GROOMING A BCM CULTURE

– 5 I’s for your organization

Introduction• Usually, the focus of Organizations is to make money

• Business continuity initiatives are usually carried out on an adhoc basis

• IT Disaster Recovery plans are usually mistaken for Business Continuity Management plans

• As a result, plans revolve around systems and infrastructure with minimal attention given to people

• A disconnect between the people and the plan occurs

BCM Life Cycle

Challenges with the BCM Life Cycle• Ease of flow from one stage of the life cycle to the other

• Usually organizations focus on one stage

• Generic BCM plans are adopted rather than Company-specific plans

• Consequently, there is no fit between the Organization’s business strategy and its continuity strategy

• Embedding the appropriate BCM culture

BCM Culture

• Culture– a way of life that becomes common to a group of people

• BCM– management of an end-to-end process from crisis to full restoration

of all services and business processes (Standard Bank definition)

• BCM Culture– Cultivation of a commonly known and clearly understood way of

crisis management (comprising response, resumption, recovery and restoration of all services and processes in an organisation) through knowledge of consistent methods and procedures that are easily adaptable by all ranks and files of people in the organization

The 5 Is for embedding a BCM Culture

Involve All

Internalize

BCM

Consciousness

Imbibe

Response

Processes

Initiate Scenarios

Inspect

Facilities

Involve All

• By far the most important thing to do

• Determine scope of stakeholders and level of awareness

• Ascertain the desire of stakeholders to participate and support the change; identify source of and reason for resistance that exists

Involve All• Assess if stakeholders understand

the benefits of BCM, determine effective ways of bridging knowledge gaps

• Appoint BCM champions across the organization to manage the day-to-day BCM consciousness process

• Over-communicate the importance and benefits of BCM continuously to make it a lifestyle for all concerned

Internalize BCM processes

• Embed BCM strategies and plans in all policies, procedures and service level agreements

• Clearly state responsibility for BCM of business units and areas, periodicity for review, update and testing in business plans and procedures

• Business plans and procedures should stipulate required backup and recovery requirements

• Include business recovery map in policy and procedural documents

Imbibe response processes

• Ensure that familiar procedures such as fire drills and emergency evacuation procedures are properly documented and circulated to all staff

• Appoint and train first aid givers and fire wardens organization-wide

• Train all staff on fire-fighting techniques

Imbibe response processes

• Carry out desktop walkthrough tests of BCM plans and live simulation exercises as the organization matures in its Business Continuity Management

• All staff should be aware of Disaster Recovery (DR) sites allotted to their business units

Initiate scenarios

• Surprise tests/checks should be carried out periodically

• Simulation exercises should be carried out once a year to determine the organization’s true BCM capability

Inspect facilities

• Periodic inspection and audit of DR sites is a must!

• DR Sites must have relevant systems and infrastructure to support the BCM plan of the Bank

• DR facilities must be equipped with battle boxes containing resources required for business recovery such as:– Master BCM Plan– List of all staff of the organization– Stationery– Water etc

Embedding a BCM Culture

Involve all

Internalize

BCM Consciousness

Imbibe

response processes

Initiate scenarios

Inspect facilities