Industry Interview
Within this context, the BCM have achieved in this field becomes more focused. We have a great
deal of work to do at the Institute to ensure that, while accepting
component can make a very important
that there are different approaches to BCM in different parts of the
contribution to the decisions being made
world, we look to hone what is a global approach to continuity.
We also have to ensure that this approach continues to develop in
at a strategic level
response to a constantly changing world to remain fit for purpose,
whatever the future brings.
the Institute are focused on making sure that the right people
at the right level within organisations do have at least a basic
understanding of what business continuity can offer them. While
BCM is about resilience and response, it is also about adding value
to the general management of an organisation and improving its
ability to make considered decisions.
What do you see as the main challenges which BCM managers
face in achieving greater visibility for the discipline within their
organisations?
One of the key things is that companies are still unsure where
We need to convince organisations
BCM should sit within their organisational structure. We need to
rationalise where the discipline should be positioned and therefore
that there will always be unexpected
what it encompasses. The debate has been running for many
years as to whether BCM is the overarching discipline that covers
disruptive events out there waiting to
a raft of other disciplines such as health & safety, environmental
management, risk management, IT disaster recovery etc. In fact,
happen and that they need to maintain
sometimes BCM ends up in whatever department the person who
chooses to champion it happens to be in! We need to clarify for
their level of vigilance
senior managers what BCM actually encompasses and from that,
where it sits within the organisation. If we can do that then it will What would you hope that BCM practitioners have taken from the
automatically gain greater visibility. events faced over the last twelve months?
The problem is that we still have this silo mentality. Each
discipline has its own objectives. You must remember that business The headline events that have affected the BCM world during
continuity is still relatively new, so using it as a means of bringing the last year, as we have already mentioned, are the recession
down these silo walls is not an easy task. This is also quite a high and swine flu. For BCM practitioners, the recession has brought
level concept for the business continuity manager to take on as well constraints in budgets, staff recruitment and on developing or
as being able to raise the discipline to board level. maturing their continuity strategies. So this means that BCM
At the BCI, one of our primary aims is to ensure that in the practitioners have to be even more astute than before and use
future we see business continuity managers gaining board-level whatever resources they have as wisely as possible. However, I
responsibilities within their particular organisations. would also say that BCM practitioners should look to use their
people skills to influence those around them. If they can understand
As the risk horizon for organisations becomes ever more volatile, how boards think this will give them a better chance of influencing
how do you see BCM evolving to keep pace? their investment decisions.
BCM has achieved a momentum of its own and has achieved
global recognition as a valuable discipline. We are seeing that
anGEla RoBinSon FBCi
clearly through the work that we are doing at the Institute. For me, angela robinson is chair of the bci
what is important going forward is that the momentum that we
CDJEFD
November/December 2009  Continuity  3
Cont Nov/Dec 09_insides.indd 31 27/11/09 14:14:19