<![CDATA[Pressat Main Newswire]]> https://pressat.co.uk/rss/ <![CDATA[Pressat Main Newswire]]> https://pressat.co.uk/media/site/logo.png https://pressat.co.uk/rss/ en-gb Copyright: (C) Pressat Pressat <![CDATA[ Business Continuity Institute research to influence academic teaching at Cranfield University ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-institute-research-to-influence-academic-teaching-at-cranfield-university-32075ee79ce9353262ee63bc7084b33f/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-institute-research-to-influence-academic-teaching-at-cranfield-university-32075ee79ce9353262ee63bc7084b33f/ Wednesday 16 August, 2017

Such is the high calibre of the Business Continuity Institute’s research output, that its latest publication – the 2017 Cyber Resilience Report – is to be used as part of the teaching programme by Cranfield University, the UK’s only exclusively postgraduate university, and a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.

The BCI’s Cyber Resilience Report, a study of the cause and consequence of cyber disruptions affecting organizations across the globe, will be used as part of the teaching programme for the MSc in Cyber Defence and Information Assurance. The report will form the basis of in-class and online discussions as part of the degree’s focus on real-life issues.

Dr Ruth Massie MBCI, Programme Director for the Cyber Masters Programme and long standing Member of the BCI, said: “It’s important that students get the opportunity to understand not just the causes of cyber related interruptions but the size and scale of the consequences. This report gives students the opportunity to understand and discuss these issues in a leadership context.”

“This is an encouraging demonstration of the high regard with which our research is held,” said Deborah Higgins FBCI, Head of Professional Development at the BCI. “We know that people working in the industry value our research, but to have it featured within the teaching programme of such a prestigious university as Cranfield helps reaffirm our status as a thought leader in the field.”

Cranfield’s MSc in Cyber Defence and Information Assurance is designed to develop professionals who can effectively manage and exploit the threats and opportunities of cyberspace at the organizational level. The course specifically focuses on responses to serious present and emerging threats in the information domain, and is aimed at mid-career professionals who need a broad understanding of cyber leadership.




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http://www.thebci.org 16 Aug 2017 09:57:56 GMT Business & Finance Computing & Telecoms Education & Human Resources
<![CDATA[ Stronger cyber resilience culture needed to combat the digital threat ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/stronger-cyber-resilience-culture-needed-to-combat-the-digital-threat-5c852e4584cebb31b6f225ed0eabbdd8/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/stronger-cyber-resilience-culture-needed-to-combat-the-digital-threat-5c852e4584cebb31b6f225ed0eabbdd8/ Tuesday 27 June, 2017

With phishing and social engineering maintaining their position as the top driver of cyber disruptions, there is a need for a stronger cyber resilience culture across organizations, and a focus on the human aspects of the threat.

This is one of the key findings of the Cyber Resilience Report, published today by the Business Continuity Institute, the world’s leading Institute for continuity and resilience, in collaboration with Sungard Availability Services ® (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services.

With the WannaCry ransomware attack still fresh in our minds, it is clear that the cyber threat is very real with this one attack affecting almost a quarter of a million computers across 150 countries. It is also clear that business continuity plays a key role in responding to an incident, and ensuring that the organization is able to manage through any disruption and so prevent it from becoming a crisis.

The Cyber Resilience Report found that nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) to the global survey had experienced at least one cyber disruption during the previous 12 months, while almost 1 in 6 (15%) had experienced at least 10. Of those who had experienced a cyber disruption, over half (57%) revealed that phishing or social engineering had been one of the causes, demonstrating the need for users to be better educated about the threat and the role they can play in helping to prevent an incident occurring.

The study also found that:

A third of respondents (33%) suffered disruptions totalling more than €50,000, while more than 1 in 10 (13%) experienced losses in excess of €250,000.1 in 6 respondents (16%) reported a single incident resulting in losses of more than €50,000.1 in 5 respondents working for an SME (18%) reported cumulative losses of more than €50,000. These are significant losses considering 40% of SMEs involved in this study reported an annual turnover of less than €1 million.Phishing and social engineering are the top cause of cyber disruption, with over half of those who experienced a disruption (57%) citing this as a cause.87% of respondents reported having business continuity arrangements in place to respond to cyber incidents, indicating that it is now widely accepted as playing a key role in helping to build cyber resilience.67% of respondents stated that their organization takes over one hour to respond to a cyber incident, while 16% stated that it can take over four hours.

The number of respondents reporting top management commitment to implementing the right solutions to the cyber threat increased to 60%, and this is likely due to a number of factors such as the intense media coverage of cyber security incidents, and the impending European Union General Data Protection Regulation, which is due to come into force in less than a year and will have an impact on any organization that holds data on EU citizens.

David Thorp, Executive Director at the BCI, commented: “Cooperation is key to building cyber and organizational resilience. Different disciplines such as business continuity, information security and risk management need to come together, share intelligence and start speaking the same language if they want to build a safer future for their organizations and communities.”

Keith Tilley, EVP and Vice Chair at Sungard Availability Services, said: “Brexit and the pending EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have thrown up even more questions about data laws and compliance, so data sovereignty is a focus. Companies need to demonstrate a holistic understanding of where their data is hosted, where it’s backed up, moved and recovered, as well as who can see it along the way. The fact that data laws are constantly subject to change, with region and country specific regulation, means a headache for large organizations. Establishing how to meet these regulations, as well as global needs will be vital, as will the ability to handle data access, residency, integrity and security.”


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http://www.thebci.org 27 Jun 2017 08:45:16 GMT Business & Finance Computing & Telecoms
<![CDATA[ Business Continuity Can Be A Matter of Survival For Small Businesses ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-can-be-a-matter-of-survival-for-small-businesses-cd8d209fec9a7adcabdd7cc782eee3c6/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-can-be-a-matter-of-survival-for-small-businesses-cd8d209fec9a7adcabdd7cc782eee3c6/ Tuesday 16 May, 2017

“Maybe you are busy looking for a way to recover your files, but do not waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service”. This is what users infected by the WannaCry virus read on their screens after having accidentally let the malware in. Yet despite the ransomware attack affecting a reported 200,000 systems across over 150 countries, and despite the tales of disaster we are reading about in the media, the encouraging news from many organizations is that their business continuity process is preventing a disruption from turning into a crisis.

This is because organizations across the world have been invoking their business continuity procedures, ensuring that their priority activities are carried out, an appropriate level of service is provided to customers and any damage to reputation is limited.

