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Exercising for Excellence Delivering successful business continuity management exercises

Crisis Solutions

The proverb, 'Good things come in small packages' certainly applies in the case of this book. Exercising for Excellence is a compact, practical, no-nonsense guide to exercising business continuity plans. It would make a useful additional to either the exercising novice or the seasoned practitioners bookshelf.

The book has been designed for use in conjunction with BS25999-1 Business Continuity Management: Code of Practice. However, don't be fooled into thinking that the book is only relevant to the standard; it could be used to assist in developing exercises for any BC plan.

The book comprises 5 chapters that logically take the reader through the exercising process. It examines potential issues surrounding the establishment of an exercise programme, the appropriateness of certain types of exercises, the planning and delivery processes and finally how to evaluate and report your findings.

Exercising for Excellence comes with a wealth of handy hints and tips. The use of simple checklists, the inclusion of practical examples and of templates and scenario scripts adds to the value of this book. Far too often we are told what we must do and how we should do it, but are left wondering how the theory should be put into practice. The authors have included practical examples to support the theory and the use of case studies does bring the book to life. Chapters 3 – 5 of the book deal with the planning, delivering and evaluation aspects of exercising. Some excellent diagrams clearly map out the processes required, while offering a useful description of each stage. The use of an MEL (Main/Master Events List) and ‘scenario injects’ is described in detail and a selection of examples clearly demonstrate how these link together, bringing the exercise to life.

The final chapter addresses 'reporting and evaluation' which is an area that is often overlooked and yet is critical for several reasons, all of which are fully described in this chapter. There is a selection of evaluation questionnaires, feedback forms, recommendation templates and report formats all available to the reader.

The authors have a wealth of experience in the delivery of BC exercises across all business sectors. However, and this is not a criticism but rather an observation, there was a tendency to focus examples on larger organisations, with particular reference to the Incident/Crisis phase. In order to exercise all aspects of a plan, the continuity and recovery components also need to be exercised. Both are covered in the book but not to the same degree.

This is a very useful little book, which simply but effectively takes the reader through the whole exercising process. It does not tell you what you must do, but rather offers a selection of options that can be developed to achieve the readers’ objectives. It also offers a clear insight into the exercising process with respect to business continuity. It would be a useful reference document to any person that is likely to be involved in the exercise planning or management process.

Ian Speirs (MBCI)
Ian Speirs is a business continuity and emergency planning practitioner within the public sector. Ian's is ex-military and he has worked across all sectors delivering crisis, risk and business continuity consulting. Ian is currently working within a County Emergency Planning Unit (North Yorkshire). He has delivered exercises to several multinational organisations across the UK and Europe. He is a member of the BSI committee BCM/1.