Frequency of Floods Drive Seminar Attendance at Business Continuity Expo

20^th February 2008 - In a recent workshop to review last year’s flooding held by the British Continuity Institute (BCI), one of the most over-riding messages that came from those attending was “Communications were our BIGGEST challenge.” However, one of the simplest lessons learned from the UK floods was “the importance of having a Business Continuity Management plan in place, as those that had one, continued to operate despite the crisis”, concluded the workshop. The UK will continue to suffer from floods and many other disasters, which is why numbers are expected to be higher than ever, at this year’s Business Continuity Expo 2008 - the only event dedicated to managing operational risk, resilience and recovery from 2-3rd April at ExCeL London.

Lyndon Bird FBCI, Technical Services Director at the BCI said

“4,500 commercial insurance claims with an average value of £90,000 helps quantify the scale of disruption caused by the floods in the UK in 2007, but this statistic fails to fully convey the real impacts on businesses and individuals. Business continuity management is about dealing with the business consequences of disruptions and these are measured in months not days. Issues such as denial of access through road closures; facilities unusable through lack of water supplies, premises pollution and contamination; key staff not available as a result of domestic crises; and the difficulties of relocating staff in a wide area incident are symptoms of the problem. Sadly, without good planning and preparation, business failure is often the result.”

Kathy Settle – Head of Regional Resilience at Government Office for the North West said: “When looking at how well businesses recover from an emergency, having a robust business continuity plan in place, with regular training and exercising has been shown to be critical in ensuring business survival. In fact, according to the Chartered Management Institute survey in March 2007– 94% of those who invoked their plans agreed they had the least disruption from a crisis. At this event I will be explaining the multi agency structures that are put in place when a large scale incident occurs such as the recent floods. I will also explain the guidance that has been developed nationally to support organizations recovering from an emergency.”

Businesses from every sector wanting to learn the lessons from those who have survived a disaster and want to know how to put the plans in place to make sure their businesses succeed in the face of adversity, can join one of the many free seminars and workshops at Business Continuity Expo 2008. With an exclusive format combining a comprehensive exhibition, a highly popular free-to-attend seminar series and for those looking at business continuity planning in more depth, there is an inspiring and motivating conference which runs alongside the Expo.

The event features over 60 free seminars from leading suppliers discussing a wide variety of business continuity and risk issues, from strategies to tools, techniques and policies necessary to manage and measure your organisations’ business continuity practice. The free to attend seminars at Business Continuity Expo will discover the latest tools, standards, processes and management of business continuity. The seminars will look at the paradigm shift in business continuity that is seeing it move from negative compliance-lead ‘push’ to the positive ‘pull’ of genuine solid-state business benefits. These free to attend seminars are aimed at all employees from the IT department to business managers, and are given by some of the world leading experts in business continuity planning.

The seminars at Business Continuity Expo will help professionals make the business case that that will deliver the investment of interest and money that business continuity really deserves.

The seminars are split into four theatres that will explore issues across the entire business continuity lifecycle, from corporate governance, risk, compliance, resilience and brand management to practical solutions for contingency planning, incident management and recovery.

The Management theatre focuses on how people, process and technology can be effectively managed to assure the continuity of core business activities in the face of an incident. Robert Hall, Managing Consultant at Marsh will be speaking about ‘Taking a wider View – The Future of BCM & RISK’ – tying together the increasingly synergistic activities of these two previously disparate disciplines; and demonstrates the procedural advantages of employing risk management tools within your business continuity practice. Featured sessions also examine communication and collaboration, and sector specific presentations for the financial and SME markets.

The Solutions theatre explores the tools, technologies and products that can help your organisation protect its vital assets. Glenn Bowker, Sales Manager, Belfor, will be touching on a subject that was on everyone’s lips in 2007 ‘Surviving the 2007 Floods – Practical lessons for the BC Community.’ Other sessions look at communication and network continuity tools, virtualisation and availability technologies and risk specific examinations of widespread threats such as pandemic flu.

