BS 25999: It’s all in the service

Denis Ives, LRQA Business Centre Manager discusses how the LRQA approach to delivering its assessment services will help businesses better meet the requirements of BS 25999-2.

The impending publication of BS 25999 part 2 expected in October together with the publication of the Chartered Management Institute’s 2007 Business Continuity Management survey earlier this year has helped push the profile of business continuity planning (BCP) up the corporate agenda and the message across the business community.

With the range of disruptions widely reported in the media over the last 12 months which has ranged from foot and mouth through to the more recent tube and postal strikes, it is little wonder that organisations are now tightening up on their BCP.  And we’ve found here that this has been translated into an increase of interest from companies wanting to find out more about formal certification of their business continuity management systems to BS 25999.

Embedding business continuity management into the working culture of an organisation will help to instil confidence with an organisation’s stakeholders that the business has proactive plans in place to cope with disruption. It is simply no longer an optional activity in many organisations.

Market drivers such as supply chain, regulatory and statutory pressure through corporate governance compliance and legislation such as the Civil Contingencies Act are all combining to prompt companies to look again at the arrangements they have in place and to formalise existing practices.

For example, larger organisations - typically within the manufacturing, telecommunications and food sectors – will be taking a keener interest in the business continuity plans and management systems of their suppliers. Should the worst happen, how will organisations in their supply chain ensure the minimal amount of disruption in the flow of products and services they supply?

Likewise, the Civil Contingencies Act introduced in November 2005 was brought in to improve the country’s ability to deal with the consequences of major incidents – the London terrorist bombings of 7/7, public health scares, adverse weather conditions such as the summer floods and so forth. The Act impacts on providers of critical services to local authorities, for example, the major utilities, emergency services, NHS and the banking sector, all critical elements of the national infrastructure.

Whether undertaken through necessity or choice, organisations really need to understand and grasp the benefits that can be gained by taking a proactive approach to BCM – and the risks involved if they choose to bury their heads in the sand.  

The prize on offer is the ability to add real value, to use as a competitive advantage in gaining new customers and so the potential of improving profit margins. To then base a business continuity management system on a recognised framework – such as BS 25999 – and seek independent verification of this will be further demonstration of a company’s confidence in its plans.

And while it is still early days, with the certification standard due to be published shortly and supporting accreditation unlikely to be granted by UKAS until early next year, we are already seeing increased interest from forward thinking companies looking at optional pre-assessment and certification to BS 25999.

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How we can help you

BS 25999 part one which formed the best practice guidelines became the fastest selling standard ever, a likely indication of the number of assessment organisations who will be offering services. It’s here however where a note of caution should be made.

Not all certification bodies are made the same. Firstly, organisations should take a careful look at the quality and expertise of the assessor. The nature and breadth of business continuity knowledge means it really isn’t in anyone’s interests to simply be pumping large numbers of assessors through fast track or remote learning courses. Being able to field appropriately trained assessors who have all undergone rigorous BCI–accredited training is a crucial element in our ability to provide a high quality service to organisations, that is, people who are able to add real value through meaningful assessments.

In addition, organisations looking at certification must ensure the body they’re talking to is actually participating in the UKAS pilot. Accredited certification is the only true benchmark when it comes to judging certification bodies.

LRQA confidently expects to be one of the first to gain accreditation to BS 25999 as has been the case for other management system standards. We believe this sets us apart from many of our competitors. We are currently unique in being the only organisation to have been recognised by UKAS as able to offer accredited certification in any industry sector for quality, environmental and health and safety management systems.

We launched our range of assessment and certification services to BS 25999 in September in advance of the publication of part 2 of the standard. While assessment will initially be against the draft standard, organisations who achieve certification before the formal publication will have this upgraded on publication of the final standard, subject to there being no significant changes from draft stage.

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