BCP budgets on the rise

A recent survey of business continuity planning professionals has found that BCP budgets and employee involvement in the planning process are both increasing.

The survey discovered that 28 percent of the professionals who responded have a budget over $500,000. A similar survey conducted in April 2002 found that 24 percent reported a budget over $500,000. The largest change appeared in those reporting that their organisation had a budget under $100,000. In 2002, 43 percent of the respondents reported that their budget was under $100,000 compared to only 35 percent in 2003.

“Despite problems with the economy, we are still seeing increases in BCP budgets,” said Brian Turley, president of Strohl Systems. “This increase illustrates how valuable organisations think business continuity planning is. Companies are tightening their belts in other areas, but are increasing their spending on BCP.”

In addition to the increase in budgets, the survey found that organisations are involving more employees in the BCP process. 26 percent of survey respondents had over 50 employees involved in the BCP process, up seven percent from the similar survey in April 2002.

Strohl Systems and Contingency Planning & Management magazine jointly conducted the online survey from May 16th to June 4th, 2003. The percentages are based on 618 responses.

Other results of the survey include:
* While 37 percent responded that the IT department was responsible for BCP, 22 percent said they have their own BCP department – up from 18 percent in 2002.

* 16 percent responded that the CIO was the executive sponsor of the BCP programme, eight percent said CFO, and 14 percent said the CEO or president – all up slightly from 2002. The percent of respondents who said a vice president or manager was the executive sponsor of the BCP programme decreased slightly from 2002.

* 18 percent of the survey participants indicated that they had an established BCP programme for less than one year, 41 percent said their programme was in existence for one to five years. In 2002, 21 percent said their programme was less than one year old and 43 percent said one to five years.

•Date: 17th June 2003 •N.America / Worldwide •Type: Article •Topic: BC stats
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