Managing Threats in a Dangerous World, published in association with Aon, the British Standards Institution (BSI), the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office, examines how prepared organisations were for unexpected and damaging disruptions to their day-to-day operations over the past year.
These include cyber threats, with 12% of companies losing confidential information and 9% suffering a significant attempt to hack into their network in the past year; heavy snow, which caused disruption to 92% of companies; the volcanic ash cloud, which impacted on 53%; and the influenza epidemic, which also caused problems for 53%. The findings, released to coincide with Business Continuity Awareness Week, also show that the recent media focus on high-profile business continuity failures has had some impact on the UK's business planning, with 15% of managers feeling that last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill had strengthened the case for their organisation to develop robust business continuity management plans; and 14% believing Wikileaks had caused their organisation to revisit their security arrangements.
Although 82% reported that their senior management view business continuity management as 'important' or 'very important', just 58% say they have plans in place to cater for unexpected disruptions. A further 16% didn't know whether or not their company has set crisis plans they should be following. This is of particular concern in the private sector, where fewer than half of businesses (49%) are prepared for threats to their day-to-day running. Despite this, the report identifies clear advantages for organisations that do have plans in place to deal with crises. Of those who had to activate plans, 84% agreed it reduced disruption and 77% stated that any cost in developing plans is offset by the business benefits they bring.
Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, said: "Today's report shows that UK organisations must be better at putting plans in place to deal with disruptions to their day-to-day business. Every time an unexpected event interrupts or halts the operations of a business, charity or public sector body in this country, UK plc suffers - yet with good management, this could be avoided.
"With so many organisations now relying on online networks and systems to function, cyber security breaches have joined extreme weather, contagious illness and transport disruptions as one of the top risks to businesses performance. Managers need to ensure that they have proactive plans in place to deal with the potential threats that could impact their business. Anticipating and planning for threats will help drastically reduce the negative impacts on your organisation, should they occur, as well as helping you recover faster from any ill effects."
Separate research from telecoms provider Citrix Online found that, compared to a year ago, small businesses feel more confident in dealing with such major disruptions to their business. The online survey last month of 2,000 employees in 500 small businesses in the UK found 56% reported that staff were late into work or did not make it in at all during the December snow, while 24% had to cancel or postpone meetings.
Compared with a similar survey of adults at the start of 2010, the situation is improving. The latest analysis shows 8% couldn't get to work and couldn't work from home, compared to 12% at the start of the year; similarly, 8% had to postpone or cancel business meetings (compared to 11% last year). However, more than a quarter (26%) said more staff worked from home during the period of disruption and 12% held more meetings online. Although nearly three-fifths (58%) of companies still lack any continuity plan to respond to natural and human disruptions affecting their business, 29% claimed to be 'very prepared' to cope with such problems. In addition, 25% felt that they were 'much better' or 'a little better prepared' to deal with snow and wintry weather than in January 2010.
Andrew Millard, director of marketing and ecommerce at software tool creator Citrix Online, said: "The good news is that the trend towards more flexible working is heading in the right direction. However, many small businesses have a long way to go before they have the right tools and processes in place to ensure effective business continuity in the face of such disruptions."
