Business Continuity Planning
We help organizations prepare and deal with any potential threat to the smooth, efficient operation of critical business functions resulting from unforeseen or sudden major operational disruptions or disasters.
This service component results in a documented and customized Business Continuity Plan either paper-based or in specialist business continuity planning software that describes the priorities and actions to be undertaken and resources required to recover and resume business functions in a timely and coordinated fashion after a disruptive disaster, associated recovery strategies, business continuity management policies, a risk treatment plan and trained and exercised personnel.
ICT Continuity Planning
We help organizations prepare and deal with any potential threat to the smooth, efficient functioning of ICT services and underlying systems resulting from major system downtime, failures or unforeseen disruption by disasters.
This service component results in a documented and customized ICT Continuity Plan also known as ICT Disaster Recovery Plan that describes the priorities and actions to be undertaken and resources required to recover and resume ICT systems and services in a timely and coordinated fashion after a disruptive disaster, associated recovery strategies, ICT continuity policies, a risk treatment plan and trained and exercised personnel.
Business Continuity Management Capability Assessment and Benchmarking
This service component is typically needed either by organizations that have done some business continuity planning but the management is not sure that the planning was effective, which is typical of most planning initiatives conducted internally, with the aim of improvements or initiation of a fresh business continuity planning project or by organizations that have a maturing business continuity programme that wish to have their capability audited for the purpose of benchmarking against their peers, compliance or best practice.
We will conduct an assessment and give you a professional opinion and recommendations on how to improve the programme or initiate a fresh planning project.
This service is aimed at addressing the following potential concerns of the CEO, the board or the executive who is tasked with the Business Continuity Programme.
- Effectiveness of the existing Business Continuity Capability.
- Whether the existing business continuity plan covers business functions or only ICT as is typically the case.
- Effectiveness of existing ICT Disaster recovery capability.
- The need to benchmark the existing Business Continuity Programme against recognized international standards and best practice.
Business Continuity Planning Project Management
This service component provides a formal project management service to ensure that the business continuity planning project is carried out effectively, in particular that it is completed on schedule, budget and scope.
Our project management methodology is based on best practices of the Project Management Institute (PMI), (www.pmi.org). The service component is sold and packaged together with the business continuity management planning project.
Business Continuity Software Implementation Strategy
Under this service component we develop your new business continuity management (BCM) system or migrate your current manual BCM system using specialist BCM software. The leading BCM software we implement is an enterprise-wide business continuity planning, disaster recovery planning, incident response, end-to-end web-based system. It features everything you’d expect from a globally leading and mature BCM software product.
It is in use across the world, including Kenya and across all business sectors.
This service is needed by organizations that have completed the initial business continuity planning project and wish to implement the business continuity management recovery strategies formulated in the course of the planning project.
Typical projects that arise out of the planning project include projects to implement or enhance:
- Alternate or backup data center
- Alternate workspace or office
- Electronic Document imaging and/or management for disaster recovery of paper-based documents and records
- Manual procedure documentation
- Supplier Service Level Agreements
- Supply Chain Awareness
Typically, these projects demand a lot more resources in terms of cost, project management skills and internal staff time than the initial planning project. Further, they can take more than one year to complete thus they distract and take staff and managers away from their core business activities. Worse, until these projects are completed, and completed successfully, the business continuity capability will not be effective and all the resources invested in the planning project would have been wasted. Under this service, we provide professional project management to alleviate these pains.
Business Continuity Plan Implementation Programme Management
This service is needed by organizations that have completed the initial business continuity planning project and wish to implement the business continuity management recovery strategies formulated in the course of the planning project. Typical projects that arise out of the planning project include projects to implement or enhance:
- Alternate or backup data center
- Alternate workspace or office
- Electronic Document imaging and/or management for disaster recovery of paper-based documents and records
- Manual procedure documentation
- Supplier Service Level Agreements
- Supply Chain Awareness
Typically, these projects demand a lot more resources in terms of cost, programme management skills and management’s time than the initial planning project. Further, they can take more than one year to complete thus they distract and take managers away from their core business activities. In addition, the Programme manager should have a good understanding and experience on business continuity planning and how all each of projects will contribute to the organization’s business continuity capability. It is a challenge to find a senior manager who has the time and necessary business continuity planning knowledge and skills.
This service addresses this challenge by offering an outsourced Programme manager.
Backup Data center Implementation Professional Service
This service is needed either by organizations that have completed the initial business continuity planning project and wish to enhance or implement a backup ICT data center or those that have a need to implement a new backup datacenter.
