Business continuity management remains static

The number of organisations that have adopted business continuity management has remained generally static, according to the latest Business Continuity Management Report.

The report, published by the Chartered Management Institute, has revealed that 47% of managers report their organisations have specific business continuity plans.

This relatively low figure is despite the fact that 76% reported continuity as being important to their organisation.

Those who did apply plans found them to be extremely effective: 94% of those who invoked their plan said it had reduced disruption.

The most significant disruptions reported over the past year were loss of IT, reported by 43% of organisations, loss of people, reported by 35%, and loss of telecommunications, reported by 30%.

29% of organisations in the UK said they had been affected by extreme weather such as flooding or storms over the past year - this figure is up from 9% two years ago.

The majority of organisations said they continued to see corporate governance as a key driver.

The report said: "There is evidence that business continuity management is being driven through the supply chain through public sector procurement contracts and by customers demanding evidence of BCM from their business-critical suppliers."

Awareness was definitely on the rise, with around 32% of respondents saying they were aware of the business continuity guidance provided by their local authority or Local Resilience Forum, up from 23% in 2007.

Source: UK resilience