Organisations have failed to improve their business
continuity planning despite events such as the London bombings and
the Buncefield oil terminal fire.
The proportion of organisations with business continuity plans
covering critical operations has remained static over the past 12
months at 49%, research by the Chartered Management Institute and
the Cabinet Office found.
And the proportion of companies that test their plans has
fallen, with only 37% rehearsing their plans at least once a year,
down from 52% in 2005.
“There appears to be a mismatch between perception of the need
for business continuity and the reality,” said Jo Causon, director
at the CMI.
The findings, from a survey of 1,500 managers, come despite 10%
of firms admitting that they had faced significant disruption from
the London bombings, 3% from the Buncefield oil explosion and 2%
from the Asian tsunami.
Nearly 40% of businesses experienced disruption from IT systems
failing, 29% from loss of key people, and 24% from loss of telecoms
links during the past year.
Firms were particularly poor at ensuring key suppliers had
continuity plans, the survey found.
Although more than 60% required statements of compliance from
their suppliers, only 37% examined suppliers’ plans, and 17%
involved suppliers in their business continuity plan
rehearsals.
Managers also expressed concern at the lack of planning in their
firms for a potential influenza pandemic. More than 90% thought
that a bird flu pandemic would result in moderate or severe
disruption to their business. But 43% said their firms had no plans
in place to deal with an outbreak.