This service comprises:
- Assessment of primary data center ICT Infrastructure
- Conceptual design
- Advise on appropriate technologies
- Technical specification of ICT and environmental components
- Supplier selection
- Commissioning
- Development of recovery processes and procedures
- Update or development of the ICT Continuity Plan as appropriate
Business Continuity Management Programme Maintenance Services
Plan Review and Update
This service component is geared at ensuring that at regular, scheduled intervals, plans are reviewed and updated to reflect the reality on the ground and ensure their effectiveness.
Plan review and update must be an ongoing process whereby plans are regularly reviewed and updated otherwise they would soon be invalidated by the very inevitable dynamic nature of any organization. With every passing day, an organization’s products or services, people, processes, technologies will change or new ones introduced.
Plan Exercising and Testing
Under this service component, we plan and facilitate regular scenario simulations to ensure business continuity plans remain valid and effective. Recovery teams are taken through regular scenariobased plan exercises that validate that the plans can be used to resume business functions in the event of an actual disaster. The ICT backup infrastructure and facilities are built in to the scenarios.
On completion of the business continuity scenario simulation, your company receives a management report together with a summary of observations and recommendations for plan update.
BCM Programme Audit
Under this service, we conduct a BCM Programme audit to ensure understanding of the true status of the programme. On completion of the audit, the organization receives a summary report of observations and recommendations for business continuity plan and entire BCM Programme update.
Only then can the CEO, Board or executive responsible for the programme, be confident that the programme is effective.
Training Services
Recovery Team Training
This training is geared towards ensuring that the designated recovery Team Leaders and alternate team leaders acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively lead their teams through execution of their respective business unit plans. This training is conducted after the plans are developed.
Staff Awareness
These awareness sessions are geared towards ensuring that staff will be prepared and have the correct mind set to play their role during exercises and more importantly during recovery.
While training must be provided to staff with specific plan and Programme roles and responsibilities, staff, who will form the bulk of the foot soldiers during recovery activity must receive BCM awareness commensurate with their role in the plan. Managers who have not had any exposure to business continuity planning would also attend the Awareness sessions.
Standard Business Continuity Management Course
This is a free standing Business Continuity Management course that runs over 5 days. It covers all components of business continuity planning. The entire life cycle of business continuity, is explored using lectures, case studies, classroom exercises and appropriate audio and visual aids. The course is built on leading BCM standards and good-practice.
This course is targeted at aspiring BCM planners or persons tasked with managing the development of their organization’s BCM Programme or ICT disaster recovery planning.
A variant of this course may also be customized for clients who have specific needs, time constraints or require only some modules.
Our Delivery Capability
Experience
Our experience includes business continuity planning, training and implementation for leading organizations in Kenya.
Our principal consultant has been the consulting team leader and project manager for more than 95% of the business continuity planning projects carried in Kenya for clients that cut across sectors, including Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing and the Stock Exchange.
Uniquely, we have extensive experience in interpreting the Central Bank of Kenya Business Continuity Management Guidelines issued to banks and ensuring that those banks that we consult for meet their BCM compliance requirements.
Business Continuity Management Standards
Our BCM practice, including knowledge, methodologies, and consultant certifications is built on a solid foundation of internationally accepted “Good Practice Guidelines” as specified in the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). We continue to upgrade our practice to conform to new standards such as the ISO 22301 Standard on Business Continuity Management.
This ensures that the BCM programme we deliver is internationally benchmarked.
Professional Recognition
Our consultants have demonstrated to the Business Continuity Institute (www.thebci.org), the global professional body for Business Continuity practitioners that they possess the requisite training, knowledge and relevant experience to be certified as business continuity planners. Our principal consultant carries the designation MBCI of the Business Continuity Institute, a senior level of certification.
Methodology
Our BCM planning, and implementation methodology is based on structured and phased approach as per good practices. The methodology lifecycle is illustrated below:
Our Market
Business Continuity Management (BCM), as a strategic management discipline, is a process of anticipating major incidents that may disrupt critical business functions and activities of an organization, and ensuring a response to any such incident is planned and rehearsed.
An effective Business Continuity Management Programme will enable an organization to assure ability to:
- Resume business operations in timely fashion
- Maintain customer services
- Secure image, reputation or brand
- Meet legal, regulatory or contractual obligations
- Protect the organization’s assets
In East Africa, the early adopters of Business Continuity Management are to be found in financial and insurance services sectors just as in the developed world where adoption of Business Continuity Management is currently around 70%. While the bulk of the organizations we have consulted for are in these sectors, it is expected that other sectors will adopt BCM as it is implicit good Corporate Governance and demonstrates best practice in business management.
Target Organizations
Clearly, all medium to large organizations, both in private and public sectors require a business continuity capability. Any organization that is in financial services, supply of essential services or products, is in a very competitive market, values customer services, is a public agency that collects revenue or provides essential public services should develop a business continuity capability