Half of UK firms invoke business continuity plans

Encouragingly, 73% of organisations have continuity plans in place, according to a survey by SteelEye Technology. But 19% of companies have no plan whatsoever, blaming costs for their lack of investment, even though 40% of the organisations surveyed spent a relatively modest £58,000 or less a year ensuring continuity.

When you consider how many organisations actually use their business continuity plan, and that any company without one could be just a day or two from a ‘fatal issue’, the real costs for business continuity assurance begin to look miniscule,” says Bob Williamson, vice-president of SteelEye Technolgy.

Companies that have suffered downtime test their plans more than twice as often as other companies. A recent report from Hewlett-Packard found similar high numbers of companies with business continuity plans in place, but revealed that 37% only test their plan annually.