The Business Continuity Institute (BCI)is to extend itsbusiness continuitycredential beyond
its 4,000 members in more than 85 countries to anyone who passes
the organisation's certification exam.
The Business Continuity Institute has introduced the stand alone
credential as an alternative to full membership for anyone who
wants to prove they have a good working knowledge and understanding
of the basics of
business continuity management.
The credential is mainly aimed at new entrants to the business
continuity arena who have a knowledge and understanding of the
topic, but lack the experience required for full BCI
membership.
Lorraine Darke, membership services director at the BCI, said,
"The credential will be useful to UK and global business because it
will provide a wider base of accredited business continuity
professionals to draw upon."
She said any organisation employing a business continuity
practitioner should make sure the candidate was someone who knew
what they were doing, and the achievement of a recognised
certification was a good way of ensuring that.
The BCI
Certificate, which was introduced in October 2007 for all
grades of professional membership to replace a scored assessment
process, is based on a set of internationally accepted standards
known as the
Certification
Standards for Business Continuity professionals.
It also covers all the stages of the business continuity
management (BCM) lifecycle, which is present in the British
standard for business continuity, BS 25999.
The official launch of the credential is scheduled to take place
in London on 1 April, and Darke will use this week's
Business
Continuity Expo to detail the organisation's accreditation
process, focusing on the new credential as a first step in a career
in BCM.
She will also demonstrate how the BCI is developing training and
learning support and how that fits in with BS 25999. Darke said,
"The standard is being recognised internationally and we feel our
certification will go hand in hand with that."
While organisations will be tested using BS 25999, BCI will at
the same time be providing training and certification for
individuals to fill business continuity roles and meet the growing
demand within companies, she said.
"In countries like the UK where BCM is mature, training
provision has been excellent, but there is a lot of the globe where
BCM is just developing as a concept and a discipline.The BCI aims
to help mature BCM around the world by providing e-learning and
training packages through licensed providers," said Darke.