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Confident your company could cope in a crisis? BSI launches new tool to help in preparedness

25 March 2009

BSI British Standards today launches a new online self-assessment tool which enables any organisation to evaluate its business continuity management (BCM) provisions, testing strengths and probing for weak spots.

Every year thousands of organisations face the risk of disruption to their operations, ranging from the effects of adverse weather conditions to full scale terrorist attacks. A recent survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that only 47% of respondents had a specific BCM plan in place. You can download the Chartered Management Institute’s report entitled A Decade of Living Dangerously – The Business Continuity Management Report 2009.

To help organisations prepare for disruptions on any scale, BSI’s online tool provides the necessary framework for planning, implementing, operating, reviewing, recording and reporting on their business continuity management system (BCMS). It also identifies any gaps to gaining certification to BS 25999.

The BSI Business Continuity Self-assessment online tool allows organisations to assess their BCM plans and policies and record and report compliance, providing confidence in their BCM planning. The exclusive self-assessment questionnaire covers all the requirements of BS 25999-2 Business Continuity Management - Specification, so that organisations can identify necessary improvements to their existing BCMS.

Contextual help is provided for each question, written by BCM practitioners with market experience. References take the user directly from the question to the relevant sections of BS 25999-2 and other BSI publications in an online reference library. Existing self-assessments can be amended at any time, and new self-assessments introduced when necessary.

The BSI Business Continuity Self-assessment online tool has been designed to work across multiple organisation sites and with multiple users, but can be easily used as a standalone application by small to medium sized organisations and BCM newcomers. For those in the public sector – or working with the public sector - the tool will support effective business continuity management as encouraged by the Civil Contingencies Act.

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, said, "The BCM online self-assessment tool provides an efficient and comprehensive framework within which an organisation can assess its progress towards a recognised standard. In tough economic times such as these it is more important than ever for businesses to have the BCM systems in place which will help them stay afloat should operations be disrupted. BCM can be used to determine and invest in critical areas of the organisation, to protect its reputation and enhance stakeholder confidence."

To subscribe, find out more, or request a free two week trial of the new BSI Business Continuity Self-assessment online tool visit: www.bsigroup.com/bcmonline

For further information or to speak to a sales representative please email info@bsigroup.com with your details or tel: +44 (0)20 8996 9001.