In May 2009 the FSA issued a statement in light of the swine flu outbreak, saying regulated firms should be assessing their contingency plans to consider what steps they may need to take. It also referred to the 2006 report by the FSA, the Treasury and Bank of England looking at the UK financial sector's resilience to a flu pandemic.
Major distruption to businesses are not only caused by pandemics. Events, such as a senior member of staff falling ill or IT systems crashing can have a serious effect.
Guidance is available in the form of British Standard BS 25999, which provides a textbook overview of what a business continuity management process should look like. However, most businesses will be able to develop a sensible business continuity plan by considering the following key questions:
- What does the business need in order to function? (For example, personnel, computers, desks, stationery etc.)
- What are the threats to those requirements being available? (Illness, computer viruses, etc.)
- How quickly would business operations be affected if those requirements become unavailable?
- How could we restore those necessary requirements if the threats crystallised?
Businesses should also give thought to any systemic risks they face. For example, financial services businesses are likely to be reliant on the ability of third parties to operate. If any processes are outsourced, the service provider's approach to business continuity needs to be checked too.
The more complex the business, the more complex the business continuity planning is likely to be. However, by following these logical steps, a sensible business continuity plan can be developed. This plan should then be tested, periodically reviewed and also communicated to all relevant personnel - other essential aspects of successful business continuity management.
At Moore Stephens we adopt a practical and pragmatic approach to helping our clients prepare, test and validate their business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Our team has experience of working with plans of varying size and complexity, and would be happy to discuss your contingency arrangements with you if you have concerns in this area. To find out more please contact Steve Williams.