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Continuity Planning

"Accountability can be delegated, but Responsibility can not." - Anon

Providing an organization with continuity can seem like a daunting task and often is. Continuity is a wide subject area and can mean different things to different audiences. Before even beginning, one of the most important activities is to determine who is responsible. Thankfully there is legislation that helps to clarify this. Private sector firms that operate or interact with US organizations may be subject to The Sarbanes Oxley act (SOX), Canadian public sector organizations and Crown Corporations are governed by Treasury Boards Operational Security Standard (TBOSS). Private enterprises that interact with Canadian Government institutions may be asked to comply with TBOSS.

Both of these statutes clearly point out that responsibility for an organization's continuity resides at the highest executive levels. Under SOX, the CEO is personally responsible and will be held accountable, under TBOSS this responsibility rests at the Deputy Minister or equivalent level.

Accountability can be delegated, but Responsibility can not.

The day to day operation and management of the continuity program can and should be delegated from the executive levels to the Managerial levels, but the executive must always remember that responsibility will always be theirs. The involvement of the executive is crucial to the programs success. It also ensures that the continuity processes are given the proper consideration during any strategic planning.

Integrated supply chains and outsourced service delivery agreements means that your operations are at risk of being disrupted by events that are beyond your control and awareness. Continuity planning involves identifying risks and controls to mitigate them in a systematic and managed fashion. Continuity Planning may be known by many different names: Business Continuity, Disaster Response, Business Resumption, IT Continuity and Resiliency are some of the more common terms.
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Last Update : Monday, 10-Aug-2009 19:57:06 MST