“With a major incident now declared by NHS England, it is evident just how disruptive cyber attacks such as ransomware can be,” said David Thorp, Executive Director of the Business Continuity Institute. “Organizations must have mechanism in place so they are prepared to deal with the consequences of a cyber security incident, or in fact any other type of incident, and can continue as near ‘normal’ operation as possible, while maintaining the confidence of their stakeholders. And Very often the most vulnerable organisations of all are the thousands of SMEs that form the backbone of our economy”

The modern business environment is heavily reliant on IT systems, and although these systems provide many benefits, they also have their pitfalls, which stem from this reliance. Research conducted by the Business Continuity Institute presents the inevitability of an attack with its recent Cyber Resilience Report showing that two-thirds of organizations had experienced an incident during the previous year, and 10% had experienced at least ten.

The dramatic effects of an attack such as last Friday’s should not be underestimated, yet organizations, such as the NHS, have managed to keep operating under attack. This is in large part because NHS trusts are required to have in place an effective business continuity plan and it is testament to the effectiveness of this planning that disruption has not been more severe.

All businesses can develop similar levels of resilience. It is business continuity is that makes an immediate difference during any kind of emergency, crisis or disruption. It is what makes an organization resilient, ready to respond and carry on, even amid difficult circumstances. Yet business continuity cannot be improvised. It requires a knowledge of what to do as well as the support of everyone within the business.

David Thorp added: “The Business Continuity Institute has a range of free resources, via our website, that can be accessed by SMEs who can’t afford to employ BC specialists but who still need to avoid potentially fatal disruptions to their activities. Visit our website to find out more. via our website. If prevention fails it is essential that smooth operations are maintained at all costs… it might be the difference between survival and going out of business.”




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http://www.thebci.org 16 May 2017 11:59:36 GMT Business & Finance Charities & non-profits
<![CDATA[ Setting the standard for business continuity and resilience across Europe ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/setting-the-standard-for-business-continuity-and-resilience-across-europe-077d3501b5cad2f5be824694aec9060e/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/setting-the-standard-for-business-continuity-and-resilience-across-europe-077d3501b5cad2f5be824694aec9060e/ Friday 12 May, 2017

At an Awards Ceremony at the Principal Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland last night, the Business Continuity Institute presented its annual European Awards to recognise the individuals and organizations who have excelled in the field of business continuity and resilience throughout the year.

The European Awards are one of seven regional awards hosted by the BCI each year, which culminate in the annual Global Awards held in November during the Institute’s annual conference in London, England. They are designed to recognise the individuals and organizations who have excelled in the field of business continuity and resilience throughout the year.

Business continuity is an established industry across the continent, so the standard of entries to the BCI European Awards is always incredibly high, and this year was no different, giving the judges some tough decisions to make. All those who were on the shortlist can take great pride in their achievement, however there can only be one winner in each category, and those celebrating on the night were:

Continuity and Resilience Consultant Petra Morrison MBCI, Daisy Group

Continuity and Resilience Professional Private Sector Rob van den Eijnden AMBCI, Philips

Continuity and Resilience Professional Public Sector Russ Parramore MBCI, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

Continuity and Resilience Newcomer Timothy Dalby-Welsh AMBCI, Needhams 1834

Continuity and Resilience Team Chief Fire Officers Association

Continuity and Resilience Provider (Service/Product) ClearView Continuity

Continuity and Resilience Innovation Everbridge

Most Effective Recovery BPER Banca

Industry Personality Gianna Detoni FBCI, Panta Ray

James McAlister FBCI, Chairman of the Business Continuity Institute and host of the Awards Ceremony, commented: "Once again I have been impressed with the high standard of entry we had for the BCI European Awards. Each and every one of the nominees has done an incredible job in helping to build resilience in a world full of disruptions. I would like to offer my congratulations to all the winners who are a credit to the industry, and I am delighted that the Business Continuity Institute is able to honour their hard work and dedication through these awards."

Keith Tilley, EVP and Vice-chair of Sungard Availability Services, said: "Sungard Availability Services has a long history in supporting the advancement and development of the continuity, resilience and availability industry, whether across standards development, proactive involvement in industry for a or rewarding attainment. To this end we’re delighted to be sponsors of this year's BCI European Awards, which are designed to recognise the outstanding contributions of business continuity, risk and resilience professionals and organizations."


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http://www.thebci.org 12 May 2017 15:59:45 GMT Business & Finance
<![CDATA[ Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to deliver keynote speech at the BCI World Conference ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/sir-bernard-hogan-howe-to-deliver-keynote-speech-at-the-bci-world-conference-d5cae194c50ee978445ad1405cd61ae3/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/sir-bernard-hogan-howe-to-deliver-keynote-speech-at-the-bci-world-conference-d5cae194c50ee978445ad1405cd61ae3/ Tuesday 2 May, 2017

In what will be one of his first speeches since departing his role as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe will be delivering the keynote speech at the BCI World Conference at the Novotel London West Hotel in November.

In what was a baptism of fire, Sir Bernard took charge of the Metropolitan Police not long after the worse riots London had experienced in several decades and shortly before the 2012 Olympics. His vision for the Met was ‘total policing' which sought to promote total professionalism from the workforce, a total war on crime and total care for victims.

James McAlister FBCI, Chairman of the Business Continuity Institute, commented: “We’re thrilled to have Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe speaking at the conference. As the UK's former top police officer, he perhaps knows more than anyone about the value of preparing for worst case scenarios, and of working in partnership with a wide range of groups to prevent those scenarios from happening. I know he’ll have some fascinating, and as yet unheard, stories to tell from his time in charge. The whole programme looks to be the best one yet, and I would encourage those in the industry to book their place and take advantage of the terrific learning and networking opportunity that BCI World offers.”

The BCI World Conference will feature a wide range of subjects that will enable delegates to make their organizations more resilient, whether it’s cyber security, physical security, supply chain resilience or crisis management, the conference will address the threats we face, both in the present and in the future. The Triple A programme will feature three streams – actions, approaches ad aspirations.

‘Actions’ will delve into all the technical aspects, including conducting the BIA and how to develop plans.‘Approaches’ are the tales from the trenches and include shared experiences from real life situations and lessons learnt.‘Aspirations’ is about addressing the challenging questions in business continuity, looking at future trends or threats, and how can we improve collaboration with other protective disciplines.

The BCI World Conference and Exhibition is an absolute must-attend event for any business continuity or resilience professional. We tailor the programme with the purpose of providing a forum for discussion, testing of new concepts, practical takeaways and presenting new research.




