why business continuity, why now?

I first became involved with business continuity through the development of BS 25999 Part 2. Whilst working for the British Standards Institution (BSI), I joined the team who were at the forefront of developing a new product to bring to the Management Systems marketplace, in the guise of business continuity. Based on the initial work done to publish BS 25999 Part 1 (Business Continuity Management, Code of Practice) it was evident that there was sufficient interest in this area to move towards offering a Specification for certification purposes and that would require the ability for BSI Management Systems to audit organisations to the set of requirements laid down within this second document.

I am a Committee Member of BCM/1 the British Standards Technical Committee for Business Continuity and regularly attend the meetings which are convened to develop and review BS 25999 (Parts 1 and 2) as well as the developing standards based on or around business continuity. I am a Specialist Member of the Business Continuity Institute (SBCI).

I set up Perpetual Solutions Limited when it became apparent that whilst there are many business continuity consultancies, there are very few in the position that I am to offer support and guidance specifically about how to work towards BS 25999 certification (and in time ISO 22301). With my first hand experience of what auditors look for during an assessment and how to go about preparing for a third party audit I believe that this is something that organisations require in order to face the challenges ahead.

This is a very exciting time for me personally and also business continuity in a more general sense. You only have to look at the BCI website (www.thebci.org) to see how fast business continuity is developing across the globe.

I look forward to working with you in the future to help you achieve your goal of sound business continuity management.