The Strategy theatre gives a high level perspective on how to enable the integration, support and understanding of business continuity throughout your organisation. Steven Garrod, Director, Garrison Continuity will be discussing ‘Ten Things you wish you had done a year ago’. Other leading experts will look at systemic and enterprise level considerations for ensuring that your organisation not only has a common understanding of the rationale for business continuity, but has the tools to insure the investment and corporate buy-in.

In the Standards theatre the focus will be on the demonstration of competency, benchmarking, auditing and exercising – alongside a string focus on BS25999, one of the highlights will be a talk from Keith Strickland, Course Director, Emergency Planning College, covering the topic of ‘Command Team Performance – achieving a national standard’.

For FREE entry and further information about Business Continuity – The Risk Management Expo and the co-located paid-for Business Continuity Conference, visit the website www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk

Survey Shows Business Continuity Comes of Age as New Certification Takes Off

It’s rare for a new British Standard to attract as much interest as the latest Business Continuity standard - BS 25999 has attracted. It has seen unprecedented demand and being quoted as the fastest ever selling British Standard as well as more downloads during the public consultation phase than ever before. So it’s no surprise that in a poll that was carried out this month by Business Continuity Expo 2008 it showed that 60% of companies are now considering certification to BS 25999 – bringing Business Continuity planning and management right to the top of the corporate agenda for the first ever time.

Paul Lanham Global Marketing Manager for BSI Management Systems says “It would seem that at last companies are now taking Business Continuity seriously and investing in a framework to ensure that they have structures in place so that if a crisis hits they are prepared for it. Since the introduction of this standard and certification we have seen new types of organizations who have not traditionally embraced independent verification to standards as well as existing ones who see it as an extension of their risk management initiative. Many organizations are using the standard and evaluating certification against it to gain competitive advantage while others are using it as a management and assurance tool in their supply chain - ensuring a continuity of supply being a major issue for most. So far we have certified the first two organizations in the world to BS 25999 (TDG plc, the logistics company, and SunGard, the Information Availability and business continuity specialist)) and have many more lining up which is also unusual bearing in mind that the Specification standard (Part 2) was only published in November.”

There has been a lot of pressure for such a standard from both the private and public sectors underlining the importance of Business Continuity within the business environment. According to the BSI there have been many drivers for the standard including Civil Contingencies and Homeland Security type legislation, rising insurance premiums, investor focus on risk, the trend towards outsourcing, protection of corporate reputation as well as the opportunity to reduce the cost of responding to tenders.

“It is hard to overstate the importance of BS 25999 – not just to the organisations that adopt it, but to the UK economy as a whole,” agrees Keith Tilley, managing director UK and senior vice president Europe, SunGard Availability Services. “The Standard provides real clarity, helping organisations ensure they can continue to serve their customers in an increasingly uncertain world. Our own experience of being the first BC provider to secure certification to the Standard means we are in a unique position to help our customers implement its recommendations.”

“In fact, a survey* of SunGard’s own customers in late 2006 showed that a quarter of them believed that BS 25999 was long overdue, a third believed the standard would make achieving BCM easier and just over half felt that regulation was the main driver for BCM”, continues Tilley, “making it quite clear that there is both appetite and intent for BS 25999”.

Malcolm Cornish - Operations Director for Continuity² said “This enthusiasm for a British Standard for ‘business continuity’ shows that there is now a real business need. Whilst there are overwhelming benefits for every organisation to implement business continuity to the degree that is appropriate to its circumstances, it has been a hard struggle to convince management. The advent of the Standard is a clear signal that business continuity is a serious management discipline and a vital element of good governance.”

According to Cornish “The industry has always been hampered by the confusion of inconsistent terminology and methods. The Standard sets out definitions and terms that have been agreed through full consensus. It quite rightly falls short of setting out how business continuity should be done, however, the Standard, and Part 2 in particular, does provide a clear statement of what BCM must deliver.”

