BSI standard to speed up recovery

A new British Standard in business continuity will help IT departments save money and recover core systems faster in the event of a disaster, says the Business Continuity Institute.

Final publication of British Standard 25999 (BS25999) is expected in early December and will establish guidelines for the development, testing and analysis of business continuity plans.

The standard will drive cost savings in IT departments, says Chris Green, vice chairman of the Business Continuity Institute and HBOS’s business continuity and crisis manager.

‘If you deliver 50 things to your customer base or your organisation, this standard will help IT leaders focus on what is critical to the life or death of the business,’ said Green.

‘I may have asked you to give me 50 things for recovery in a day, whereas the standard will help you realise that you only need seven on day one, 20 the next week and so on,’ he said.

Green says that the standard aims to promote resilience in UK firms by embedding easily achievable processes into business continuity practices.

‘Business continuity affects all businesses. Police forces, for example, are businesses just like any other industry,’ said Green.

‘At CIO level this will drive a deeper understanding of business needs and how IT supports the business.’

Keith Tilley, UK managing director of vendor SunGard Availability Services, says firms that adhere to the standard and receive the quality kitemark will benefit in terms of insurance.

‘If you can demonstrate that you have a good continuity plan there is no reason why you should not be talking to your insurance company about reducing premiums,’ he said.

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