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http://www.thebci.org 02 May 2017 19:26:16 GMT Business & Finance Government
<![CDATA[ Cyber attacks and data breaches remain top of the agenda for business continuity concerns ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/cyber-attacks-and-data-breaches-remain-top-of-the-agenda-for-business-continuity-concerns-550749a38e7c3afaa5d6913b026bc85b/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/cyber-attacks-and-data-breaches-remain-top-of-the-agenda-for-business-continuity-concerns-550749a38e7c3afaa5d6913b026bc85b/ Tuesday 21 February, 2017

Caversham, UK – 21st February 2017: Cyber attack is once again the top threat perceived by businesses, according to research published today by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) in association with BSI (British Standards Institution). Eighty eight percent of organizations are either ‘extremely concerned’ or ‘concerned’ about the possibility of a cyber attack. The threat of a data breach remains in second place (81 percent), while unplanned IT and telecom outage stays in third place (80 percent).

For the first time in the study’s six-year history, the threat of uncertainty around the introduction of new laws and regulations has entered the list of top ten business continuity concerns in the Horizon Scan Report.

These external events underscore the interconnected nature of risks and demonstrate the need for businesses to take them into account and plan accordingly.

This year’s global top ten threats to business continuity are:

Cyber attack – staticData breach – staticUnplanned IT and telecom outages – staticSecurity incident – up 1Adverse weather – up 3Interruption to utility supply – staticAct of terrorism – down 3Supply chain disruption – down 1Availability of key skills – static10.New laws or regulations – new entry

For the first time, the survey also asked which disruptions respondents had experienced during the previous year in order to understand what lies behind the worry. The results showed that nine of the top ten concerns also appeared in the top ten list of disruptions, with transport network disruption appearing at the expense of act of terrorism. Unplanned IT and telecom outages came in at number one, followed by interruption to utility supply and then cyber attack. Data breach came in at eighth place.

With the top four threats all showing an increasing in level of concern, it is worrying that 14 percent of respondents will experience business continuity budget cuts over the next year, making them less likely to be able to respond effectively to these threats.

Despite growing fears over the resilience of their organizations, the report records another fall in the use of long-term trend analysis to assess and understand threats, down 1 percent to 69 percent this year. Of those carrying out trend analysis, around a third of organizations (32 percent) do not use the results to inform their business continuity management programmes.

David Thorp, Executive Director at the Business Continuity Institute, commented:

“Given the diversity of the threats out there, it is absolutely essential to adopt agile and dynamic responses.

“Planning to recover from a data breach is very different from planning for the aftermath of a terrorist attack, and, as this year’s report highlights, the risk spectrum can be very broad. Malicious internet actors, political shake-ups, and climate change are all amongst the main worries for societies around the world.

“As always, the key takeaway should be that with challenges come opportunities. Change does not have to mean less favourable environments, but the landscape may be different. As organizations venture into uncharted territory now is the time to identify and undertake the measures that will increase resilience within your organization by ensuring that effective business continuity planning is in place.”

Howard Kerr, Chief Executive at BSI, commented:

“2016 continued to see high profile businesses affected by cyber attack and disruption, so it’s not surprising to see it remains as the top threat to business.

“However, we remain concerned to see that businesses are still not fully utilizing the information available to them to identify and remedy weaknesses in their organizational resilience.

“Ultimately, organizations must recognize that, while there is risk, and plenty of it, there is also opportunity. Taking advantage of this means that leaders can steer their businesses to not just survive, but thrive.”

Globally there were some variations to the top three threats: In Belgium, act of terrorism was in third; in Central and Latin America, new laws or regulations featured in third place; and in Sub Saharan Africa, exchange rate volatility was third.

There was more variation when it came to actual disruptions with adverse weather appearing in second place throughout North America, Asia and Australasia; while the loss of key employee featured in the top three throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Central and Latin America and the United Kingdom.




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http://www.thebci.org 21 Feb 2017 08:26:33 GMT Business & Finance Charities & non-profits Computing & Telecoms Consumer Technology Government Transport & Logistics
<![CDATA[ Organizations recognising the need for an emergency communications plan ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/organizations-recognising-the-need-for-an-emergency-communications-plan-b64e66e2f4d6797a3e9f027ee38b0874/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/organizations-recognising-the-need-for-an-emergency-communications-plan-b64e66e2f4d6797a3e9f027ee38b0874/ Wednesday 14 December, 2016

Organizations recognising the need for an emergency communications plan in order to initiate secure and reliable communications to geographically dispersed staff during a crisis

Caversham, UK – 14th December 2016: In our globally connected world, most organizations have staff that travel overseas, making it more important than ever for those organizations to have an effective emergency communications plan in place in order to contact geographically dispersed staff during a crisis. This is especially important given that the latest Emergency Communication Report, published by the Business Continuity Institute, revealed that one out of three organizations (32 percent) report their employees travel to ‘high risk’ countries.

The Emergency Communications Report, supported by Everbridge, a global software company that provides critical communications and enterprise safety applications, did however deliver the encouraging news that most organizations (84 percent) do have some form of plan in place, although it did highlight that for those that don’t, two thirds (64 percent) felt that only a business-affecting event would incentivise them to develop one – most people would consider this too late.

With increasing physical security challenges experienced by organizations due to rising levels of concern surrounding workplace violence and acts of terrorism, as identified in the BCI’s latest Horizon Scan Report, being able to communicate effectively with staff may have the added advantage of increasing safety.

Further findings from the report include

One third of organizations (32 percent) report that at least 100 employees travel internationallyThe top reasons for triggering emergency communications are: unplanned IT and telecommunications outages (42 percent), power outages (40 percent), adverse weather (39 percent), facilities management incidents (23 percent), cyber security incidents (22 percent), and natural disasters (22 percent)The top processes used for emergency communications are: internal emails (79 percent), text messaging (70 percent), manual call trees (56 percent), emergency communication software (50 percent), and website announcements (46 percent)More than half of organizations (55 percent) use 3 or more emergency communications processesAround 3 out of 10 organizations (29 percent) do not have training and education programmesAround 7 out of 10 organizations (69 percent) stated that their emergency communications plan had been activated during the last year, other than during an exerciseA tenth of organizations (10 percent) take more than 60 minutes to activate their emergency communications planMore than 6 out of 10 organizations (62 percent) are not confident about their preparedness for a location-specific security incident (e.g. workplace violence, act of terrorism)More than a tenth of organizations (11 percent) do not feel they have top management support when it comes to developing emergency communications plans

Patrick Alcantara DBCI, Senior Research Associate at the BCI and author of the report, commented: “A robust emergency communications capability is a crucial, often life-saving, component of incident response. This becomes more important considering ever changing threats which often impact on the physical safety and well-being of employees and customers. This timely study affirms how organizations strive to improve their emergency communications capability, as well as look at opportunities to ensure reliable messaging and response.”

