An introduction to Business Continuity

1
An introduction to Business Continuity

• Trevor Oakford Kingston Communications

2
Business Continuity..

• Is a holistic management process that identifies
  possible impacts that potentially threaten an
  organisation, no matter how mundane they first
  appear.
• Provides a framework for building resilience and
  the capability for an effective response.
• Safeguards the interests of an organisations key
  stakeholders, reputation, brand and value
  creating activities.

3
The importance of Business Continuity Management

• Results of a Safetynet study conducted
  immediately after the 1993 Bishopsgate bomb in
  London on businesses who did NOT have contingency
  plans in place
• Only 8 survived long term
• Of the remainder
• 40 failed within 18 months.
• 12 failed within five years.
• 40 never re-opened.

4
How risk averse are you?

• How long could your business continue to function
  at reduced capacity?
• How much can you afford to lose?
• Whats your minimum capacity?
• Would you know what to do?

5
Where to begin

• Analyse your business
• Assess the risks
• Develop your strategy
• Develop your plan
• Rehearse your plan

6
Analyse your business and assess the risks

• Where are you most vulnerable?
• What are the essentials for running your
  business?
• Staff / Customers / Suppliers / Systems and
  processes / partnerships / buildings / timescales
• Legislation / Civil Contingencies Act
• How likely is it to happen / are you prepared?
• What affect will it have on your business?

7
Develop your strategy and develop your plan

• Statement of purpose
• Structure of your Crisis Team
• Business Recovery, Work area Recovery, Technology
  Recovery
• PR
• Staff focus
• Consult with all the decision makers in your
  business
• Make it accessible to all employees
• Action
• Cost

8
Rehearse your plan

• Simulate an incident
• Train your teams
• Feedback issues
• Manage change

9
Covering the basics Telephony

• Many organisations still overlook the need to
  plan a successful strategy for loss of telephony
  services and for the maintenance of Telephony
  Business Continuity
• Estimated that 80 of all commercial
  transactions use the telephone
• 60 of companies that experience loss of normal
  telecoms for a period of 10 days ceased trading
  within a year Henley Management Institute

10
The basics product categories

• Telephony services
• Flexible and highly resilient voice services able
  to react quickly
• Part of business as usual or bespoke solutions
  for off site
• Flexible working / mobility
• Allow continued working from home, mobile or
  alternative office
• Hosting and Storage services
• Hosting management, backup of mission critical
  customer applications, data and IT services
• Recovery
• Voice and data alternative workplace recovery
  where main company premises are not available

11
Typical examples of Business Continuity scenarios
12
Low severity

• Scenario
• Difficult for staff to get into work, many forced
  to work
• from home.
• Solutions
• Switch to BlackBerry / Mobile solutions
• Invoke flexible DDI re-routing
• Hosted exchange \ web access

13
Medium severity

• Scenario
• A security alert forces evacuation from the main
• business premise, IT intact, personnel outside.
• Solutions
• Intelligent numbering or Network IVR Call Control
  to re-route calls to alternative destinations
• Company wide SMS alerting
• BlackBerry / web access

14
High severity

• Scenario
• Major flood / fire / gas leak forces complete
  closure
• All IT/Telecoms unavailable, employees need to
• be relocated, normal service time frame unknown.
• Solutions
• Resilient IP Telephony networks / Nortel
  Communication Server 1000 System Redundancy
  configuration
• Hosted Exchange
• IVR call control / off site PBX / Call Centre
  Solution

15
Business Continuity Solutions

• Product Portfolio

16
Business Continuity Product portfolio
Hosting and Storage Services HOSTING Website
Hosting Server Hosting Database Hosting Storage
Hosting Server Co-Lo Managed Backup SECURITY Anti
-virus and Anti-Spam Firewalls and Detection KC
SafeStart
Telephony Services VOICE Intelligent
Numbers SelfCare Centrex Analogue / ISDN Network
IVR KC Business Continuity Service ADVANCED
VOICE IP Centrex IP Telephony / Nortels
Converged Office Solution IVR
Flexible Working and Mobility MOBILITY Mobile Bla
ckberry Hosted Exchange MESSAGING UM / IM (via
IP) Conferencing Email Hosted Exchange Voicemail B
usiness Messaging