance and ensure of an average company is very much like a roller coaster. An
that they can continue to operate despite such incidents. organisation may believe that the best strategy is to distribute its
resources widely. Then it decides that it would be more beneficial
Are companies willing to devote the expenditure required to to consolidate its activities. Further down the line, the strategy
maintain levels of vigilance given the financial strains that many changes and the company decides to revert to the previous
organisations are currently under?
distributed strategy. Within this context, the BCM component can
make a very important contribution to the decisions being made at
I am sure that to some degree there is a financial issue for a strategic level because you have the necessary information at a
organisations when they consider their BCM planning. But what level of detail that you perhaps did not have before.
companies must remember is that this is about good governance. I do not think, however, that senior managers currently
Any company would be foolish if it did not at least maintain the appreciate the full value which BCM provides. That is why
minimum standards across a number of disciplines to ensure the awareness and lobbying campaigns being undertaken by
30  Continuity  November/December 2009
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