BS 25999 Business Continuity Management Systems

BS25999 is a rapidly emerging standard the expected take-up of certification within the supply chain will mean that companies will need to implement Business Continuity plans much quicker than expected or else face losing business to their competitors.

The business world has become increasingly aware of the need for business continuity following a number of natural disasters and the ever present threat of terrorism

Recent flooding incidents have focused minds that the supply chain needs to have disaster planning and plans in place to prevent long term disruption to supply of goods and services.

BS25999 provides the framework to undertake risk assessment and implement contingency plans to reduce or eliminate mass disruption to business. Whether the disaster be caused by fire flood or even terrorism.

Who is it relevant to?

BS 25999 is suitable for any organisation, from any sector whether large or small. It is particularly relevant for organisations that operate in high risk environments such as finance, telecommunications, transport and the public sector.

BS 25999 is published in two parts:

• Part 1, the Code of Practice, provides BCM best practice recommendations. This is a guidance document only.
• Part 2, the Specification, provides the requirements for a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) based on BCM best practice. This is the part of the standard that you can be assessed against.

Assessing, planning and testing your contingency plans will reduce the impact of any potential disruption to working practices and service/product delivery. And should the worst happen, a good Business Continuity Management System will aid effective and prompt recovery afterwards, so helping protect market share, reputation and brand. An effective Business Continuity Management System will provide:

·        increased resilience when faced with organisational threat