BS25999 is a stand­ard that estab­lishes the process, prin­ciples and ter­min­o­logy of busi­ness con­tinu­ity management.The stand­ard deals with broad goals and is there­fore non pre­script­ive so as to make it applic­able to small and large busi­ness and local or global organisations.

The stand­ard aims to achieve the following

• Provides a basis for under­stand­ing busi­ness con­tinu­ity management
• Provides a means of meas­ure­ment that is con­sist­ent and recognised
• Provides a system based on estab­lished good practice

It does not deal in general with emer­gency plan­ning and man­age­ment except in the context of an organ­isa­tions role within a larger civil emergency.

• Is the stand­ard for me?
• If I have a busi­ness con­tinu­ity man­age­ment plan already in place, why should I use this standard?
• Is it just for large organisations?
• Is it com­plic­ated and going to tie me up in red tape?
• Is it just a British Stand­ard, not rel­ev­ant if I live in the USA?

The stand­ard was pre­pared by BSI Tech­nical Com­mit­tee BCM/1 whose mem­ber­ship included rep­res­ent­at­ives from the fin­an­cial ser­vices industry, gov­ern­ment, aca­demia, the emer­gency ser­vices, busi­ness organ­isa­tions and a number of spe­cial­ist prac­ti­tion­ers from around the world.

It has been designed to be applic­able to all sizes and types of organ­isa­tions as the broad prin­ciples and prac­tices described can be adapted to suite each indi­vidual organ­isa­tion, con­sid­er­able flex­ib­il­ity exists in imple­ment­a­tion of the stand­ard Although many industry sectors have a mature busi­ness con­tinu­ity cap­ab­il­ity, many do not, par­tic­u­larly small to medium business.

Having a non pre­script­ive, mod­er­ately easy to under­stand and con­sist­ent set of prin­ciples will enable busi­ness con­tinu­ity to mature in a greater number of businesses.

BSi have delivered a stand­ard for the needs of the British market but it is just as applic­able in New York or Munich as it is in London.

Of course, com­ply­ing with the stand­ard does not infer any immunity from prob­lems, this must be under­stood clearly by any organ­isa­tions looking to use it but lays down a common frame­work that will ulti­mately enable meas­ure­ment, bench­mark­ing and certification.

Meas­ure­ment, bench­mark­ing and cer­ti­fic­a­tion will provide market assur­ance that the organ­isa­tion is well pre­pared to meet a range of events that may threaten its sus­tain­ab­il­ity and existence.