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The first issue of Continuity Central’s new high level Business Continuity Journal has been published. Subscribers to the electronic version have received their copies and subscribers to the CD and print version will receive these during the coming week.
The journal has two mains aims:
• To provide practical advanced level business continuity information to enable business continuity managers to expand their knowledge of the subject;
• To showcase the latest academic and industry research into business continuity management.
Volume one, issue one, of the Business Continuity Journal provides 48 pages of advertising-free content and is available in three versions (UK, North American and International).
Abstracts of the papers in the first issue are as follows:
Review board membership list
Measuring continuity
John Robinson examines how the adoption of control and measurement ideas may benefit business continuity management. Measurement and control systems are explored, explaining how they work and examining their practical suitability for BCM in different organisations. The author addresses the following questions: How much control do we need? What can we do to improve control? What kind of system will achieve this?
You can’t manage what you can’t measure
Benchmarking business continuity
Chris Green suggests that, in order to demonstrate that business continuity management is a value-adding activity, organisations need to measure their BCM competence and capability. To that end, this paper describes the methods used in one major European bank to measure, monitor – and hence improve – that capability. The primary method described is an internal benchmarking exercise conducted across the bank’s varied businesses worldwide. The second method described is one used to evaluate the depth and success of business continuity testing and exercising.
Strategic pandemic planning
This paper by Dan Dorman commences with a detailed exploration of the common assumptions that are made concerning the onset and impacts of pandemic influenza. The author points out that the tacit acceptance of such assumptions can lead to limited and unrealistic views of both the pandemic threat and the capacity of business and governments to respond. Building pandemic plans around potentially false assumptions can and does, lead to misappropriation of critical resources, states the author.
The paper then moves on to look at ‘pandemic preparation as a special case of business continuity’. There are three aspects of pandemics which create particular issues for business continuity managers: pandemics are: global; simultaneously disruptive; and prolonged. Also, pandemics threaten people directly, and other aspects of the business only indirectly, requiring a different approach than taken in many business continuity programs. With pandemic preparation, the cost is primarily the investment in research, planning and training. As such, the costs are generally much lower and the benefits accrue continuously. Strategically approached, pandemic preparation can provide opportunities in industry leadership, and can open new avenues of business.
Positing business continuity as a strategic initiative
For the vast majority of business continuity professionals the process of defining business continuity has largely focused on analysis (business impact analysis (BIA) and risk assessment), plan development, plan validation (testing) and plan maintenance. This paper, by Geary W. Sikich, is designed to provide some ideas that will provoke an exchange amongst peers, some conceptualizations based on the evolution of enterprise risk management and some thought leadership regarding where business continuity needs to be focused in future.
The author argues that three legal constructs should become part of every business continuity practitioner’s vocabulary. These are: ‘constructive knowledge’; ‘constructive notice’ and ‘Negligence’. He explains why this is the case and how they relate to strategic business continuity management.
Finally, the author explains the concept of comparative advantage and how it can be applied to business continuity.
Adoption of business continuity practices by SMEs
Rosemary Hill describes the first part of a research project to identify the factors that motivate small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt business continuity management. SMEs form a vital part of the economies of many countries, but there is evidence that they do not usually include BCM as part of their management practices. This paper describes a survey of SMEs in the UK and Australia to find out the extent of BCM activities within such companies, the reasons given for having or not having BCM programs and the extent of the interruptions experienced by these businesses.
The BIA under the microscope, II
In July 2003 Continuity Central published the results of a detailed online survey into the ways that different organisations use the business impact analysis (BIA). The results were published in a paper entitled ‘The BIA under the microscope’. During 2005 and the first half of 2006 the survey was repeated and this paper presents the results of the second survey. The paper compares and contrasts the results of both surveys, seeking to discover any changes which may have taken place in terms of the way that organisations use and conduct BIAs and gathering practical information which may be of help to business continuity managers when approaching this sometimes problematical subject.
Research roundup
A brief summary of commercial and academic business continuity research which has been published between July 2006 and September 2006. The Business Continuity Journal is available at the following rates depending on your preferred delivery method:
Delivery by e-mail (PDF) : £95 / $US 180 / 140 euro
CD via postal service : £145 / $US 275 / 210 euro
Printed copy via postal service: £195 / $US 370 / 285 euro
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BUSINESS CONTINUITY JOURNAL
•Date: 20th October 2006• Region: World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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