BCI London Forum's Strategy

Introduction

The following work details the strategy to increase membership and representation of the Business Continuity Institute in the London Forum area (For the purposes of the BCI LF, the London area has been defined as that which falls within the M25 ring road).    It outlines a framework to help ensure that the BCI LF can continue to run workshops and other networking events that are well attended, add value to the business continuity debate whilst remaining cost effective and available to all. 

This strategy has been written following a review of the BCI LF which was carried out on behalf of the full committee between October 2007 and March 2008.  The resulting strategy covers the period April 2008 to March 2013 and will be reviewed annually.

As part of the strategy development the BCI LF ran a workshop with BCI members in December 2007.  The purpose of this was to ensure that all of those with an interest in the BCI LF would have the opportunity to input into the ongoing development of the forum.  The findings from the workshop have been integrated into the strategy document, with the full list of responses attached as an annex. 

BCI LF Vision

To become the recognised leading authority on business continuity related issues within the London area by anticipating future business continuity trends and adapting its workshops and other networking events accordingly, and:

To run events that challenge current thinking, are relevant, informative and accessible to all of those with an interest in business continuity management.

 

Aims

• To increase knowledge and awareness of business continuity management
• To increase BCI membership by developing relationships at a ‘grass roots’ level
• To increase BCI LF Supporters
• To run 3 well attended, high quality content, low cost events per year
• To develop partnerships with organisations with similar objectives

 

Outline and challenges

Factors Impacting BCM over the next 5 years

Over the lifetime of this strategy there may be a number of factors which could significantly impact how business continuity is perceived and practiced.  These include developments arising from legislation such as the CCA, good practice guidelines from the FSA, the use of standards such as BS25999 and ISO.  All of this could lead to a clearer framework for the auditing and benchmarking of business continuity plans. 

Developments within the areas of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the testing and the accreditation of professional standards could lead to the establishment of BCM as a true profession thereby raising the overall knowledge and standard of practitioners.  This may be coupled with a closer alignment between BCM and Risk Management.

Other major issues include the ongoing threat of pandemic flu, the 2012 Olympics and further reliance on supply chain continuity as a result of the growth in outsourcing.

Within the financial sector, instability in world markets may present an uncertain backdrop for many business continuity managers.  Increased insurance payouts as a result of climate related severe

whether events and other disasters could also be a factor.

 

Dependency upon IT systems may increase further as remote and flexible working practices such as homeworking continue to grow in popularity.

The BCI LF

The BCI LF held its inaugural committee meeting on the 9th December 2002, and its first seminar was on the 26th March 2003.  It is made up of 12 voluntary committee members who oversee the general running and development of the Forum.  It has traditionally run 3 seminar/workshop style events each year and supported the BCI at the Business Continuity Expo. 

The BCI LF operates, on a formal basis and makes a nominal charge to delegates attending its workshops.  This is done in order to cover the costs of running events in the Capital.  It has a number of key strengths, these include:

• Flexibility and adaptability
• Knowledge of the local area
• Experienced practitioners
• Knowledge of London issues

 

Specific Issues for the BCI LF

Business continuity planning within the established larger corporations in London is at a mature stage as a result of ‘living through’ a number of high profile incidents over past years.  This, coupled with the fact that many of these enterprises have a global profile means that here is a high level of awareness of the risks that could lead to business disruption.  As a result of this many of these organisations have carried out extensive business continuity planning and often have dedicated business continuity managers in place. 

In contrast there are a number of small, medium sized enterprises (SME’s) where knowledge of business continuity may not be so advanced, and where resources may be limited.  In this case business continuity planning may not take place at all, or would be carried out by an owner/manager or someone fulfilling a number of other functions.  This means that the BCI LF has two specific challenges, these are:

• Widening the audience to include more of the SME’s and partner organisations in the City with a view to extending knowledge and membership.
• Developing new or different themes and challenging existing thinking with a view to adding value to the current level of knowledge and debate.

