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Business Continuity Strategies: Protecting Against Unplanned Disasters

Kenneth N Myers

The work provides an excellent entry level introduction to the approach to Business Continuity (BC). It sets the aspiring continuity strategist on a commonsense approach to a subject that can appear daunting to the newcomer.

Myers quickly corrects the traditional errors connected with over complicating and over planning continuity that can make it expensive and non-maintainable. The author rightly draws the distinction between traditional "disaster recovery" and the requirements of ensuring the organization can continue to meet customer requirement and maintain cash flow whilst DR is enacted however, the importance of traditional DR should not be underestimated as a result of this approach. More and more organizations are tied into their suppliers and customers on a technological basis and interruptions to this can severely impact long-term relationships.

Written from a largely manufacturing view point, the book provides the basic skeleton of approaches to BC and includes helpful advice on handling departmental managers whose self-interest can commonly steer BC down entirely wrong approaches.

Myers' assertion that BC is best facilitated independently within the organization rings to true but, his conjecture that HR is the best place for it is debatable. More and more organizations have adopted separate and independent risk management functions and these do not necessarily reside in HR: Also true are the cautionary notes on employing external consultants who can become am expensive option if not properly managed. The book concentrates on continuity of the organisation in periods of disruption and highlights the need to keep customers in the loop; however it fails to suggest two very important aspects.

In the areas concerning prevention the author fails to make reference to supply line risk management e.g. have key suppliers developed robust continuity to ensure continuation of supply to you in the event of disruption to their organization? If not do you need to plan alternative supply routes?

The second important omission is the inclusion of key customers in your planning processes. Key customers need to understand where they fit into your continuity plans. Most of these customers will appreciate that at times of disruption service or supply may falter but, they need to know how you plan to reinstate or continue supply in these events; they will be looking at their own BC including supply line management.

Readers in the UK/Europe may find the section on work place violence a little OTT. Whilst work place violence is not uncommon or unknown here we do not have the equivalent of the USA's 'going postal'. Nonetheless, this area can often be neglected in traditional BC planning and is worth noting.

Inclusion of all the NIST recommendations, following the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001, is perhaps unnecessary in an entry level book. In terms of general risk management/BC planning, structural concerns are relevant but this is highly specialised and will not normally be understood by the layman; worth knowing of, but not in such detail.

Alan Staniforth
AS Risk Management
alanstaniforth@asriskmanagement.com