Many of SA's major financial institutions have their headquarters in the Western Cape. Not surprisingly, financial services companies shape my view of the trends in business continuity.
See business continuity as a way to build resilience
Financial services companies hold some of the most sensitive data in the corporate world, and their systems have to be bullet-proof - if a bank or capital markets company goes down, the impact is felt across the economy. As a result, financial services companies tend to understand the rationale behind business continuity and the value it can bring.
The phrase "safe as banks" is testimony to the fact that these companies - and financial services generally - are leaders in how to secure assets. They have invested in skilling up their own employees in business continuity management, and not just to comply with regulations. They believe that it delivers positive benefits to the organisation and its clients.
I think those benefits can be summarised broadly as resilience, something that's particularly relevant when one considers the growing focus that boards and executive management teams are giving to the question of sustainability. Initiatives like the King Codes of Corporate Governance and the Global Reporting Initiative are based on the fact that many factors affect a company's ability to survive and prosper over the long term.
There is growing recognition that business continuity planning offers companies a way to identify and mitigate risk in a methodical and rigorous way, and hence promotes sustainability. These risks were often seen within the context of IT only, but now that IT has become the pervasive platform on which business operates, business continuity's field of vision has widened to encompass the entire business cycle.
The discipline of business continuity management involves a process of assessing risk, developing mitigation strategies and then testing them. This process is iterative, and its aim is always to push the boundaries of what the company can recover from - so in that sense, it's actually like gym for corporates. As such, the continual improvement process makes the company fitter, and so better able to withstand adverse market conditions or events, not just disasters.
In other words, companies that look at business continuity as more than a box they have to tick are likely to be more resilient, and thus more sustainable over time. We should all be following where the financial services industry is leading us.
Treat business continuity as a process, not an event
There is a related point, which I think not even all the financial institutions have fully recognised: business continuity is a process, not an event. The company itself is constantly changing, and so is the market in which it operates - now more than ever. Thus, the precise nature of the risks it faces and its ability to withstand them are equally dynamic.
In other words, we call it business continuity management for a very good reason.
Take an operational view of business continuity
One trend we are seeing down here, and it's one that's starting to play out in Gauteng as well, is a drive to utilise dedicated work-area recovery seats at one of our facilities as something more than an insurance policy. Some companies are using these dedicated facilities as satellite offices for client meetings when it makes sense, or a temporary workplace for mobile staff who happen to be in the vicinity.
In other words, seeing business continuity as embedded in the company DNA, and not as something separate, can yield some unexpected efficiencies.
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