South African companies undertaking the task of designing and implementing a business continuity solution that actually works, face a complex task.
To assist customers in their business continuity efforts, ContinuitySA has gained the exclusive rights to distribute Revive in SA and Botswana.
Revive is a business continuity management toolkit designed to guide users through the process of designing and testing their business continuity plans.
Developed by expert, accredited business continuity practitioners, Revive simplifies the process of implementing international best practices and standards.
"The larger the company, the more complex the task of developing a business continuity plan," says Jorgen Nielsen, director of ContinuitySA. "In fact, companies find that trying to manually design and implement an effective business continuity plan at the enterprise level is near impossible.
"Revive takes users through a structured process, from a business impact analysis (BIA) to the development of cost-effective continuity strategies and recovery procedures, as well as testing. We sifted through 12 applications that were considered the best in business continuity software and concluded that Revive was the optimal application we could offer. In fact, ContinuitySA is so impressed with Revive that we are using it in-house for our own plans."
Revive is designed to be of use to companies of all sizes, and two versions are available. The first runs off an MS Access database and is designed for standalone or network installations with limited concurrent usage. The second runs off the SQL Server database and can scale to large environments and even over wide-area network (WAN) connections.
The application's strengths lie in the fact that it makes use of a scientific resource-based approach to business continuity planning. In the BIA phase, for example, Revive helps users determine which activities in the organisation are critical and need continuity plans.
Furthermore, once the system has identified which business processes are critical, it allows users to input different continuity strategies and then performs a cost/benefit analysis on each strategy. This allows the company to make an informed decision as to which strategy is the best for its circumstances. To make the process of entering the relevant company data into the program easier, any company information already contained in Word or Visio files can be seamlessly imported into Revive.
Once the planning phase is complete, organisations can run a simulated test scenario and record the results in the application. As testing is a regular occurrence in business continuity, test results can be compared with previous outcomes to ensure the company is making progress and ironing out any weaknesses in its plans.
"The functionality provided in Revive reflects international best practices in business continuity, but far from being overly complex, it is provided in an easy-to-use package that a business can easily install and use itself," says Nielsen. "Although it must be noted that good software alone does not mean one is a business continuity expert. Effective business continuity skills and experience will allow businesses to make the most of the application."
To ensure Revive customers in SA have the assistance needed to make effective use of the product, ContinuitySA is providing first-line support via e-mail or telephone. Linus Information Security Systems, the makers of Revive, will handle all other support requirements remotely. The product is available from ContinuitySA now.
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