The loss of, or serious disruption to, any critical function can have a significant impact on an organisation, in some cases threatening its very survival.

Business Continuity isn't just about recovering from disasters, and it isn't just about IT, although these are important elements. It is about protecting all critical parts of the business. The Business Continuity Plan must address all your principal assets, including people, buildings, technology and information, whilst at the same time managing regulatory and client expectations.

Business Continuity Management is concerned with assessing and addressing risks to the business. It involves the implementation of risk management strategies to avoid disasters or crises occurring in the first place, and recovery strategies to ensure that, if the worst happens, an organisation is capable of an effective response and recovery.

The overriding objective is to ensure that an organisation can provide an acceptable level of service to all stakeholders, including customers and other business partners, regardless of any disruptive events or incidents that might occur. Achieving this at reasonable cost and within reasonable timescales are key requirements.