The standard describes an overall management process embodied in a diagram.

The BCM Programme should encompass at least three elements

1 Responsibilities

2 Implementation

3 Maintenance 

Responsibilities

The organisation should appoint a senior person to champion and be responsible for BCM. This need not be a full time position, the number or status of those responsible for BCM will be dictated by the size of the organisation, its overall objectives and business continuity requirements. Roles may include an overall responsibility, responsibility for implementation or ongoing maintenance. Large organisations may need a team of individuals on a full time basis, small ones a single part time person.

Implementation

Implementation assumes starting from a start position with little or no arrangements in place but can also include new initiatives, capabilities or for example, a new business unit. Existing arrangements for project implementation, governance and audit should be used, there is no point reinventing the wheel.

Maintenance 

Business continuity is not something that an organisation should do once, many organisations fail in this respect with business continuity manuals becoming dusty and unused shelfware. Much as most organisation's change on a continuous basis, so should the business continuity system. Maintenance procedures should be designed to enable the system to adapt to these changes. It is better if these systems utilise existing arrangements for change management. Maintenance activity will also include the means to measure effectiveness of the organisations arrangements and to effect continuous improvement. The BCM Lifecycle as described by BS25999, if used, should enable an organisation's BCM arrangements to remain effective and meet its changing expectations.

Document Author: Harvey Fawcett 

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