ICM has launched a new pre-packaged business continuity service specifically aimed at small and medium sized organisations, or those new to business continuity. ‘Disaster Cover Direct’ is a straightforward, low cost solution, for businesses with up to 150 office staff based on site. It offers replacement IT equipment express-shipped to site, Internet and e-mail connections and alternative local office facilities, allowing companies to relocate a business critical team to any one of ICM’s twelve UK recovery centres.

Mike Osborne, ICM’s managing director of business continuity said: “For many SMEs in the UK, having a reliable business continuity plan is seen as a luxury that only larger organisations can spare the time and budget for. Paradoxically, the impact of a disaster is proportionally far greater for a smaller firm than would be the case in a larger organisation, as they don’t have the support staff and infrastructure that can mitigate the impact on the business. Successful smaller businesses are invariably streamlined and very efficient. They can therefore take advantage of this simple, streamlined and cost efficient business continuity service without compromising their own survival to do so.”

Mr. Osborne believes that business continuity professionals within larger organisations have a duty to propagate business continuity through their supply chain, “If you’re a larger company, this is the perfect solution to tell your SME suppliers about! With the development of the BS25999 industry standard, and with supply chain continuity one of the key concerns within the marketplace, it’s in the interests of the UK economy and its consumers to ensure that all organisations receive education, assistance and affordable service in their business continuity planning, irrespective of size. Disaster Cover Direct provides all these things, not just a stand-alone service, and it’s my firm hope that such services within the industry will instigate an upsurge in the take-up of business continuity planning among UK SMEs, which all research shows us is still relatively low. Smaller companies are the engine room of the UK economy and have as much right to survive and prosper as their bigger neighbours and can now do so at a price they can afford.”

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•Date: 2nd Nov 2006• Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: Recovery facilities
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