EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
LEONA MENTZ , REGIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER : ASIA , MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA , BT
With remote working increasingly becoming a more accepted norm , organisations must ensure that they are cognisant of the kind of access available to home-based employees .
Business Continuity is not just about the nuts and bolts of keeping operations going in the event of a crisis . It requires a careful understanding of the appropriate people , processes , technology , information and supplies in delivering essential activities . Furthermore , the surge in a distributed work environment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has seen connectivity becoming more important than ever . With more organisations becoming reliant on cloud-based solutions , access provides the veritable glue that holds operations together . Of course , there are other considerations to improve existing Business Continuity policies such as the physical environment of home workers ( for example , do they have privacy for video conferences ) and what will happen during times of unreliable power supply ? During these uncertain times , having the right capabilities in place before a disruptive event does require some predictive planning . This means that even existing policies that would have been considered sufficient pre-pandemic need to be reviewed and , where applicable , enhanced .
At the very least , this process of improvement must involve assessing the business ’ current resilience and recovery capabilities against recognised industry best practice and relevant standards . Part of this should entail undertaking a Business Impact Analysis ( BIA ) to better understand the business demands in relation to Recovery Time Objectives ( RTO ) and Recovery Point Objectives ( RPO ). This process will also provide keen insights into the Business Continuity Risk Assessment .
In today ’ s environment , increased bandwidth and remote working capabilities have become key elements of a Business Continuity policy . These are driven by a foundation built on high-speed connectivity . With remote working increasingly becoming a more accepted norm , organisations must ensure that they are cognisant of the kind of access available to home-based employees .
This is integral to maintaining business operation at a time where people are working from any number of different geographic locations . With the focus turning to the connectivity aspect of Business Continuity , organisations must be aware of the resultant strain placed on networks and infrastructure . Along with this , a shift towards a more secure way of approaching Business Continuity is required . The home routers and devices of workers do not provide the same level of protection as what happens inside the relative safety of the corporate network .
The organisation cannot risk opening itself to any new cybersecurity vulnerabilities in this challenging environment . Employees must understand the risks when working from home including how better to secure their personal routers , networks , and devices especially when accessing sensitive systems and data on cloud-based business networks .
As organisations focus on becoming more resilient and agile to the uncertainties of the market today , Business Continuity planning becomes critical . In fact , governance and regulatory requirements , compliance against global best practice standards , supply chain concerns and the potential impact on revenue , brand and reputation have all helped move Business Continuity higher on the boardroom agenda .
However , the biggest mistake any organisation can make is to assume that its existing plans and procedures are adequate to address all potential and new threats .
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