Five key business continuity strategies from Matthew Sainsbury in “Company Director” [Vol 31, Iss 02, Mar/2015]
- Understand the threat landscape
Likely and unlikely disasters will change on ayearly if not monthly basis. It is important that all directors and executive management remain on top of what the current risks are and the most current strategies to mitigate them. - Remain vigilant for both internal and external threats
One of the most common mistakes that organisations make in disaster planning is ignoring the potential for a disgruntled employee to cause trouble. - Be aware of personal safety and security
Company directors are listed on the company websites by necessity but a committed hacker can gain information on that person from even that short blurb. A director’s home and personal technology needs to be treated with the same need for security as their work devices. - Redundancy is key
Always have an alternative for every business process, supplier an dtechnology project and make sure that the alternative is located in an area that is geographically separate from the main location. Have robust plans in place to automatically roll over as a backup in the event of a disaster. - Have full disaster management and succession plans in place
In a disaster, a chaotic environment can cause more mistakes and when that happens the impact of the event can be even greater. Having clearly laid-out and pre-prepared strategies for managing disasters will minimise the impact.