Businesses have improved their disaster planning over
the past year, but many are still putting themselves at risk
unnecessarily, research by BSI British Standards has
revealed.
The survey of 100 FTSE 250 organisations, released on the
anniversary of the Buncefield oil depot disaster, found that only
20% of companies believe they could survive more than a week
without serious disruption to their business following a
disaster.
Some 14% of companies would be seriously impacted within an
hour, 23% would be affected within a day, and 16% within three days
following a serious emergency.
The survey also raised questions about the readiness of the
supply chain for a major business disruption. Only 45% of the firms
questioned had comprehensive plans in place for a supply chain
failure, and 21% of companies said they required all suppliers to
have business continuity plans in place.
Although many businesses still have a long way to go, the survey
found that there have been significant improvements over the past
12 months.
About 40% of firms said they were fully prepared to relocate
their business in the event of an emergency, up from 15% a year
ago.
Just over 50% said they were prepared for an IT systems failure,
up from 27% a year ago. And 45% said they were ready to manage
failures in the supply chain, compared with 18% in 2005.
More information at:
www.bsi-global.com/Risk/BusinessContinuity