www.controll-it.de

Risks that threaten business continuity, come in a variety of appearance. Natural disaster, physical and cyber terrorism, ICT disturbances etc. occur daily. Certain threats can paralyse an organisation for weeks, months or even precipitate a collapse. Securing your organisation against threats and guaranteeing that critical business processes continue in case of crisis is essential, hence the importance of implementing Business Continuity Management (BCM) is evident.

The ControllIT GmbH is a consulting and software company with the focus on Business Continuity Management and IT Disaster Recovery Planning. We provide expertise at strategic, conceptual and technical levels and work in line with national and international standards in particular BS25999 (BCI UK), ITIL and other.

Our project method – at a glance

It is based on our project experiences and Best Practice models of the industry.

BCM Initiation

In this phase it is a matter of persuading the top management of the necessity of the project and of defining the objectives and budgets. 

Business Impact Analysis/Risk Assessment

The first task is to perform a Business Impact Analysis (BIA).

The Risk Assessment – as following process – determines the risks and their probability for the critical processes and systems.

Business Continuity Strategy

The results from the BIA permit the definition of an adequate Business Continuity Strategy, with an optimum ratio of risk minimisation and recovery options.

Implementation – Organisation

An independent organisational structure (shadow organisation) must be established to enable quick decision-making in critical situations, furthermore escalation and de-escalation procedures have to be clearly defined. 

Implementation – BCM processes

To be able to hand over the day-to-day tasks into controlled operations, management processes have to be established (e.g. clearly defined interfaces with Change Management/HR etc.).

Implementation – Prevention / Precaution

This area encompasses the implementation of the risk reduction measures. However, organisational changes but also investment in the infrastructure may be necessary.

Planning

The development of plans for the handling of emergencies is one of the most important tasks:

• Coordination Plans
• Business Recovery Plans
• Infrastructure Recovery Plans
• Crisis Communications Plans

Test strategy

The test strategy defines the test depth (test class), the test components and the test structure.

• Scenario tests
• Workaround tests and Alternate tests
• Infrastructure tests
• Communications tests

Initial test

An "Initial test" must be conducted. The defined test strategy determines the scale of the test. It is important to:

• Define purposes
• Plan:
  • Preparations
  • Execution
  • Analysis and Evaluation

Operational Management

Once the BCM project is completed, maintenance has to be ensured including:

• Education and Awareness
• Reviews and Audits
• Testing
• Change Management  BCM must be consider to ensure changes are incorporated into the BC Plans
• Training  ensuring the necessary level of competence to facilitate the BC procedures.

To support business operations and IT services processes we developed a web based Business Continuity Framework  “aliveIT” – for effective BC planning and management. The philosophy of our application is to help developing plans, optimising maintenance through automated interfaces, ensuring corporate structure and design etc.

For further information please visit us under: www.controllit.de

 

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