If U.S. and U.K. businesses needed a wake-up call on the importance of business continuity planning – recent weather has given it to them. Whether it was a snowstorm in Atlanta that left many motorists stranded, the intense cold weather that impacted much of the United States, or even recent severe floods in Britain – it is clear that such planning is essential.
On top of this, business and IT disruptions that result from business continuity and IT security failures will typically cost an organization $19.6 million, according to a Ponemon Institute (News - Alert) survey for IBM of some 2,316 IT pros.
To help promote the importance of planning for business disruptions, Business Continuity Awareness Week will be held later this month. The overall theme for this year’s Business Continuity Awareness Week – held between March 17 and 21 and sponsored by the Business Continuity Institute – is “counting the cost.” It reminds businesses about the potential costs of not having an adequate business continuity management plan.
Unfortunately, business continuity is often an early casualty of companies looking to cut costs. After the 2008 recession, many businesses opted to eliminate part of their business continuity costs. But be forewarned: “skimping on business continuity can cause a company to go out of business,” according to a statement from ContinuitySA (South Africa).
"When the alternative is going out of business, it's clear that business continuity offers great value for money," Cindy Bodenstein, marketing manager at ContinuitySA, said in the statement.
"It's a theme that resonates with us here in South Africa because business continues to battle against global economic headwinds – but, at the same time, we have to recognize that incidents that threaten business survival, from weather to social unrest and terrorism, are unfortunately becoming extremely common,” she said. “And as it's an election year, with higher levels of social tension, business disruption is a fact of business life."
The week will include many blog posts and several free webinars on topics related to business continuity. Those presented by ContinuitySA affiliates include:
Gaining efficiency and saving costs through ICT continuity, presented by Jaun Harmse, senior BCM advisor at ContinuitySA.
Counting the cost of poor communication in a crisis, presented by Tracy Linnell, general manager of Advisory Services at ContinuitySA.
Unpacking short-term insurance for better continuity, presented by Linnell and Harmse.
Do you understand your outsourced business continuity reliance, presented by Peter Westcott, senior BCM advisor at ContinuitySA.
These topics and others are important for multinational enterprises or small businesses, as well as government agencies. In recent years, consider the impact of Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina on the United States; the 2011 Japanese tsunami; 2010’s floods in Pakistan; and the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
More recently, the United Kingdom has seen the wettest December and January in 138 years. And in the United States severe winter weather has impacted all kinds of businesses, schools and government offices. In fact, more than one in four U.S. employees said their company was financially impacted from the winter weather and also reported that their business does not have an emergency plan to keep business going during severe weather events, FM Global said based on a recent survey. Also, one in three employees surveyed said their company changed business practices because of storm-related financial losses, the survey adds.
The message then is – be prepared, and Business Continuity Awareness Week shows how that can be achieved.