Imad Mouline, Chief Technology Officer at Everbridge, commented: “This year’s findings indicate that global businesses are increasingly aware that true resiliency is a company-wide initiative that involves taking accountability for the safety of all staff—whether they are located in the office, at home or on the road. While it’s not surprising to see shared interest in emergency communications across business continuity, IT, security, facilities and other disciplines, it’s clear that organizations are still seeking solutions to optimize their response plans for a mobile workforce, and for the growing frequency and complexity of critical events and security incidents.”

Training, education and exercising are good ways to improve emergency communications plans, yet many organizations still have gaps in their training and education programmes related to emergency communications plans which serve as a barrier to embedding this capability. There are also gaps in exercising these plans.

The human element of emergency communications has a significant role in its success. Lack of understanding from recipients is the top reason in failing to deliver effective emergency communications. There is a need for organizations to plan their messages and deliver these in a concise and sustained way in order to raise response levels and direct recipients to perform required actions that may save lives during an incident.

---ENDS---

For more information please contact the Senior Communications Manager at the Business Continuity Institute – Andrew Scott MCIPR CBCI – by emailing andrew.scott@thebci.org or by phoning +44-118-947-8241.

Notes:

Download a full copy of the report by clicking here.Note to the online survey: This report features 661 responses from 71 countries.

About the Business Continuity Institute

Founded in 1994 with the aim of promoting a more resilient world, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) has established itself as the world’s leading Institute for business continuity and resilience. The BCI has become the membership and certifying organization of choice for business continuity and resilience professionals globally with over 8,000 members in more than 100 countries, working in an estimated 3,000 organizations in the private, public and third sectors.

The vast experience of the Institute’s broad membership and partner network is built into its world class education, continuing professional development and networking activities. Every year, more than 1,500 people choose BCI training, with options ranging from short awareness raising tools to a full academic qualification, available online and in a classroom. The Institute stands for excellence in the resilience profession and its globally recognised Certified grades provide assurance of technical and professional competency. The BCI offers a wide range of resources for professionals seeking to raise their organization’s level of resilience, and its extensive thought leadership and research programme helps drive the industry forward. With approximately 120 Partners worldwide, the BCI Partnership offers organizations the opportunity to work with the BCI in promoting best practice in business continuity and resilience.

The BCI welcomes everyone with an interest in building resilient organizations from newcomers, experienced professionals and organizations. Further information about the BCI is available at www.thebci.org.

About Everbridge

Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG), is a global software company that provides critical communications and enterprise safety applications that enable customers to automate and accelerate the process of keeping people safe and businesses running during critical events. During public safety threats such as active shooter situations, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events such as IT outages or cyber incidents, over 3,000 global customers rely on the company’s SaaS-based platform to quickly and reliably construct and deliver contextual notifications to millions of people at one time. The company’s platform sent over 1 billion messages in 2015, and offers the ability to reach more than 200 countries and territories with secure delivery to over 100 different communication devices. The company’s critical communications and enterprise safety applications include Mass Notification, Incident Management, IT Alerting™, Safety Connection™, Community Engagement™, Secure Messaging and Internet of Things, and are easy-to-use and deploy, secure, highly scalable and reliable. Everbridge serves 8 of the 10 largest U.S. cities, 8 of the 10 largest U.S.-based investment banks, all four of the largest global accounting firms, 24 of the 25 busiest North American airports and 6 of the 10 largest global automakers. Everbridge is based in Boston and Los Angeles with additional offices in San Francisco, Beijing and London. For more information, visit www.everbridge.com, read the company blog, http://www.everbridge.com/blog, and follow on Twitter and Facebook.




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http://www.thebci.org 14 Dec 2016 10:48:48 GMT Business & Finance Charities & non-profits Government
<![CDATA[ Organizations lacking in workplace recovery options ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/organizations-lacking-in-workplace-recovery-options-b22278eaf5bc692277947c7226091311/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/organizations-lacking-in-workplace-recovery-options-b22278eaf5bc692277947c7226091311/ Monday 14 November, 2016

Caversham, UK – 14th November 2016: A disconnect exists between business continuity professionals and end users when it comes to workplace recovery, according to a report published by the Business Continuity Institute and supported by Regus Workplace Recovery. The global study showed that, while only 12% of business continuity experts confirm their organization lacks a workplace recovery arrangement, 31% of end users claimed their employers don’t have any arrangements in place, or they are unaware of what they are.

The Workplace Recovery Report noted that even organizations with workplace recovery arrangements in place face risk and uncertainty when it comes to actual recovery plan implementation. One of every five experts feel uncomfortable that their organization’s employees will execute their work area recovery solution as planned, while 17% of end users are not comfortable they can carry on services in the case of an area-wide event.

Other findings of the report include:

37% of end users are either unaware or unable to provide feedback on their organization’s workplace recovery arrangementsWhen deciding whether to work from an alternative location or from home, 32% of employees base their decision on ease of reaching alternative sites, while 20% focus on access to key enterprise systems, and 15% on having appropriate office infrastructure26% of end users and 16% of experts feel that their organization’s business continuity priorities are not fully consistent with end user prioritiesThree-quarters of end users consider themselves critical, while 64% of experts believe only 20% of employees fall in this categoryNearly four out of every five end users believe that there is a workplace recovery plan for them in the case of a disruptionWork-from-home received less consideration as a workplace recovery approach from experts than from employees (26% vs 44%)45% of end users are not happy to work from home for more than two weeks

The success of a chosen strategy such as workplace recovery depends on its proper implementation by staff, led by a capable business continuity or resilience team. The results reveal that experts have a basic level of confidence in the capability of staff to effectively execute workplace recovery during disruption. However, there are still gaps in awareness and implementation that need to be addressed.

The safety of employees remains a key priority for both workplace recovery experts and end users. This needs to be articulated by practitioners as it can facilitate staff buy-in into workplace recovery and enable embedding of business continuity throughout the organization. While priorities among experts and end users differ down the line, it is useful to communicate the importance of workplace recovery as a chosen strategy in appropriate language and along staff priorities.

