Agile Business Continuity

I’ve noticed an increase in the use of terms such as agile and adaptability in the mainstream marketing materials of the usual suspects. I don’t doubt their sincerity but I suspect they are using the wrong shorthand. If you are an executive then the very last thing you want is an agile business. A business [...]

I do love Google Reader and the random things you find to inspire and delight. Today I discovered the following image, which captures the essence of a subject I have written about before. So here is yet another riff on KISS, but from an ever so slightly different angle.

I love this slide, and much kudos [...]

For many of the people I have spoken to regarding the BCM process, the exercising of their plans has a number of expected outcomes. The first is validation and the second is staff training. If you look to the standards then there is a third outcome, that of identifying vulnerabilities within the current response. For [...]

Talking Point: Is risk a good measure of the resilience of your business and therefore the efficacy of your business continuity process?
Within Business Continuity, and indeed most governance processes, risk is a trigger for action within the process. As a result the Business Continuity process should have a direct affect on the level of [...]

I was intending to discuss risk and it’s relationship with resilience, but have decided to expand a little on the subject matter I touched on yesterday. So today’s talking point is: if Key Performance Indicators drive behaviour, then what happens when we don’t maintain a measure of resilience?
Business metrics can be broken down into a [...]

I’ve split this up into multiple posts already as it is a complex area for reasons that will become clear later. I think it is the complexity that drives some to measure the existence of the BCM process as opposed to the benefit it delivers. As I have stated before the existence of a comprehensive [...]

Today a comment on this blog by Ken Simpson has prompted me to put down my thoughts on resilience and measuring the efficacy of business continuity management. Ken has just started his Comtemplating … blog and I look forward to reading his own thoughts.
I have decided to split up my resilience measurements post up into [...]

As we move towards the festive period I wanted to make one more comment about organisational behaviours and the Lipstick Chart.
Let us begin with a key question, and one which I now regularly ask all my clients.
Imagine your organisation in 12 months time. It has a higher level of resilience than it exhibits today. How [...]

Another thought regarding my earlier post this week on the lipstick chart. We use this chart in a number of different ways and it is useful in expressing the relative importance of key business activities. As discussed previously the chart is initially used to capture quick judgements on criticality which can later be refined [...]

Please excuse the title’s reference to Shakin’ Stevens. If you don’t know who Shakin’ Stevens is, then I would advise you to maintain your ignorance.
Over the last week I have been spending a lot of time with a number of clients who are busy developing their organisational resilience. One of the most useful techniques we [...]