What business continuity management (BCM) is

Interruptions large or small and whether natural, accidental or malicious can have a significant impact on your organisation. Whether you’re a market trader, voluntary organisation or a global organisation, you need to be able to continue with your essential activities whatever happens. Some events are beyond our control but we have the ability and opportunity to reduce the impact.

Could your business survive if:

• your main premises were unavailable for a day, week or longer?
• you were without computers or telephones for an hour, day, week or longer?
• your paper or computer records were lost, damaged or destroyed?
• a quarter of your staff were absent through sickness?

Business continuity management (BCM) prepares and helps to safeguard your business or organisation against a range of interruptions. 

BCM is for every business or organisation regardless of size. It is a process that identifies risks to your business and the impact they may cause, and to document the procedures which will enable the response, recovery and restoration following any disruption.

If practised effectively, BCM can assist a business to survive any interruption by developing a management tool which looks at the whole business. It identifies what is critical to a business including processes, buildings, material, equipment and personnel. This management tool helps you to plan, prepare, protect and workaround disruption allowing the business to survive. The Business Continuity Plan is the document that is produced as a result of this process.

Without effective BCM an interruption could result in any of the following:

• a complete failure of your business
• loss of income
• loss of reputation or loss of customers
• financial, legal and regulatory penalties
• human resources issues
• an impact on insurance premiums

Businesses should also make sure their supply chains have effective BCM arrangements in place. You are only as strong as your weakest link.