Business Continuity – is it expensive and hard?

In a Brief History of Time, Professor Stephen Hawking quoted his editor as saying that ‘each equation would scare off half the readership’.  Having included the somewhat essential equation E=mc2 Hawking expressed his hopes ‘…that this will not scare off half of my potential readers’. To a certain extent the increasing prevalence of the words ’business continuity’ in the media risks having the same effect on readers, says Carl Windsor, chief technology consultant for TeleCity.

Of course Hawkings concern was that a certain amount of reference to equations was necessary.  In the same way, no business should ignore the perils of operating without a business continuity plan in place.

Only 51 per cent of businesses surveyed by the Chartered Management Institute in January 2005 had a business continuity plan that covered their critical business activities.  The report also revealed that only 66 per cent of large organisations (defined as having a turnover of over £11 million) have a business continuity plan (BCP) with this figure dropping to only 33 per cent for their smaller counterparts.

Are these businesses with no BCP conscious of the risks they are taking in the hope that it ‘won’t happen to them’?  Or perhaps they are aware of the need for a plan but have not found the time or resource to prepare it.

Let’s discuss the first of these two possibilities for a moment.  Risk acceptance can be a valid strategy, but it should be used as a measured approach, taking into account the likely impact and possibility of any particular event.  However, the following statistics gathered by the London Chamber of Commerce, demonstrate that such a strategy contains inherent risks that stakeholders may wish to consider:

1. 90 per cent of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to close within two years of the disaster
2. 80 per cent of businesses without a well-structured recovery plan are forced to close within 12 months of a flood or fire
3. 43 per cent of companies experiencing disasters never recover
4. 50 per cent of companies experiencing a computer outrage will be forced to shut within five years

Thinking the unthinkable is essential.  The horror stories about businesses closing due to disaster are not urban myths propagated by business continuity consultancies hoping to drum up extra business.  The fact is that one in five businesses suffers a major disruption every year.  Businesses cannot avoid business continuity planning.

Source:  IT Now
March 2006
Published by the BCS

Further reading:
Business Continuity
Management 2005, Chartered Institute of Management

London Chamber of Commerce and
Industry – Disaster Recovery: Business Tips for Survival

Expecting the Unexpected:
Business Continuity in an Uncertain World
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