Cornish goes onto add “Organisations should not underestimate the cost of certification in terms not only of the financial cost but also of the manpower and effort involved. In many cases, just following and complying with the Standard may provide the best business return. The additional cost may well be worth it for organisations seeking competitive advantage or market differentiation and those having to comply with customer or regulatory requirements.”

Richard Fitzhugh Content Manager for Business Continuity Expo 2008 said “Business Continuity has been viewed in the past as rather nebulous - this standard defines and formalises both the semantics and scope of activities that come under BC practice. It is a real milestone in the BC story, and this is why we have dedicated a theatre to presentations on the steps to certification at the free-to-attend Expo, as well as a dedicated focus from the standard’s Architects in the main conference. The event is a great place to find out how you can get your company firmly on the road to certification, and practicing BC to common and accepted guidelines in a way that you can clearly demonstrate competence to your value chain.”

* About the research mentioned in Keith Tilley’s quote:

SunGard Availability Services (UK) Limited carried out the research in November 2006 at an event attended by organisations drawn from both public and private sectors. Over 80 organisations responded in total with 90% employing 250 people or more.

For further information visit www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk

Employees' USB sticks 'could risk security'

Workers who bring USB sticks and iPods into their place work and connect them to its computer system are a potential threat to their own organisations, according to information security solutions firm Kaspersky.

David Emm, senior technology consultant at the company, explains that employees are not experts in this field and as such they may not be fully aware of the risks.

Giving small business technology advice, he states that if and when workers bring USB sticks and iPods into work they should scan the peripherals before they integrate them into the computer system.

This allows a "layer of confidence" to be established in the firm, Mr Emm adds.

"It's really a question of giving sensible advice to your staff," he concludes.

Meanwhile, research by Websense suggests that 90 per cent of businesses have suffered a hacker attack in the last 12 months and 45 per cent have had their IT systems infected by a computer virus.

Hottest Business Continuity Topics Presented by World Experts at Business Continuity Conference

This year’s Business Continuity Conference 2008 promises to deliver an unrivalled line up of expert speakers fresh to the BC circuit, offering original and insightful comment to help professionals assure sound business continuity practice and gain the knowledge and expertise to cope and succeed through any potential disaster. The conference takes place on 2^nd and 3^rd April at EXCEL London and runs alongside Business Continuity Expo 2008.

The 2008 conference agenda explores the issues affecting Business Continuity today, illustrated with end-user case studies and analysis from leading experts such as Gerald Corbett, Chairman of SSL International, PJ di Giammarino, CEO JWG-IT, Colin Clark, Head of Corporate Business Control – Somerfield Supermarkets and Kathryn Holloway, Presenter and Broadcaster – Press Alert and Visor Consultants. The conference provides an informative peer-to-peer forum which explores the threats, solutions and best practices as well as an insight into how to mitigate risk and manage crisis.

With much of the content for the conference, compiled by experts from a high powered steering committee, delegates are assured of a comprehensive and cutting edge programme exploring the whole business continuity lifecycle from corporate governance, risk, compliance, resilience and brand management as well as the practical solutions for contingency planning, incident management and recovery.

Laurence Myerson, CEO, SMS Worldwide will be one of the panellists who will address the issues around good solid business continuity Management. He says “Optimising Resilient Communications is a highly potent session discussing how to ensure the use of communication in the event of a crisis, even when all communication systems have failed including the Mobile Phone Networks. With the Metropolitan Police, The Cabinet Office and SMS Worldwide we shall uncover the tricks of the trade in our session and well worth attending."

To bring the issues of business continuity and resilience to life there will be a host of recent case studies, workshops and analysis covering the whole spectrum of business continuity management from risk analysis to protecting your brand and reputation in the areas of finance, public sector and telecoms.

Martin Caddick, Leader, Business Continuity Management team, Marsh says about the event "Marsh is once again looking forward to participating in this year's Business Continuity Expo following last year's success. Business Continuity Expo provides a unique platform to engage in stimulating debate with industry peers and new business contacts on a wide range of business continuity topics.

