Business Continuity

What is it?

It is a management process that helps manage the risks to the smooth running of an organisation or delivery of a service, ensuring it can continue to operate to the extent required in the event of a disruption. These risks could be from the external environment (e.g. power outages, severe weather) from within an organisation (e.g. systems failure, loss of key staff).

It provides the strategic framework for improving an organisations resilience to interruption. It's purpose is to facilitate the recovery of key business systems and processes within an agreed time frame. It is an ongoing process that helps organisations anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disruptions, whatever their source and whatever aspect of business they affect.

It is a generic management framework that is valid across the public, private and voluntary sectors. It is about maintaining the essential business deliverables of an organisation in an emergency. The primary 'business' of private sector organisations is the generation of profit, a process that BCM seeks to protect. Responders provide services to the public, and it is equally important that these are protected and resilient.

There is a HISCG Business Continuity Advice Document available for download from the Public Access Document Library.


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