WMA JOURNAL Working for the Investment Community & their Clients
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
“
Business continuity: make it your business F acts, figures and estimations from industry experts show that an extremely robust business continuity programme typically costs an organisation less than 1% of its annual turnover (Continuity Insurance Risk (CIR) magazine, 29.08.13). By opting for an outsourced service provider that knows your industry and is in tune with the very latest technological advances, this percentage could be further reduced. Sentronex estimates that for its clients, the cost of Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions can be as low as between 10 and 20 basis points.
I
n a 2013 survey carried out by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in association with the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), “14% of UK based businesses expected to see an increase in business continuity spending. A total of 58% of those asked stated spending would remain the same and 16% expected to see budgets cut.” To take the financial services industry in particular, “26% of those surveyed predicted an increase in business continuity budget, while 62% stated it would remain the same and 10% foresaw a cut” (Horizon Scan 2013, Survey Report). As we enter 2014, how do these statistics fare? Are financial businesses making DR plans a priority? In our experience, DR strategy and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) are beginning to be more of a focus at high level board meetings. Why? Because DR is about understanding operational risk. Every financial firm should know the risks it faces and mitigate these accordingly. Going forward, there is definitely still scope to make DR and risk management part of each financial organisations’ on-going business plan.
Why review your BCP at all? It is widespread knowledge that you can’t put an exact price on the cost of damages caused, should disaster strike and a business not have a suitable continuity strategy in place. When discussing business 4 WMA JOURNAL
Business continuity is about simultaneously delivering resilient business performance and protecting an organisation’s reputation
continuity with financial firms, one of the main reasons they have a BCP at all is for regulatory purposes. However, there are a number of other reasons to regularly review both a DR strategy and a BCP that can be of long-term benefit to any organisation.
Once a plan is written or revised, ensure it is frequently reviewed thereafter. • DR with a Roadmap – when there is a BCP in place, complement it with an IT Roadmap. By laying out your IT strategy for the future, you will know what changes to expect and how these will impact an existing BCP. From a budgeting perspective, an IT Roadmap works well.
What disaster? The word ‘disaster’ in business continuity conversations often refers to the most serious events that could strike – the unthinkable and catastrophic. But what about much smaller, localised issues that may still prohibit access to your offices? Flooding, power outages, a security breach, a fire in a building nearby, or even protests taking place on the streets, could mean you are unable to trade or look after your customers. As a financial business, it is a good idea to review a plan so that it encompasses an alternative recovery strategy. Once provision is made, it is important to educate new and existing staff of the protocol should an invocation take place, while ensuring all regulatory requirements are met.
Business continuity is about simultaneously delivering resilient business performance and protecting an organisation’s reputation. With increased cyber threats, unpredictable weather and unplanned IT and telecom outages, the importance of business continuity is growing in momentum. In 2013, the overwhelming majority of financial services firms predicted DR budgets would stay the same or increase. As we move into 2014, it is undeniable that DR strategy and business continuity planning will become even more prevalent as business factors. The cost of DR to an organisation will depend on infrastructure, what is deemed appropriate by the regulator and what company it is that delivers the solution. By working with a service provider that understands your industry, business and its operational risks, you will get true value out of your DR solution.
IT and its impact on the BCP A BCP must support the framework of a business. In the last year alone, the IT landscape has changed dramatically. As new technologies enter the market and updates and upgrades for systems and platforms are rolled out, a business’ infrastructure alters. Future proofing a business’ technology is one thing; updating a BCP to reflect those changes is another. However, by successfully carrying out both, a business can benefit from significant competitive advantage. Business alignment: In the same way a BCP should reflect technical changes, a plan should also mirror a business’ resources. To maximise the efficiency of a plan, it should be scaled up or down to remain in line with the needs and requirements of that business. Markets are improving but it is still tough for many financial firms which can mean a decrease in headcount. Making changes to a BCP to reflect this will keep costs down which could help elsewhere in the business.
Marketing your business: A solid, robust BCP is an attractive selling point to investors, shareholders, clients and employees. For minimal time, money and effort, the reward is great: market edge and a key Marketing tool. With impending MiFID II and AIFMD legislation, the inevitable impact it will have on DR planning for financial services businesses, a regularly reviewed and updated BCP is a simple way to be prepared and most importantly, be ahead of the game. Where appropriate, it might be worth considering third party contingency plans too. The nature www.thewma.co.uk
of the fact this has been planned for will reflect well on any business. Disaster recovery, don’t run: Make a DR strategy part of on-going business operations for the future and you will reap the rewards. In today’s economic climate, it can seem challenging to plan for the ‘what-ifs’ but once there is a standard BCP in place, the difficult part is done; the management of a BCP tends to be much more simple. Below are a few pointers to remember when thinking about the importance of www.thewma.co.uk
business continuity for 2014 and creating and/or updating a BCP: • Say no to ‘break-fix’ – to protect a business’ finances and its reputation, do not opt for a ‘break-fix’ DR solution. Instead, prioritise the thorough planning of a business continuity strategy. • Create an in-house committee – select a committee who will regularly meet to discuss the BCP. Enlist the help of a business continuity consultant or your in-house representative to assess the businesses’ needs and requirements.
Joe Sluys CEO of Sentronex @sentronexnews http://www.linkedin.com/in/joesluys Sentronex delivers the following IT solutions to London’s financial community: IT Support, Disaster Recovery, Financial IT Consultancy, Cloud Computing, Hosting and Connectivity solutions. Company URL: www.sentronex.com Telephone number: 020 7397 7400 Email: sales@sentronex.com WMA JOURNAL 5
NEW LOGO TO COME
22 City Road Finsbury Square London EC1Y 2AJ Tel: +44 (0)20 7448 7100 Fax: +44 (0)20 7638 4636 www.thewma.co.uk Twitter: @wma_uk Members: enquiries@thewma.co.uk Non-members: info@thewma.co.uk