From the DA Chief Executive, Phillip Stone

From Crisis to Continuity -

Most businesses will be familiar with ISO 9001, the British and international standards for quality management. Many will have put themselves through the certification process and regard this as a key differentiator or selling point to emphasize the quality they offer to customers. However very few would admit to having any familiarity with BS 25999, the standard for business continuity management, the fastest growing standard of all.

Business continuity is about planning for unexpected events. It is about having a formal backup plan in place to enable the business to continue in the event that one or more of a very wide range of circumstances suddenly arises. What are some of these circumstances and what might be part of a plan?

For personnel, it maybe a staff succession plan to ensure there is cover of at least two persons qualified to occupy key functions either temporarily or permanently. For your facilities, it could comprise a contingency arrangement to be able to utilise alternative office facilities eg a standby office at the home of a director or temporary office space. In the case of loss of vehicles, you want to secure a schedule of contacts from whom vehicles or drivers can be hired at short notice.

For your technology, you may need standby email accounts and a formal arrangement with a disaster recovery company. In the instance of a supply failure, dual sourcing policies where key items of supply are obtained from more than one supplier so that a committed source is still available in the event of one supplier failing could prove invaluable. Where it comes to your customers, a strategy to diversify the customer base over time could be prepared, and finally, in the case of your hard-earned reputation, relationships should be in place with suitable professionals that will represent the business in difficult circumstances.
The level of sophistication built into a business continuity plan will vary enormously according to the scale, role and complexity of a business, but the principles apply to operations of all sizes. For owner-drivers, the procedures will be limited to what is proportionate and what is affordable. However even at this level some simple arrangements – like regularly backing up computer data onto hardware that is held securely offsite – can be invaluable.

Benefits of continuity planning, apart from the obvious ones in respect of business survival, are that it can be seen as a source of competitive advantage as customers give weight to this element of a business’s characteristics when deciding among competitors. It may also be possible to reduce insurance premiums by demonstrating that business risk is being actively managed. It may also help in the event of interaction with regulatory authorities like Traffic Commissioners. For help and advice with continuity planning, try the government’s Business Link service (www.businesslink.gov.uk), the Business Continuity Institue (www.thebci.org) and the new edition of the Croner pocketbook Disaster Planning, available from its customer services department.