Survey Says: More Companies Planning for Business Continuity

May 22, 2007: According to new research from UK document management specialist Version One, 80 percent of UK businesses claim to have a full or at least reasonable business continuity plan in place – an increase of 20% on last year.

Version One carried out similar research in January 2006, however, it notes that some companies may be telling porkies, saying that this years findings highlight that organisations’ claims are not always substantiated by fact.

The company surveyed senior staff from 75 UK organisations to determine whether their businesses would survive a severe disaster, such as a bomb or a fire. Of those surveyed, 37 percent claimed that their organisations have a full business continuity plan in place (which translates to 80-100 percent business recovery within 12 months) while 43 percent claim to have a “reasonable” plan in place (60-79 percent business recovery within 12 months).

The remaining 20% have an unsatisfactory plan in place or are not aware of any business continuity plans, making their recovery following a disaster questionable.

The company says that while 80 percent of businesses have a full or reasonable plan in place is encouraging, it is sceptical whether the claims represent reality. It suspicions were raised after 32 percent of the 80 percent boasting readiness fail to explain what their organisation’s business continuity plans involve.

Of the remaining respondents, only nine (15 percent) confirm that their organisations have plans which cover all the key areas of on-site security, staff/office re-location, communications, IT-back-ups and secure document storage. Ensuring documents are securely stored in an electronic archive is an area which fewest organisations have considered - only 17% of companies with a plan have worked this into their business continuity strategy.

“It’s heartening that so many organisations are claiming to have business recovery plans in place should the worst happen,” says Tony Bray, Version One’s sales and marketing director. “However, it’s also clear that companies who claim to have reasonable plans are failing to consider all areas of the business when preparing for a disaster.”

“Companies may think they are prepared for a disaster when, in reality, there are big holes in their recovery plans. Backing-up IT systems is often the first business continuity consideration, whereas secure document storage is an area which businesses often fail to address. As few organisations could survive the total destruction of their business documents, it’s vital that electronic document storage technology is factored into every company’s disaster recovery plans. Failure to do so could mean failure of the business should the worst happen!”

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