"Wider industry understanding of business continuity as a key risk issue is growing, as more and more firms realise that with risk comes reward, if managed effectively."

Opening Plenary

The conference will kick start with an opening presentation which will discuss “National Resilience, Corporate Resilience and Operational Continuity – Three Sides of the Same Coin?”. It will be chaired by Bruce Mann CB, Director of Civil Contingencies Secretariat (tbc) with Gerald Corbett, Chairman, SSL International and Brett Lovegrove, Head of Counter Terrorism, City of London Police in the panel.

The Business Continuity Conference has been divided into three diverse streams spaced over two days to ensure that no matter whatever your business agenda, your needs will be met. Each stream will consist of presentations from individual speakers, ending with a panel discussion led by the Chair. The three streams will cover:

· STREAM 1: Drivers, Issues, Risk and Best Practice

· STREAM 2: Business Strategies

· STREAM 3: Business Continuity Management

Highlights from Stream 1 Drivers, Issues, Risk and Best Practice include:

- Risk as Part of Business Continuity which looks at strategies for co-optimisation of Operational Risk and Business Continuity Management on a global and site level, chaired by Rubina Faber, Director, Regal

- Understanding and Mitigating Reputational Risk chaired by Jon Collins, Service Director, from Freeform Dynamics who will explore some of the ways in which you can protect, recover and insure you reputation.

- Managing Risk in Supply Chains- In this session experts will look at how organisations can reduce their exposure to supply chain risk in the global trading environment. Chaired by Matthew Elkington, VP Risk Consulting at Marsh

- BS 25999: Is it Worth Doing it Well? - Julian Thrussell, Management Systems UK BS25999 Product Manager, BSI with the help of other experts will look at the certification process, business advantages and asks whether your organisation really needs the standard.

Highlights from STREAM 2: Business Strategies include:

A panel discussion on “Measuring Value to Shareholders: What’s the Real Cost of an Incident?” Pat Roberts, Senior consultant at Needhams 1834 will chair the panel which shall examine the effect on stakeholder trust, reputation, shareprice and brand equity – and how you can minimise them.

Other sessions include:

- Maintaining Corporate Health Through Exercise –with panellists including Michael Charlton-Weedy, CEO, Emergency Planning College; Charles Le Gallais, Director of Homeland Security and Resilience, Finmeccanica; Chris Needham-Bennett, CEO, Needhams 1834; Nick Beale, CEO, Citysafe

- Corporate Resilience: Is it Time for a New BC Model? This session, chaired by Peter Power, Managing Director, Visor Consultants outlines how the notion of corporate resilience can take business continuity, risk and crisis management into a more active environment.

- Appetite, Liability, Responsibility and Legal Considerations: Real considerations for Directors- Bill Byrne, Managing Director from Heffernan Global Services Inc. discusses why the board of directors are really interested in Business Continuity, using the results of a CEO survey to back up the debate.

Highlights from STREAM 3 - Business Continuity Management include:

- Optimising Resilient Communications- Chaired by Dr Nigel Brown, Lead for Resilient Telecommunications Strategy from The Cabinet Office, this session focuses on resilient communications and how essentially important they are within a continuity plan.

- The Impact of an Incident –presented by Mel Gosling, Managing Director, Merricom; Wayne Harrop, Senior Lecturer in BCM, University of Coventry; Kathy Settle, Head of Regional Resilience, Government Office for the North West; Prof Richard Walton, Visiting Professor, Royal Holloway University

- Invoke: Best Practice in Incident Management –It will be chaired by Karen Dye, Crisis Management, Emergency Response and Business Continuity Programs Manager, from Sun Microsystems.

- Human and Personnel Aspects of BC: Reacting to an Incident- Chaired by Rosie Murray, Director of Raising Awareness For Trauma, expect to see dissection of vegetables and discussions on neurobiology and psycho-modification as the panel of experts explore human behaviour before, during and after an incident.

For tickets or further information on The Business Continuity Conference please call 0870 429 4480 or visit www.businesscontinuityconference.co.uk