New survey explores business continuity trends Commissioned by EnvoyWorldWide in conjunction with Risk Solutions International, this blind survey was conducted among members of several business continuity organisations including the ACP Chapters in Washington and Utah, the Business Recovery Managers Association (BRMA), the Contingency Planning Exchange, New England Disaster Recovery Information Xchange (NEDRIX), and the Three Rivers Contingency Planning Association (TRCPA) for a regional cross-section of US-based business continuity managers. The survey was designed to identify business continuity and disaster recovery practices and trends as well as to compare trends to those uncovered in the initial survey conducted in May 2004. Key findings of the survey include: Top trends in 2005: 2 Regulations and customer requirements drive companies to complete, test and distribute their business continuity plans. - Over seventy five percent of the companies surveyed cite federal, state or industry regulations directly affect business continuity initiatives. - Sixty six percent of the respondents observe an increased interest in their business continuity plans from their respective customers while sixty eight percent have seen BCP requirements in RFPs and RFIs received. 3. The number of companies that migrate manual calling solutions to automated notification solutions has dramatically increased. Top threats to business continuity in 2005 (including percent of respondents rating each as an ‘extreme threat’): 1. Data security (virus, denial of service, unauthorised access) failure (62 percent) 2. Data centre hardware/software failure (58 percent) 3. Telecommunications failure (56 percent) In comparison to last year’s trends, the mix of threats is consistent with a few notable changes. More business continuity managers categorised the threat of natural disasters as ‘extreme’ in 2005 than in 2004, attributed to the recent unsettled weather conditions suffered across the US and around the world. Data security remains the number one concern, demonstrating 11 percent growth in those seeing it as an ‘extreme’ threat, compared to last year’s data. “The threat of interruption and the need to respond promptly has manifested itself into two 21st century developments – a vast increase in regulatory requirements and a mandate from customers that there be actionable business continuity plans in place as a prerequisite for doing business,” explained Alan Berman, executive vice president, Risk Solutions International. “As supported by this survey, in these days of uncertainty, business continuity, which was once a ‘nice to have’ feature, has now become mandatory to maintain customer confidence and a competitive edge.” The survey finds that 87 percent of those surveyed regard communications as a core component to their business continuity plan. Forty one percent of respondents reported reliance on manual call trees, a substantial change from the 94 percent that relied upon manual solutions at this time last year. Furthermore, the survey found a noticeable trend towards implementing hosted notification services rather than on-premise or home-grown options. “With the increasing cost of downtime and frequency of incidents, the need to prepare for unplanned events of all types is imperative,” said Ben Levitan, president and CEO, EnvoyWorldWide. “Our research reinforces the need to have a business continuity plan in place, test it, and collaborate with a trusted, experienced partner to assist in the continuity of operations and communications when an event occurs.”
•Date: 14th June 2005 • Region: N.America • Type:
Article •Topic:
BC statistics |
