Resilience instead of stagnation: BCM and emergency management as key factors
Questions such as "Is my company resilient?" and "Can we still operate during a crisis or disaster?" are becoming increasingly important. Additional legal and regulatory requirements, such as NIS2 and DORA, make BCM indispensable. Standards such as ISO 22301 and BSI 200-4 provide guidance on implementing a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).
In IT in particular, as a unit that mostly supports business processes, the strategic approaches of business continuity management (BCM) and the operational implementation of emergency management are essential.
IT ensures that data is protected, infrastructure and IT systems are available, and the company remains operational, regardless of whether a cyberattack, technical malfunction, or natural disaster threatens the company. IT secures the company's ability to do business.
This raises the question of what the typical triggers are that need to be protected against. In addition to strategic risks and acute emergencies, IT is concerned with the availability of systems, data, and services that can be negatively affected by incidents such as:
- System and hardware failures, including defective critical components
- Software and application errors, including faulty updates and patches
- Network and communication disruptions, including Internet and intranet outages
- Dependence on service providers, including failure of cloud services
- Cyberattacks and security incidents, including DDoS attacks and data leaks
Such occurrences are referred to as incidents, which can be resolved relatively quickly provided that a procedure is in place.
But when does an incident become a crisis, and when does a crisis become a catastrophe?
While an incident, which is usually controllable, relates to a single affected area (process or system), a crisis affects several business areas or critical processes and requires separate management involvement. The measures to be taken go beyond the routine activities of normal IT operations and require a coordinated, concerted response, including the establishment of a crisis team and defined escalation paths.
If there are long-term or complete interruptions to business operations or critical infrastructures that have existential consequences, this is referred to as a disaster. In addition to dedicated management measures, external support, e.g., from authorities, IT service providers, and fire departments, is essential.
Business-critical incidents must be proactively prevented. Appropriate preventive measures can be taken regardless of company size, industry, or business purpose. The following strategic and operational questions are essential in this context:
Strategic:
- What are the company's BCM objectives? Is the focus on ensuring business continuity, compliance with legal requirements, and protecting lives?
- How is my company positioned in terms of business continuity?
- What are the critical business processes and resources that need to be protected?
- What risks could seriously affect business operations and, in the worst case, interrupt them?
- Are there BCM strategies for mitigating or avoiding risks?
Determining the level of BCM maturity and sustainably embedding BCM, both organizationally and procedurally, are important first steps. Furthermore, a business impact analysis (BIA) is an effective means of assessing the risks to business processes.
Operational:
- How long can a critical business process be down for?
- Are there restart and emergency plans, and how are they designed?
- What resources are absolutely necessary for a restart?
- Have responsibilities been assigned and have the relevant personnel been trained accordingly?
- Are there clear communication and escalation channels in the event of an incident?
- Who makes the decisions in an emergency? How is a restart controlled and prioritized?
The creation of an IT security concept, including the evaluation of maximum downtime and recovery times for business processes, is just as helpful as defined recovery and emergency plans. (Nothing is worse than headless chicken mode.)
Answers to these questions are a first step toward establishing a comprehensive business continuity management system (BCMS) that enables a rapid response in the event of an incident, minimizes the extent of the damage, and restores business continuity.
A sustainable BCMS integrated into the company must be continuously reviewed. Regular training of employees and, above all, testing and updating of recovery and emergency plans ensure this.
At Complion, we support you with our expertise in the design, establishment, and continuous assurance of a BCMS. Our many years of practical experience in this area have helped numerous customers to successfully establish BCMS concepts in their companies. Our regular incident response training courses consolidate procedures in simulated scenarios tailored to your company and help to optimize existing processes, procedures, and recovery and emergency plans.
If, despite all the preventive measures taken, a business-critical incident occurs, we support you in avoiding falling into "headless chicken mode." Our practical experience in IT recovery after a cyberattack, IT remediation projects based on business relevance, and our close cooperation with authorities and partners in the field of cybersecurity make US the right partner for you when it comes to BCMS in PRACTICE. Because business downtime is not an option.
Feel free to contact us: mail@complion.de
Coming SOON: Look forward to practical experience reports on the following topics:
- How crisis-proof is your company really? Find out with our BCMS maturity analysis!Crises often hit companies unexpectedly – the question is: how well prepared are you?
Our maturity analysis shows you where your business continuity management stands and what steps you can take to strengthen your resilience. Find out now how resilient your organization really is. Arrange your free BCM assessment! - Sustainable resilience: How to build a BCMS that can withstand crises!A functioning BCMS is not a project – it is an attitude. We support you in setting up a sustainable business continuity management system that adapts flexibly to new risks and is built to last. Let's design your sustainable BCMS together!
- Practice for crises, gain security! – Experience how your team sticks together in incident response training.In a crisis, every minute counts – and every team member. Our incident response training simulates real crisis situations so that you can test processes, refine roles, and react confidently when it matters. Book your individual crisis training session now!
- When IT suddenly comes to a standstill: Real experiences, real lessons learned – so you're prepared.A cyberattack can hit any company – how you respond is crucial. In our experience report, we show you which mistakes can be avoided and which measures make the difference. Learn from real crisis situations before it's too late. Read our experience report now with practical lessons learned.