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The increasing frequency and severity of disruptions that can impact businesses demand robust Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program that develops strategies factoring in every conceivable ‘worst case scenario’ to business enablers and documenting it within plans to ensure that critical business functions can continue during and after a disruptive event, such as a natural disaster, cyber-attack, or a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of having a robust and holistic BCM program in place, with many businesses forced to shut down or transition to remote work with little notice. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that anything is possible and that the severity of disruptions can be devastating, if not fatal for businesses who do not plan with intent and focus.
“COVID-19 highlighted the fact that BCM cannot be approached as a simple tick-box exercise. If you can conceive of a disruptive scenario, then the possibility exists that it can and may even happen, and your only recourse for recovery is to plan and implement workable plans. It especially showed that many organisations’ BCM plans were conservative and scenario-specific in their approach and in turn were unprepared for the scale and depth of the disaster that unfolded after the pandemic struck, and the devastating and long-tailed domino effects it had on every single facet of business and life as we knew it,” says Nicolene Olivier, a Global Risk Consultant at Aon South Africa, a global professional services firm and insurance broker.
The primary purpose of BCM is to identify single points of failure and risk to continuity throughout a company, develop strategies and document them within plans and procedures that will assist to mitigate those risks, enabling organisations to recover from any disruptive event. “We plan as if something has already happened,” says Nicolene. “It is a deeply holistic and comprehensive approach that assesses everything from technology and data protection, to health and safety, required skill sets, communications, operational and financial impacts, to name a few. The end goal is to minimise the impact of such events on a company’s operations, employees, customers and stakeholders,” she adds.
To ensure continuity Nicolene says you need to ask yourself one simple question: What does your business need to operate? And then challenge your belief that ‘worst case’ scenarios may never happen.
Questions to ask that will help you understand your company’s recovery requirements would include:
When all questions have been asked, business continuity strategies are developed and documented. “It is critical to assign roles and responsibilities within the various plans that make up a BCM program and ensure seamless communication and escalation between the plan role players. There also needs to be buy-in from management who understands how important a comprehensive BCM program is for the survival of an organisation during a crisis,” says Nicolene.
Aon highlights nine key pressure points to evaluate in a business continuity management plan:
“BCM is a mission-critical part of a company's risk and resilience strategy, helping to ensure the resilience of the organisation and its ability to adapt to and recover from unexpected events. It is also at this junction, that talking to a professional risk advisor with deep specialisation in BCM is an invaluable exercise. It requires a comprehensive and fluid business continuity plan, backed with a comprehensive insurance and mitigation strategy that will enable better decisions that lead to the best possible outcomes for your business in the face of a crisis,” Nicolene concludes.
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