Many employees also reveal a preference for working from home during an incident. This may be related to their desire to be close to their families during a crisis – a fact that should be strongly considered prior to selecting a single recovery facility that is a long distance from where the employee lives. This also carries significant implications to organizations such as ensuring that employees’ homes are conducive to such an arrangement from a business continuity, risk or health and safety perspective.

Patrick Alcantara DBCI, Senior Research Associate at the BCI and author of the report, commented: “When executed properly, in line with a holistic business continuity programme, workplace recovery can help build resilience within organizations. As part of business continuity strategy for many organizations, it is important to benchmark workplace recovery leading to better planning and implementation. The BCI Workplace Recovery Report aims to respond to practitioner demand and provide much needed insight in this subject, and we would like to thank Regus for supporting this work.”

Joe Sullivan, Managing Director for Workplace Recovery at Regus, commented: “With natural disasters impossible to predict and an increased risk from other world events, the need to have an established workplace recovery plan is greater than ever. We feel that when disaster strikes, ensuring your people have a secure and productive work environment is harder than recovering your IT. We need to understand how employees will react in the aftermath of a crisis – this research starts to take a look at these behaviours and it is the first of its kind to do so.”


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http://www.thebci.org 14 Nov 2016 08:29:27 GMT Business & Finance Charities & non-profits Government Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy Retail & Fashion
<![CDATA[ Counting the cost of supply chain disruption ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/counting-the-cost-of-supply-chain-disruption-567634ca637e58a7b2e707c18ecf9ea3/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/counting-the-cost-of-supply-chain-disruption-567634ca637e58a7b2e707c18ecf9ea3/ Tuesday 8 November, 2016

One in three organizations have experienced cumulative losses of over €1 million during the last year as a result of supply chain disruptions. That is according to a report published today by the Business Continuity Institute and supported by Zurich Insurance Group.

The Supply Chain Resilience Report showed that, despite a decrease in the percentage of organizations that experienced at least one disruption (70% from 74%), those organizations suffered more of them, with the percentage of organizations that experienced at least eleven disruptions during the year increasing from 7% to 22%.

The increased cost of disruption could be attributed to significant increases in the loss of productivity (68% up from 58% in 2015), cost of working (53% up from 39%) and damage to brand or reputation (38% up from 27%), all as a result of supply chain disruptions. 43% of organizations do not insure these losses meaning that they are bearing the full brunt of the cost themselves.

Arguably one of the reasons for the increase in the number of disruptions for many organizations is that fewer of them are maintaining adequate visibility over their supply chain, with the percentage of organizations that do so decreasing from 72% in 2015 to 66% this year. This could have major consequences when it comes to managing the supply chain and ensuring that disruptions are minimised.

The report concludes that ensuring supply chain visibility remains one of the biggest challenges to organizations with the data showing increased dependencies between suppliers and downstream organizations, reinforcing the need for organizations to understand their supply chain in more depth, identify key suppliers and improve reporting of disruptions.

The report also highlights that top management commitment is required in driving supply chain resilience and performance. The findings affirm how leadership input can significantly influence good practice and help build an appropriate organizational culture and structure.

Other findings of the report include:

41% of disruptions occur with the immediate supplier, compared to 50% last year, however 40% of respondents report that they do not analyse the source of disruption.The percentage of organizations reporting losses in excess of €1 million from a single incident remains static at 9%.Unplanned IT and telecommunications outage remains the top cause of disruption with loss of talent/skills moving up to 2nd place from 6th in 2015. The remaining members of the top five causes of disruption were outsourcer failure, transport network disruption and cyber-attack/data breach.The top five consequences of disruption are loss of productivity, increased cost of working, customer complaints received, service outcome impaired and damage to reputation/brand.Only a little over a quarter of respondents (27%) report high top management commitment to supply chain resilience, a worrying decrease from 33% last year.Just under three quarters of respondents (73%) report having business continuity arrangements in place to deal with supply chain disruptions.

Patrick Alcantara DBCI, Senior Research Associate at the BCI and author of the report, commented: “Our study reinforces observations about the growing cost of supply chain disruptions and its negative impact on an organization’s reputation. More than ever, it is important to focus on supply chains, identify areas of risk, and deploy appropriate arrangements which increase resilience. Business continuity has an essential role to play in this. Our research abundantly shows how business continuity professionals, working with their supply chain counterparts, can build supply chain resilience and direct management efforts in this area.”

Nick Wildgoose, Global Supply Chain Product Leader at Zurich Insurance Group, commented: “Adequate supply chain resilience is a prerequisite for improving organisational performance. You need senior management support to achieve this, in terms of breaking down the organisational silos and providing appropriate resources. The businesses that invested in this area have recognised there is a compelling business case to do this and are seeing the benefits.”

For the last eight years, the BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report in partnership with Zurich Insurance Group has provided valuable insight into supply chain disruption and benchmarked the business continuity arrangements of organizations in this area. It has also demonstrated how specific key behaviours reinforce good practice and build an organizational culture contributing to supply chain resilience and performance.




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http://www.thebci.org 08 Nov 2016 08:15:38 GMT Business & Finance Retail & Fashion Transport & Logistics
<![CDATA[ Faster response times needed to combat cyber threat ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/faster-response-times-needed-to-combat-cyber-threat-e47e28ce2a78fddbaf7bcf7ba556f504/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/faster-response-times-needed-to-combat-cyber-threat-e47e28ce2a78fddbaf7bcf7ba556f504/ Wednesday 29 June, 2016

Two thirds of respondents to a global survey by the Business Continuity Institute reported that they had experienced at least one cyber incident during the previous twelve months, and 15% reported they had experienced at least ten incidents during the same period. The frequency of these cyber incidents demonstrates why it is important for organizations to have plans in place to mitigate against them or lessen their impact.

The Cyber Resilience Report, conducted by the BCI and sponsored by Crises Control, found that there was a wide range of response times for cyber incidents. Almost a third of organizations (31%) stated that they responded within one hour. However, one fifth (19%) take a worrying four hours or more in responding to a cyber event, and almost half (44%) take more than two hours to respond. This has clear implications for the time taken to return to business as usual, and the ultimate cost of the incident to the organization.

Even if organizations wish to respond immediately to a cyber attack, the nature of the attack may render them unable to do so. The research found that phishing and social engineering was the top cause of cyber disruption, with over 60% of companies reporting being hit by such an incident over the past 12 months, and 37% hit by spear phishing.

It also found that 45% of companies were hit by a malware attack and 24% by a denial of service. All these forms of attack will, in different ways, render an organization’s own network either contaminated or inoperable. Their website may have been taken down and they may well have to switch off their internet connection until they can secure themselves from further attack.

