bcisymp

Issue #44

Last Update March 2, 2006

Technology International BCM Symposium by David Katz Companies and governmental bodies at all levels are preparing for natural and man-made crises with a professionalism that didn't exist a decade ago. Spurred by 9/11 and the impact of increasingly violent natural events, a body of practice has emerged from its nuclear attack, Y2K, fire/flood/hurricane, computer disaster roots and has developed into an encompassing approach to corporate and civic crisis management. Two organizations are at the forefront of this movement: the Business Continuity Institute, headquartered in London, and DRI International, formerly the Disaster Recovery Institute, headquartered in Falls Church, VA. An international symposium, held in Dublin, Ireland by the Business Continuity Institute, gave evidence of the development and scope of this growing profession.

The BCI symposium brought together specialists from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, the US and several other countries for an exchange of ideas and techniques. Although the preferred term at this meeting was business continuity management, the real subject matter was crisis management, with crisis being defined as any event that threatened the physical plant, personnel, supply chain, operation or reputation of a company, governmental unit or infrastructure provider. The technical sessions at this symposium ranged from the role of government during a crisis, to protecting people and facilities from chemical, biological and nuclear threats, to professional education, standards and benchmarking. An exercise in crisis management formed part of the proceedings.

Central to the professional approach to crisis management are identification of areas at risk, development of a crisis plan, training of all participants, and exercise of the plan through drills and mock crises. Advance preparation of alternate space, communications and data storage plays a part, but key concepts also include a clear designation of crisis responsibilities and prompt and dissemination of prompt and accurate information to all affected parties. As with any true profession, evaluation of the effectiveness of crisis preparations is essential, as well a provision for independant auditing of the plans and procedures. As the body of professional knowledge becomes codified, it becomes possible to certify practitioners. The Business Continuity Institute is currently engaged, with other professional and governmental organizations, in creating Best Practices guidelines, auditing standards, and certification requirements.

Business continuity practitioners fall into three categories at present. These include the internal business continuity managers within an organization or governmental unit, outside auditors who are often on the staff of CPA firms, and independant practitioners who provide consulting services such as guidance in business continuity planning, evaluation of plans, creation of practice drill scenarios and external auditing. The Dublin symposium had representatives form all three, which provided the rich interchange of ideas that differing points of view can bring.

On the whole. emergency preparedness during 9/11 was better than expected. With the increased sophistication of the business continuity management profession, we can expect that future emergencies, natural or man-made, will be handled with even greater effectiveness.