In order to achieve this, there is a need to organise workshop/seminar style events that are of the appropriate level in terms of content and quality, and yet are accessible to all in terms of cost.  This has to be achieved against a backdrop of increasing time and work pressures upon those volunteers who work to ensure that the BCI LF can continue to function.

The Business Continuity Institute

The BCI has been steadily growing its membership on a worldwide basis over the last few years.  It has a three year strategy that is reviewed on an annual basis each December.  It is now globally recognised as a leading authority on business continuity related issues and is very well respected.  It has a continuing policy of growing membership, developing professional business continuity standards and widely promoting the business continuity ethos.  The BCI LF as part of the BCI shares these common objectives.         

 

BCI LF Strategy

Partnership Working

Partnership working represents the best opportunity to extend membership, share workloads, increase the range of topics and speakers, and potentially access a wider range of premises in which to hold events. 

There are a number of organisations where the aims and objectives are similar allowing easy synergy to be achieved.  These include London First and the London Branch of the Emergency Planning Society.  In the first instance the focus will be upon developing relationships with these key organisations with the aim of running annual joint events. 

Others with whom the BCILF will then look to develop partnerships include the London Chamber of Commerce, Local Resilience Forums and the following organisations:

• London Local Authority Planning Group (LLAEPG)
• Local Resilience Forums (LRF’s)
• The Corporation of London
• Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
• FSA
• BSI
• Institute of Directors (IOD)
• City of London Police
• Metropolitan Police
• Mayors Office

As the partnership working approach develops requests should be made by the Chair of the BCI LF regarding the organising and hosting of further joint events. 

Refreshing the BCI LF Committee

The committee should constantly seek to add to and refresh its membership by:

• Bringing in additional members from partner organisations.
• Bringing in specialists to provide advice on various projects when it is appropriate to do so.
• Seeking to bring in new members on an annual basis to ensure that the group is constantly being refreshed.

 

The BCI & BCI LF working together

The BCILF is a part of the BCI and the objectives of both are to grow membership, raise awareness, develop standards and share best practice.  The BCI LF is in an ideal position to promote business continuity and recruit new members at a ‘grass roots’ level for the benefit of all.     

London, like many major cities, will enjoy events that are organised and run by the BCI and this should be encouraged and supported.  In general these would have a national or global focus.  In order to compliment this, the BCI LF will continue to run seminars and workshops which either have a London focus, or which develops national and global trends and applies these to the local environment. 

As BCI LF events present an additional opportunity to help grow and develop BCI membership, all efforts should be taken by all concerned to ensure that there is no clash of dates between BCI & BCI LF events.  A representative from the BCI Board or Secretariat should be invited to attend any meetings where the annual timetable for BCI LF events is being agreed.  This will help to ensure that calendars can be synchronised with dates that are agreed by all.     

The following timetable for organising BCI LF events should be followed:

• Dates for the following year’s workshops in June, September and December to be agreed at a meeting to take place in the November of the previous year
• Dates should be forwarded to the BCI, who should confirm that these do not clash with any planned London events and have been entered in their annual calendar.
• The topic for the first BCI LF workshop of the year should be agreed no later than 12 weeks before it is scheduled to take place.
• At each workshop, requests will be invited from members for future event topics with the most popular request being addressed at the following BCI LF workshop.
• To facilitate this a list of topics may be presented by the Chair

The BCI LF will reserve the right to change the subject of any workshop if it is deemed to be relevant and appropriate to do so. 

At any time the BCI may make a request for a topic to be considered at one of the BCI LF workshops.  In this instance the final decision as to whether to support this should lie with the BCI LF Committee.  In the event that the request by the BCI is turned down, the BCI LF should detail its reasons for rejecting this.  Reasons for rejection should include prior commitment of speakers etc.

