Special Report: Business Continuity
Special Report: Business Continuity
March 2010
Welcome to the first Pearlfinders Special Report of 2010. This follows our quarterly reports last year on the technology plans of alcoholic beverage manufacturers, housing associations, Premier League football clubs and the UK's top independent schools.
The Chartered Management Institute recently published a report profiling the fact that only 47% of UK companies have a business continuity plan - a figure barely changed since 2002. Given more extreme weather conditions and global security issues, despite budgetary pressures from the recession, this figure is surprising.
Taking into account that individual companies will perform better than others, the sectors least prepared for disaster were 'Construction', 'Business Services', 'Education', 'Manufacturing & Production', and 'Transport & Logistics'.
We've chosen some high-profile UK businesses in these sectors, interviewing them about their business continuity plans, as well as the major related technology areas that apply to them. We've spoken to senior-level decision-makers at blue-chip and FTSE 100 businesses, including for example the Head of Technology Architecture at Wolseley plc and the Head of Infrastructure at Clifford Chance.
Our conversations touched on many areas - from provisioning when it comes to real-time data replication, to the plans in place to allow employee remote working in the event of bad weather. Some of the areas touched on include: -
· Cloud Computing - what will it take for decision-makers at enterprise-size organisations to feel comfortable running DR platforms in the cloud?
· Business Drivers - how can you ensure the solutions you're pitching are in tune with companies' wider corporate goals, from CSR to driving down costs?
· Prospecting - the solutions you're pitching should be being sold in the right way, at the right time, to the right people.
Every organisation we spoke with has a business continuity plan. Our recommendation is that you use the insights from our research to inform your sales prospecting towards the mid-sized businesses in these sectors, many of which will not have continuity plans.
Construction:
Business Services:
Manufacturing & Logistics:
Education: