Today's tough economic climate is driving a greater demand from organisations for business continuity management (BCM) products.
"BCM is an absolutely critical management discipline for any organisation, large or small," says Steve Mellish, vice-chair and chairman designate of the Business Continuity Institute UK, who will be delivering the international keynote address at ITWeb Business Continuity 2012.
The conference aims to equip businesses with the necessary skills to cope with disruptions and eventualities.
"The boards of directors and other senior executives are becoming increasingly aware that there is a common-sense approach to protecting your organisation and that BCM is the leading management discipline to achieve this," says Mellish.
"Businesses have to deal with and manage increasingly volatile markets, fiercer competition and more rigorous regulation. Without a business continuity capability that is appropriate and proportionate for the risks the business faces, many businesses are riding their luck, and that can have profound consequences on their employees, customers and shareholders," he adds.
Despite there being an unquestionably critical need for BCM, there are, however, challenges facing organisations in implementing BCM solutions.
"There is a lack of understanding by the senior executives of organisations who believe that having an effective BCM programme in place will be costly and complicated," says Mellish.
"Senior managers a little lower down in an organisation can also do more to recognise the opportunity and be brave and make a play for it."
Moving forward, Mellish believes cloud computing and home working capabilities will continue to have a profound impact on traditional IT service continuity and BCM.
The African situation
Mellish believes African companies' preparedness to deal with disasters or calamities compares favourably with those around the world. "African organisations are doing a great job in learning and applying good practice at pace.
"The Business Continuity Institute has recognised the increased interest and uptake in BCM across Africa and is putting a lot of emphasis in supporting that continued growth."
The value of BCM
Despite some organisations viewing BCM as costly, Mellish strongly believes that businesses do generate a return on investing in BCM products.
"Many businesses still don't help themselves due to the manner in which they organise their risk-related functions. They are still kept surprisingly separate in different parts of the business," he says.
"The challenge is measuring the value of BCM, as it has many intangibles. My experience in a large supermarket retailing company in the UK is that there is a general sense of being more responsive, more successful and therefore more resilient as an organisation the more we used the BCM capability for dealing with serious incidents."
For more information on Business Continuity 2012, click here.
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