The research, a study of 369 business continuity and resilience professionals from across the world, also revealed that the costs of these incidents varied greatly, with 73% reporting total costs over the year of less than €50,000, but 6% reporting annual costs of more than €500,000.

David James-Brown FBCI, Chairman of the BCI, commented: “This piece of research is one of the most timely, insightful and relevant the BCI has ever produced. Cyber attacks tend to target the weakest links of an organisation, and this calls for a greater awareness of ‘cyber crime’. As the cyber threat evolves, it is crucial to stay on top of it, building long-term initiatives and regularly updating recovery plans.”

Rickie Sehgal, Chairman of Crises Control, said: “Rapid communication with employees, customers and suppliers is vital for any company in terms of responding effectively to a major business disruption event such as a cyber attack. When your business is at risk, even a one hour delay in responding to an incident can be too long. Taking more than two hours to respond, as almost half of companies do, is just unacceptable.”




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http://www.thebci.org 29 Jun 2016 10:45:02 GMT Business & Finance Computing & Telecoms
<![CDATA[ Business continuity delivers return on investment ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-delivers-return-on-investment-d4a93f891ff7afd91685536c642d259b/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/business-continuity-delivers-return-on-investment-d4a93f891ff7afd91685536c642d259b/ Wednesday 18 May, 2016

What is the return on investment of business continuity? How do you justify to top management any investment in business continuity? It's a tough question. If a disruption does occur, then clearly having a business continuity plan will demonstrate significant value, as it will help you manage through the disruption. But what if a disruption hasn’t occurred? How do you justify the expense to someone who thinks of it purely as an overhead?

This is the theme for Business Continuity Awareness Week, and to help demonstrate the value that business continuity has to the organization, the Business Continuity Institute has published a new paper that highlights some of the added benefits. Combining a mixture of research and case studies, ‘Business continuity delivers return on investment’ explores some of the main returns including:

Business continuity helps organizations obtain lower premiums for business interruption and supply chain insurance.Business continuity enables organizations to realise increased efficiencies which may translate to decreased business costs, avoiding costly overlaps and duplication of work as well as streamlining preparation efforts related to compliance.Business continuity facilitates contract negotiations with customers and suppliers, increasing transparency and raising governance standards.

The paper makes it clear that business continuity significantly contributes towards optimising organizational performance. Indeed, it is not just an overhead, it is an investment for a better organization.

Click here to download Business continuity delivers return on investment.




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http://www.thebci.org 18 May 2016 17:02:59 GMT Business & Finance Charities & non-profits Computing & Telecoms Government
<![CDATA[ ​Cyber attack top business threat for second year running ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/cyber-attack-top-business-threat-for-second-year-running-0b5f04f24c41cc2c94249999f96af2f3/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/cyber-attack-top-business-threat-for-second-year-running-0b5f04f24c41cc2c94249999f96af2f3/ Monday 8 February, 2016

Cyber attack is the top threat perceived by businesses, according to the fifth annual Horizon Scan report published today by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), in association with BSI. Similarly, the threat of a data breach rises to second in the list, up one place from 2015.

The annual BCI Horizon Scan assessed the business preparedness of 568 organizations worldwide and shows that three quarters (85%) of Business Continuity Managers fear the possibility of a cyber attack, with 80% worried about the possibility of a data breach similar to those suffered by Carphone Warehouse and Sony. A recent industry report * highlights the annualized cost of cyber crime per UK company now stands at £4.1 million, a 14 per cent increase in mean value since last year.

Concerns over supply chain disruption remained in the top ten, but fell two places from fifth last year to seventh this year. Almost half of those polled (47%) identified increasing supply chain complexity as a trend, leaving their organization vulnerable to disruption from conflict or natural disasters.

Concerns over the availability of talent and key skills entered the top ten for the first time this year, with 13% indicating they are 'extremely concerned' and 34% 'concerned' about the threat.

This year's global top ten threats to business continuity are:

Cyber attack – staticData breach – up 1Unplanned IT & telecom outages – down 1Act of terrorism – up 5Security Incident – up 1Interruption to utility supply – down 2Supply chain disruption – down 2Adverse weather – down 1Availability of key skills – new entryHealth and Safety incident – new entry

David James-Brown FBCI, Chairman of the Business Continuity Institute, commented: “The need perceived by organizations to identify and build resilience to this range of threats reveals the importance of this survey for business continuity professionals, the Horizon Scan's reputation and reliability make it one of the most popular reports in the industry on a global scale. It is indeed crucial for practitioners to advise organizations on what to prepare for and adjust their recovery plans accordingly.

"The industry landscape is rapidly changing, and so should our discipline in order to keep up with both traditional and modern challenges. At the top of the list this year we continue to see threats such as cyber attack, data breach and unplanned IT outages. More traditional threats such as terrorism continue to be 'front-of-mind' for organizations. Given the rise of new challenges and the fact that old ones remain, horizon scanning techniques are even more valuable in assisting organizations to be prepared to the best of their potential."

Howard Kerr, Chief Executive at BSI, commented: “2015 saw a number of high profile businesses across the world hit by cyber attacks, so it's reassuring to see that so many are aware of the threat it poses. Our research finds it to be the top concern in six out of the eight regions surveyed.

“However, we remain concerned to see that businesses are still not fully utilizing the information available to them to identify and remedy weaknesses in their organizational resilience.

“It is difficult to conceive that either investors or employees will be reassured that the leaders of the organizations they trust are making strategic decisions without an effective evaluation of risk.

“Ultimately, organizations must recognize that, while there is risk, and plenty of it, there is also opportunity. Taking advantage of this means that leaders can steer their businesses to succeed by not just surviving, but thriving."

The report also measures sentiment towards specific business trends and uncertainties. The use of the internet for malicious attacks remains on top this year, with 83% indicating their concern. Increasing supply chain complexity also features in the top ten and on the radar of 47% of respondents.

Despite growing fears over the resilience of their firms, the report records another fall in the use of long-term trend analysis to assess and understand threats, down 3% to 70% this year.

Of those carrying out trend analysis, a worrying third (33%) are not using the results to inform their business continuity management programmes.

Globally, business preparedness shows variations with 9 out of 10 (94%) organizations in Canada utilising trend analysis, while just 3 in 10 firms (29%) in the Caribbean and Latin America do so. Small businesses, evaluated for the second time in this year's report, continue to lag behind with only 58% compared to 74% of larger businesses.

The report provides the strong recommendation that the rising costs of business continuity demand greater attention from top management. Encouragingly, adoption of ISO 22301, the business continuity standard, appears to be a common framework, with more than half (51%) of organizations now relying upon this.

- ENDS -

Notes to the editor:

*2015 Ponemon 'Cost of cyber crime' reportNote to the online survey: respondents were from 74 countries. The total number of respondents was 568.A copy of the report is available on request to andrew.scott@thebci.org or can be downloaded from the BCI website (registration required).


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http://www.thebci.org 08 Feb 2016 16:59:19 GMT Business & Finance Computing & Telecoms
<![CDATA[ Regus and Business Continuity Institute launch new partnership ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/regus-and-business-continuity-institute-launch-new-partnership-e4f36911e9f53dfb853c2374bd26de96/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/regus-and-business-continuity-institute-launch-new-partnership-e4f36911e9f53dfb853c2374bd26de96/ Thursday 14 January, 2016

The Business Continuity Institute is delighted to announce a new partnership with Regus, the world's largest provider of workspace, that will identify new trends and global best practice in workspace recovery.

The partnership will commission primary research every year which will be shared with BCI members through forums, events and interactive media. The research will support the BCI as it continues to set the wider agenda on business resilience.

This collaboration between BCI and Regus will also extend beyond research to enable members of the Institute to gain access to Regus' services worldwide at preferred rates. BCI members will be able to receive privileged terms on their Workplace Recovery Programme so that, should a disruption make their own office uninhabitable, they can continue to operate as normal and stay productive in a fully equipped environment elsewhere. The deal will also allow members to receive free visits to Regus Business Lounges.

In addition, Regus – who become a Premium Gold Partner of the BCI as part of this partnership – will provide meeting rooms to the volunteers who make up the BCI's regional Chapters and Forums in order for them to conduct their networking, which is a key benefit of BCI membership.

David James-Brown FBCI, Chairman of the BCI, said of the new partnership: “The Institute is the global thought leader for business continuity and resilience. This research partnership with Regus will help us continue to set the agenda on issues that matter so much to business as uncertainty and volatility affects markets across the globe. At the Business Continuity Institute we know how important it is to be prepared for a crisis, and if that crisis involves losing your facilities then there is no better place to relocate to than a Regus Workplace Recovery site. This new partnership will help make that more affordable for many more organisations. It also provides space for BCI members to meet and network at a local level through our Chapters and Forums.”

Joe Sullivan, Managing Director for Workplace Recovery at Regus, commented: “We are delighted to become partners with the Business Continuity Institute. We have admired their work for many years and we hope that our partnership will support their thought-leadership on issues that are so important to the business community. As part of our partnership, we are proud that we can support the Institute's regional chapters and, forums. We look forward to demonstrating how our facilities and people can support businesses during their time of need.”

Regus currently has a network of 2,600 locations in 106 countries and encompasses 43 million square feet of the world's leading locations, offering convenient, high-quality, fully serviced spaces for people to work, whether for a few minutes or a few years.




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http://www.thebci.org 14 Jan 2016 18:04:57 GMT Business & Finance
<![CDATA[ Communicating in a crisis ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/communicating-in-a-crisis-ba278a6a7caf2a1e1e3dc2f41464f1e5/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/communicating-in-a-crisis-ba278a6a7caf2a1e1e3dc2f41464f1e5/ Tuesday 1 December, 2015

Organizations are beginning to understand the need for having an emergency communications plan in order to improve stakeholder communications during a crisis

Caversham, UK – 1st December 2015: A newly published report from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) has demonstrated the need for organizations to invest in an emergency communications plan by revealing that nearly two thirds of respondents (62%) to a global survey had activated their plan during the previous year. The urgency of emergency communications is further highlighted by over three quarters of those activations taking place within 30 minutes of an incident commencing.

The Emergency Communications Report, supported by Everbridge, noted that over a quarter of emergency communications plans do not request a response when activated. This is a worrying statistic as, if an incident is important enough to justify the plan being activated, then surely it warrants knowing that the message has been received by the intended recipients.

Further findings from the report include:

14% of respondents reported that they do not have an emergency communications plan.Of these which do not have an emergency communications plan, over two-thirds (68%) state they would only create one after a business affecting event.Email is the primary method of communication used during an emergency with 83% claiming to use this, while 63% use manual call trees, 55% use emergency communication software, 55% use crisis telephone lines and 53% use website announcementsOver two-thirds of respondents noted that their organization has emergency communications training and education with regularly scheduled events.Nearly three quarters of respondents (72%) stated that their plan is exercised at least once per year, with a further 16% stating it is done at last twice per yearCommon triggers for activating the emergency communications plan include unplanned IT outages (50%), weather related incidents (49%), power outages (47%), natural disasters (45%) and fire (42%)Over two-thirds of respondents (70%) use mobile communications in private messaging to staff.

Patrick Alcantara, Research Associate at the BCI and author of the report, commented: “Reliable emergency communications saves lives and demonstrates how organizations approach their duty of care to their employees, customers and stakeholders. The survey results affirm that many organizations take this duty seriously and offer opportunities for further improvement. We thank Everbridge for supporting this study and sharing our goal of producing top-quality research that impacts practice."

Imad Mouline, Chief Technology Officer at Everbridge, commented: “The findings highlight that the unpredictability of global threats continue to necessitate a comprehensive enterprise critical communications strategy. While it's refreshing to see that organizations are more actively developing plans, and using mobile as part of their strategy, there is still work to be done to ensure that communications are securely and reliably reaching employees and customers."

The report concludes that top management buy-in and integration among different functional roles contribute to the successful embedding of emergency communications capability. Furthermore, organizations must focus on encouraging responses to emergency communications and this begins by defining acceptable response rates. This should be made easier as mobile communications are increasingly used by organizations as part of their emergency communications arrangements and technology has advanced so much so that this is a basic capability. Key to getting buy-in is education and training programmes which must be implemented as part of an overall holistic approach to continuity and resilience.




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http://www.thebci.org 01 Dec 2015 12:33:00 GMT Business & Finance Computing & Telecoms Media & Marketing
<![CDATA[ Driving blindfold into disaster ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/driving-blindfold-into-disaster-c593d3286de04f0cb5d8ce82e35a71ec/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/driving-blindfold-into-disaster-c593d3286de04f0cb5d8ce82e35a71ec/ Wednesday 25 November, 2015

Nearly one in ten organizations are not aware of who their key suppliers are, leaving them open to severe disruption as they are unable to manage their supply chain effectively. That is according to a report published today by the Business Continuity Institute and supported by Zurich Insurance Group.

