Business continuity management (BCM) is a process that helps manage risks to the smooth running of an organisation or delivery of a service, ensuring continuity of critical functions in the event of a disruption, and effective recovery afterwards. UK Government Resilience Web Site

The ability of an organization to continue to function even after a disastrous event, accomplished through the deployment of redundant hardware and software, the use of fault tolerant systems, as well as a solid backup and recovery strategy. Microsoft

Term used for all concerns with failure of IT equipment, or the ability to employ it effectively. Items affecting Business Continuity range from loss of power, to floods, terrorist attacks, or anything that causes loss of business. Power Equipment Manufacturer

An ongoing process supported by senior management and funded to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to identify the impact of potential losses, maintain viable recovery strategies and recovery plans, and ensure continuity of services through personnel training, plan testing, and maintenance. NFPA1600

A holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organisation and provides a framework for building resilience with the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities. The Business Continuity Institute

A management process to reduce the disruption caused by disasters and security failures (which may be the result of, for example, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, and deliberate actions) to an acceptable level through a combination of preventative and recovery controls. ISO/IEC 17799

A progression of disaster recovery, aimed at allowing an organisation to continue functioning after (and ideally, during) a disaster, rather than simply being able to recover after a disaster. Wikipedia

Procedures to ensure an organisation’s ability to continue operating outside of normal operating conditions. United Nations

There are many many more.

BS25999 defines business continuity management as

A holistic management process that identifies potential threats to an organization and the impacts to business operations that those threats, if realized, might cause, and which provides a framework for building organizational resilience with the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities

I actually like the United Nations definition, short and to the point.

Although BS25999 is not a beginners guide to business continuity management it provides a concise overview and more importantly sets out the life cycle of BCM management.

All organisations have strategic goals; business continuity management supports those strategic goals and prevents an incident compromising those goals. Business continuity management is not a self contained discipline; it must fit within and align itself to these overall goals if it is going to be of use to the organisation.

Risk management is becoming a more established function within all organisations and business continuity management is complimentary to that function. It seeks to address the realistic risks to the delivery of a product or service with systems and procedures commensurate with that risk and the importance of the service or function.

The need for business continuity is well established and there are many statistics and examples of organisations failing to address business continuity failing to survive even the most simple of incidents. The "it wont happen to me" attitude is now becoming rarer as corporate governance legislation, the impact of the global security situation and pressure from external stakeholders grows.

Business continuity management is, put simply, good business management.

Given that the need for business continuity management is established one of the key challenges is that of defining the advantages to the organisation. The implementation of any BCM programme is going to cost time and money, the amount will be related to the type of organisation, its appetite for risk and the threats it faces. It should not be viewed as simply an overhead; many benefits can be obtained by implementing a business continuity management programme such as obtaining a deep understanding of the organisation, manage operation disruption as and when it happens, enhance its reputation as a competent and well managed organisation and competitive advantage in the aftermath of an incident.

Document Author: Harvey Fawcett

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