Johannesburg, 12 Mar 2015
Load-shedding is becoming a dreaded term for South African businesses. The International Monetary Fund has warned that if the rolling blackouts continue, it could result in the economy only growing by 2.1% in 2015. One of the biggest concerns, according to energy expert Chris Yelland, is that stage three load-shedding is estimated to cost South Africa around R80 million per month.
Since Eskom has warned that the problem is likely to continue for the next two to three years, businesses need to investigate whether they're adequately prepared for when load-shedding strikes. A solid business continuity plan (BCP) will be crucial to ensuring it's business as usual - but what exactly are the key elements of a successful BCP?
At the top of the list is agreement on the strategy. An organisation needs buy-in from all of the important decision-makers. These individuals need to be on-board and involved in the various stages of discussion, reviewing and deciding on a BCP strategy. Once their input is aggregated, the work can really begin, says Heino Gevers, Customer Success Manager at Mimecast.
The next step is to identify and manage the risks. A key consideration needs to be IT. A business needs to determine which systems are vital to operations and simply cannot afford to be down. A contingency plan would then need to be put in place to mitigate any future risks. A typical example would be e-mail. Since it is an important communication tool, an organisation could seek to implement a cloud-based e-mail platform to ensure that e-mail is always available and on multiple devices.
When implementing a BCP, it still remains vital to adhere to the regular and consistent IT security standards of the organisation. In the event that a user is utilising a mobile device on his/her home network, for example, security still needs to be put in place. Real-time protection and security gateways are paramount, and users need to know they can still complete their tasks in a safe and secure platform.
Education plays a pivotal role here as well, because end-users need to be informed of what to expect and do before and when a BCP kicks in. Clear and concise instructions and documentation should be made available for all employees.
As soon as the lights return and IT systems reboot, so should the normal day-to-day operations. If it takes days to restore business as usual, the BCP needs to be revised. All good plans should be measurable to see where they're failing and succeeding, and a BCP should be treated like any business strategy: it needs to be constantly revised and updated.
The more prepared a business is, the better equipped it will be to manage an emergency situation. Testing a BCP on an ongoing basis is crucial, so that if the lights go out, it's still business as usual.
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