Business Continuity Management: Critical discussion

Running Head: Business Continuity Management
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In the contemporary world, the business organizations are faced with the problem of continuity and how to serve the customers when the business organization malfunctions. Despite the business reputation well built, provision of quality products to its consumers and also timely delivery, the question of continuity is still a major setback and challenge to institutions. Over the past years, where crisis or calamity befell the organization, the consumers provided the management with two or three months for them to get to their feet. Nowadays, the business entity needs more than the insurance policy for it to enhance its survival; it needs perfect Business Continuity Management.
Business Continuity Management (BCM) involves framework based on the risk involved in the operations the business undertakes and it is developed by enacting clear policies, accountabilities and strategies which aids in recovering the significant business functions. BCM is considered a proactive process. As such, various institutions should endeavor to create a culture in the organization which culminates BCM in its core operations and the current organizational risk management (Burtles, 2007). Depending on complexity and scale of business operations, the business organizations can embed BCM practices. The major components to be articulated in BCM practices include clear BCM strategy, policy and budget, the responsibilities and roles of BCM programme are well-defined, and also the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) should comprise detailed activities and tasks. In addition, the programme should articulate to well define succession strategies for its senior management and the staff at large, analysis of business impact and/or processes, and it should entail implementation, development, maintenance and testing of BCP. Consequently, training programmes and awareness should be implemented, emergency responses put into consideration and more critical is the impacting of external communication and coordination to the parties like interdependent agencies and authorities.
BCM therefore entails a more comprehensive process which aims at ensuring that business operations are improved and continues despite the challenges it may face in its operations. In this context, BCP is of consequential importance as it provides tangible and efficient evidence to the firm`s BCM initiative. The process should maintain a practical operation, reviewed regularly, updates made when the company`s way of operation changes, and an inherent test undertaken in order to ensure the relevancy of the initiative, operational viability and effectiveness.
Testing is imperative where the company needs to implement a more effective BCM. Technological change, firms` processes and the workers roles can have an effect to the nature and appropriateness of BCP. This will ultimately imply for the preparedness of the organization on the business continuity. Therefore regular testing is vital for business effectiveness and functionality. Testing enhances staff to familiarize with recovery site`s location and also the procedure for recovery. Organizations should be able to seek for the testing assurance, by activating their BCP regularly; this will enhance reliability, efficiency and responsiveness as planned (Matthys, 2008).
In addition to testing, regularity is also imperative factor. Organizations need to perform different form of tests. By taking into account the gravity of the firm`s functions, its complexities and the requirements in terms of resources, organizations should execute modular tests which should be different and at regular intervals. The staff and senior management participation in this undertaking familiarizes themselves with the tasks and responsibilities upon activation.
BCM should be comprehensive and meaningful. The whole undertakings and procedures in the organization should be completely and tested meaningfully, that is from the front-line to the supporting and manufacturing components. Connectivity testing should be inclusive in the process in order to enhance functionality in the entire business operability. Moreover, the main goal of such procedural undertakings is to ensure that the organization is well satisfied with the entire process as such provide timely and qualitative response. The process should be in a position to offer stern challenge to the assumptions underlying the planning and strategic implementations. Completeness should include awareness and the preparedness the staff articulates and also how to coordinate effectively with the external parties.
Organization-wide test should be articulated rather than relying on the modular test perspective. Organizations should be able to make their exercises more complicate and challenging and also pioneer for a more brain imbibing exercises where new strategies are implemented. This will enhance confidence in the preparedness of the staff to undertake business continuity. Various exercises put into practice include workers call-free activation, back-up tape restoration and the vital records retrieval. Eventually, organization should avail themselves with the inherent exercises and tests which will have a meaningful business continuity management contribution. In most instances, post mortem analysis and formal documentations and the risk mitigating endeavors should be well prepared. The senior management should be conversant with the imperative changes in the risk mitigating factors and put tem into consideration to prevent any discontinuity in the business organization.
Industry wide initiative should be able to be put into consideration in BCM in order to coordinate the various implementation factors. This enhances the imperative factors in order to facilitate the main financial utility factors. The organization in which the service is being implemented should be able to have an increased confidence in the recovery operations. This initiative will also increase the confidence of the financiers.
When BCP is undertaken on the vital business functions, organizations should be able to articulate to the interdependencies of the functions of the organization. They should also have awareness on the procedural and processes of the parties cited which offer support to the vital functions. For instance BCM preparedness and priorities recovery should be put in practice. Examples of interdependencies in the organization include; within an organization (custody services, treasury etc), between organizations (for USD clearance), on financiers (settlement and clearing providers) etc. Organizations should be able to lessen risk brought about by the complexity of such dependencies to a practical level and consider them in their recovery objectives and recovery strategies (Blyth, 2009). For instance, organizations with counterparties, customers and service providers with main site in the same region may arrange for telecommunication connections between the recovery sites.
Although interdependency risks culminates beyond control by the organization management, this will not have an adverse effect on the customers side on issues of quality service and the continuity expectation of the organization as a whole. Therefore, it is the organizations` roles to ensure that reasonable steps are taken into account and that the consumers are well satisfied with the service provision of the organization, this will be done by initiating discussions with the telecommunication providers. The main aim of such initiative is to ensure that the vital providers are able to support the organization even in times of crisis such as disruptions. Organizations could consider involving the usual service providers when undertaking the BCM discussion in respect to the stipulated industry recommendations.
Consequently, before any agreement is reached on outsourcing service providers, the risk to be incurred should be assessed in order to determine whether it is in line with the operational risk management level of risk and also does not concuss with BCM preparedness. The organization should analyze the BCP of the impending service providers in order to understand if it is the same as their own and also ensure it is regularly tested.
Vital information and staff are essential assets which cannot be replaced with ease. Many organizations tend to believe that the very same staff available at moment will be the ones available at the recovery process. This cannot always be true because disruptions and lay-off of staff may be undertaken before the recovery process is attained. More so, identification of the critical staff as an alternative may not mitigate risk involved in the recruitment process. It is of dire importance, therefore, to look for the appropriate balance between maintaining efficiency achieved from centralization of organizations` processes and mitigating risks (Blyth, 2009).
BCM Linkages
BCM can be linked to the building evacuation. Probably in every organization the pla...