The Supply Chain Resilience Report highlighted that seven in ten organizations admit to not having visibility over their full supply chain, and as the survey also revealed that half of disruptions occur below the preliminary tier 1 supplier of goods, this makes it extremely difficult to establish where an organization lies within its suppliers' priorities.

This could have major consequences when it comes to managing the supply chain and ensuring that disruptions are minimised, which is particularly important given that the report also found that 74% of organizations had suffered at least one disruption during the previous twelve months and that 14% had suffered cumulative losses of at least €1 million as a result.

Other findings of the report include:

Unplanned IT and telecommunications outage (64%), cyber attack and data breach (54%) and adverse weather (50%) are the top three causes of supply chain disruption. New entries to the top ten are: product quality incident (8th), business ethics incident (9th) and lack of credit (10th).The top five consequences of disruption are loss of productivity (58%), customer complaints (40%), increased cost of working (39%), loss of revenue (38%) and impaired service outcomes (36%).One third (33%) of respondents report high top management commitment to supply chain resilience, increasing from 29% last year.About 7 out of 10 respondents (68%) report having business continuity arrangements in place to deal with supply chain disruptions.

Patrick Alcantara DBCI, Senior Research Associate at the BCI and author of the report, commented: “Recent incidents have shown us how supply chain disruptions can negatively impact an organization's bottom line, reputation and resilience. This year's Supply Chain Resilience Report demonstrates how good practice can mitigate the worst effects of these disruptions. With findings consistently showing top management commitment as a key enabler of supply chain resilience, we encourage business leaders to take a closer look at their supply chains and champion good practice across their organizations.”

Nick Wildgoose, Global Supply Chain Product Leader at Zurich Insurance Group, commented: “Through our work with customers in this area, we have found that increasing visibility along supply chains and resilience are major sources of competitive advantage. Top management leadership is the key to overcoming silo thinking about supply chains within an organisation.”

Now into its seventh year, the annual Supply Chain Resilience Report represents a long-standing working partnership between the BCI, Zurich Insurance Group and CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply). It is now an influential and go-to industry resource that tracks the origins, causes and consequences of supply chain disruption across industry sectors and regions worldwide, as well as the overall evolution of risk. For example, the report has highlighted the greater risk of multi-tier exposure as well as simple direct supply chain exposure.

Likewise, Zurich's involvement has helped reinforce the emergence of threats beyond just the physical to the less tangible risks, such as cyber risk. The report continues to benchmark business continuity arrangements in one place - including the uptake of insurance - in different organizations and is one of the most comprehensive, practitioner-led studies in the field. The BCI, Zurich Insurance Group, and CIPS involvement in previous surveys has and will continue to provide organisations with the much-needed critical insights and valuable information to support the development of appropriate strategic responses and approaches to mitigate the impact and consequences of disruptions within their supply chains.




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http://www.thebci.org 25 Nov 2015 10:05:02 GMT Business & Finance Retail & Fashion Transport & Logistics
<![CDATA[ Improving resiliency in the retail sector ]]> https://pressat.co.uk/releases/improving-resiliency-in-the-retail-sector-92e686cbe46baf2e49097ebe99f92795/ https://pressat.co.uk/releases/improving-resiliency-in-the-retail-sector-92e686cbe46baf2e49097ebe99f92795/ Monday 23 November, 2015

Caversham, UK – 23rd November 2015: More than one in five retail organizations does not have a formal business continuity policy in place. That is according to report published today by the Business Continuity Institute and supported by the Retail Business Continuity Association.

The Global Retail Resilience Report also highlighted that, of those that do have a policy in place, less than half have Key Performance Indicators attached, making it difficult to assess whether the policy is effective. With retailers being at the frontline of modern society where sales can be made or lost in an instant, it is perhaps more important for retailers to have plans in place to manage disruption.

Some of the other findings in the report include:

Less than one in ten respondents (9%) claimed their organization was certified to ISO22301, the international standard for business continuity management, although 43% claimed to align to it. Nearly a quarter of respondents (22%) stated they had not conducted a formal Business Impact Analysis, a fundamental part of business continuity management as it provides the data from which appropriate continuity strategies can be developed. Nearly one in ten respondents (9%) admitted that their organization did not have a formal IT Disaster Recovery Plan, while 12% claimed it was still in development. Fires are the number one concern for organizations (63%), closely followed by human illness (62%), cyber attacks (51%) and physical security (51%). 16%, 9%, 12% and 9% of respondents claim to have invoked their business continuity plans due to these threats materialising.

The report underscores the need to get continuity and resilience at the heart of the agenda for retailers, yet there are existing challenges in communicating the value proposition of resilience. There is a need to promote metrics that allow top management to sense the urgency of driving resilience within their organizations.

Patrick Alcantara DBCI, Senior Research Associate at the Business Continuity Institute and author of the report, commented: “The BCI acknowledges the RBCA's efforts in building resilience across the retail industry through this pioneering study. We believe that it is important for BC and resilience practitioners across different sectors to obtain relevant, industry-specific data that benchmarks their performance and adds value to their practice. This report is an excellent contribution to the retail industry and we encourage other sectors to follow suit."

John Frost MBCI, Head of Business Continuity at Marks and Spencer and Chairman of the RBCA, commented: “The RBCA have been overwhelmed by the number of retailers from across the world that chose to take part in this survey. The results have given Retail Business Continuity and Resilience professionals the ability to benchmark their activities against their peer group for the first time. This visibility will assist with those all-important conversations with Top Management by offering credible evidence and industry comparisons. We would like to thank the BCI for providing their expertise and support for this first survey of its kind, and of course all those who took part. We look forward to developing and improving the survey in the future with the BCI, and supporting our fellow professionals from around the world in developing their retail resilience capability."

Retail organizations depend heavily on technology in building resilience. This may introduce considerable risks and points of failure. Retail business continuity professionals must be aware of this in implementing an agile, holistic and responsive programme lifecycle. Developing relevant competencies within the team is imperative given an evolving retail industry landscape. Retail professionals understand how agility is a competitive advantage in an industry considerably influenced by market trends, rapidly changing tastes and fickle consumer behaviour. Building resilience therefore requires building skills sets among professionals in the 'protective disciplines' such as BC that enable them to respond to this context.




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http://www.thebci.org 23 Nov 2015 11:45:37 GMT Retail & Fashion Transport & Logistics