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BSI Management Systems puts BCM in the spotlight

17 Apr 2008
Topics: Business continuity, BS 25999, UAE

At the end of March, BSI Management Systems launched its BS 25999 business continuity management (BCM) service in Abu Dhabi. Coincidentally, on the same day a massive explosion ripped through a warehouse complex in neighbouring Dubai, destroying 80 warehouses. This happened because someone had illicitly stored fireworks in a warehouse alongside bottles of propane gas - with disastrous consequences for the business continuity of all the companies in the vicinity. Yet another illustration that, as John Hele, BSI's global product manager for BCM puts it: "The likelihood of something very unlikely happening is very likely."

So we live in an unpredictable world. This we knew. But how as businesses can we respond? To a large extent, the answer seems to lie in Business Continuity Management, a discipline which increasingly companies are not leaving to chance, with good reason. Recent UK research showed that companies which experience a disastrous break in their continuity of supply must be trading again within 30 days or they will likely go out of business. As Hele says: "The ability of an organization to maintain its critical operations during and after a major business interruption is a key component of survival."

Launch events

Therefore the roll-out of BSI's BCM service seems timely. BSI's launch events for BS 25999 in Abu Dhabi (and subsequently Dubai) were the start of an extensive programme. Events are being run in April, May and June in India, China, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and Belgium. Hele reports that both the Middle East events were fully subscribed and that the level of interest in BCM has never been greater for a number of reasons, not least of which is the need to safeguard reputations and brands. "Just look at Cadbury", he cautions. "When salmonella was found in a batch of chocolate it cost them £20m (GBP). Brand and reputation are becoming big factors in the growth of BCM".

BS 25999

BS 25999 is the world's first BCM requirements standard and was developed to minimize the risks of disruptions, which can impact an organization's ability to keep operating and trading. The standard, which was published in 2007, contains a comprehensive set of controls based on business continuity management best practice and covers the whole BCM lifecycle right down to having rehearsed methods of dealing with disasters. BSI has already certified companies in the UK, India, Japan, Brazil and Korea to the standard.

Hele explains: "Putting the standard in place delivers robust BCM which not only safeguards continuing operations, but protects staff and preserves an organization's reputation. It also delivers a level of confidence which enables calculated risk taking in terms of opening new markets and exploiting new opportunities."

Hele continues: "BCM is about thinking through everything that can happen. It looks at key products and services and at what the threats are to continuing supply. A big threat is not being able to get into your premises. So as in the Dubai incident it's important to know what your neighbours are doing. Also, do you know who to contact in the local authority if you can't access your building? And do you know where you evacuate to? In many business parks people imagine they'll evacuate to the small area of grass across the way - but if the whole complex is evacuating you can't all go there. In other words, there's a whole host of things to consider."

The BSI Business Continuity Launch events provide an opportunity to learn about BS 25999, to learn about BSI and indeed to learn about certification itself. Hele adds: "It's important to a whole range of companies because big organizations are increasingly asking their smaller suppliers how they are controlling and managing the continuity of the goods and services that they supply to them."

Indeed the essence of BCM is managing for survival. As Charles Darwin put it in another context: "It's not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change."

For more information on BSI's BS 25999 launch events, visit: www.bsi-emea.com/BCM/Launch+Events

For more information on BS 25999 in the Middle East, visit: www.bsigroup.ae/en/Assessment-and-Certification-services/Management-systems/Standards-and-Schemes/BS-25999/

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, author Imre Solt, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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