 

BCI LF Financial Management 

 BCI LF finances will be managed by BCI-HQ, as a separate entity within their accounting system. The BCI-LF will retain a bank account and retain responsibility for ensuring good financial management.  Invoicing for events and the collection of incomes will be managed by the BCI.  Expenditure will be authorised by the BCI-LF and notification of expenditure sent to them so that the accounting system can be updated.  The BCI should provide statements prior to any BCI LF meetings and the BCI LF should retain the control over the fee that it charges for events, and the use of any surplus funds that may be available.  At all times the BCI LF will book venues, prepare materials and identify speakers.

Web site 

The BCI LF website should adopt a similar look and feel to the main BCI site with links set up as appropriate.  This will help to ensure that there is a consistent feel across the organisation.  Specifically links should be set up to enable the BCI to provide administrative support for the BCI LF in the collection of monies etc. from events.  Content management and control will remain with BCI LF.

Timetable for Strategy

• This strategy is due to commence from April 2008
• Any issues with regard to any transferring of accounts to the BCI should take place during 2008
• The BCI LF committee should be reviewed annually at the AGM with new members encouraged to participate, where possible
• The first annual combined event organised and run by the BCI LF, London First and the London Branch of the Emergency Planning Society should take place in early 2009.

The following annual timetable could be adopted from 2010/11:

• Supporting of the BCI at the BC Expo
• One BCI LF joint event with the EPS/London First
• One BCI LF joint event with another partner agency
• One solo BCI LF event 

Conclusion

This document has laid out the strategy to increase membership and representation of the BCI LF.  It has outlined a framework to help ensure that it can continue to run workshops and other networking events that are informative and well attended whilst remaining cost effective and available to all.  Partnership working lies at the heart of the strategy, and is offered as an essential factor that will ultimately determine its success or failure.   

Annex 1: Summary of Strategy 

The BCI LF has a number of key strengths, these include:

• Flexibility and adaptability
• Knowledge of the local area
• Experienced practitioners
• Knowledge of London issues

The BCI LF is ideally placed to promote business continuity and recruit new members at a ‘grass roots’ level for the benefit of all.     

The BCI LF has two specific challenges, these are:

• Widening the audience to include more of the SME’s and partner organisations in the City with a view to extending knowledge and membership.
• Developing new or different themes, challenging existing thinking with a view to adding value to current level of knowledge and debate.

The Business Continuity Institute has a continuing policy of:

• Growing membership 
  Developing professional business continuity standards and; 
  Promoting the business continuity ethos.  
  The BCI LF as part of the BCI shares these common objectives.         

Partnership working represents the best opportunity to:

• Extend membership
• Share workloads
• Increase the range of topics and speakers, and; 
• Potentially access a wider range of premises in which to hold events. 

There are a number of organisations where the aims and objectives are similar allowing easy synergy to be achieved these include:

• London First
• The London Branch of the Emergency Planning Society 

A focus will be upon developing relationships with these key organisations with the aim of running an annual joint event. 

• BCI LF finances are to be managed as a sub account of the BCI.  
• BCI LF website is to be managed and linked through the main BCI site. 

Timetable for Strategy

• This strategy is due to commence from April 2008
• Transfer of accounts and the web site to the BCI should take place during 2008
• The BCI LF committee should be refreshed annually at the AGM commencing December 2008
• The first annual combined event organised and run by the BCI LF, London First and the London Branch of the Emergency Planning Society should take place in early 2009.
• Support from other organisations should be gained during 2009/10

The following annual timetable could be adopted from 2010/11:

• Supporting of the BCI at the BC Expo
• Tne BCI LF joint event with the EPS/London First
• One BCI LF joint event with another partner agency
• One solo BCI LF event 

 

Annex 2: Feedback from BCI LF Workshop 12th December 2007

Group Workshop

Questions

• How is BCM likely to develop over the next 3 to 5 years?
• Where are the opportunities for growing knowledge and awareness?
•  How will current thinking be challenged?
• Where would this challenge come from?

