Signs that business continuity is becoming mainstream in the UK

A new survey has followed on the heels of two other recent studies which both showed that business continuity uptake is getting high enough for the profession to claim that it is now a mainstream discipline in UK organisations

Previously this year The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) published the results of its 2007 annual Business Continuity Management Survey. This found that 73 percent of managers report that business continuity management is important in their organisation. Prior to that the BSI Business Barometer found that 61 percent of businesses ‘recognise the business benefits of business continuity management in terms of reducing risk, satisfying customer requirements, remaining competitive and winning new business’.

Now a new, if more limited, survey from Version One has confirmed the trend towards relatively high levels of organisations taking business continuity seriously. The survey found that 80 percent of UK businesses have a ‘full or reasonable’ business continuity plan in place. This is a 20 percent increase on January 2006 figures when Version One carried-out similar research.

Version One surveyed senior staff from 75 UK organisations to determine whether their businesses would survive a severe disaster, such as a bomb or a fire. Of those surveyed, 37 percent of respondents claim that their organisations have a full business continuity plan in place and 43 percent claim to have a reasonable plan in place. The remaining 20 percent have an unsatisfactory plan in place or are not aware of any business continuity plans.

However, Version One sounded a note of caution about the results, saying that of the 80 percent of UK businesses have a ‘full or reasonable’ business continuity plan in place, 32 percent of respondents failed to explain what their organisation’s business continuity plans involved.

•Date: 17th May 2007 • Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
Rate this article or make a comment - click here