Responses

Development

• Business based skill, CCA, FSA, BS25999, ISO, integrating public/private sector, diversity of backgrounds
• Bring Risk Management and BCM together
• Supply Chain/Outsourcing
• SME Involvement
• 2012
• Regulation
• Membership Criteria
• Pandemic Flu
• Working from home (IT issues)
• Global climate change, Green Footprint
• Aligning to standard practice (BS25999) supply chain will drive this
• Civil Contingencies Office and Cabinet Office pressure
• Carrot and stick approach

Opportunities

• Cross group inter working and sharing, cross discipline sharing, inter industry, working, best practice database, mandatory CPD
• International materials
• More advertising
• Integrating with other disciplines, research and learning lessons, trusted information sharing
• Brochure, EXPO
• Chapter (wait and see how others go)
• To attract others, not sure where we stand legally

Challenging Thinking

• Get on the agenda of senior business managers via their professional organisations, ensure that events are SME friendly, 
• Gurus, tighter accreditation for MBCI levels etc, grade accreditation, sharing knowledge from incidents, more challenging of assumptions,  
• Events, international standings and regulations, 
• Cross over sub groups and working parties, measuring success (metrics, KPI’s etc), series of deliverables/track timeline, adaptable, based on concept, charter to market on product

Workshop 1

1. What should be the main purpose of the BCI LF and what value can it add to the BC world?
2. What should be its:
   a. Aims?
   b. Objectives?
3. What could be done to develop the BCI LF over the next 3 to 5 years to ensure that it continues to add value?
4. Who could/should the BCI LF work with to achieve this?

Responses

To be the main clearing house for BC in London, to recognised as the voice of London BCM, deal with London specific issues, London infrastructure, increasing education and awareness to all,
Added value for members in London, attracts members to BCI sharing latest threat assessments, expertise on new and emerging topics, improving competence of practitioners who attend (CPD)
Virtualisation of forum, training sessions, questionnaire led topics, joint meetings/exercises with business continuance group, streaming of events, basic, intermediate and advanced events,
Working with the business continuance group, the BCI, the EPS, CCS, education in London, legal information sector, Police, Canary Wharf, BCM suppliers, infrastructure suppliers ie BT

 

Workshop 2

1. Which groups in London could be seen to be sharing a common objective? 
2. How could/would these groups work together?
3. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of this?
4. With which specific organisations would partnership working give mutual added value and how could this be demonstrated?

Responses
EPS, London First, IOSH, ALARM, IRM, AIRMIC; Start simple, approach organisations that are pre interested/willing, run joint seminars, calendar planning business based skill, knowledge of Challenge thinking,

 

Workshop 3

1. How many events should the BCI LF seek to run per year?
2. Which topics, subjects or themes should be included in these events? 
3. And; should these be:
   a. Fixed (one year in advance)?
   b. Flexible (to incorporate current themes)?
   c. What are the advantages & disadvantages of each?
4. Who should be invited to attend these events
    
   ?
5. How could these be organised and run in a cost effective way?

Responses
4 events per year, (forward planning) SMEs Supply chain management, 2012, IT changes and trends, bcm trends, Share more experiences with blue light services, marketing via local authorities, UTube, extend bcp audience.
Internal support/buddy sites, dialogue between suppliers re pandemic flu,
Cat 1 & 2s defensive counter intelligence etc.

 

Workshop 4

1. What framework or other agreement should be put in place to ensure a continued close working relationship with the BCI
2. What would be the impact upon the other Forums if the BCI-LF developed and established a more formal framework?
3. What would be the short, medium and long term impact upon the BCI if this were to happen & what would be the resource implications? 
4. How could/would the BCI & BCI-LF work together if no formal framework was in place?

Responses
Liaison officer, London Forum Charter, definition of BCM and our role
Lead from LF

Shape, size, identity
SME London penetration (working party)

 

 

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