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For Immediate Release

Alex Arvanitidis

The Business Continuity Institute

+1 (703) 637-4429

alex.arvanitidis@thebci.org

Business Continuity Institute Announces Alternative Route to Membership Program

Professionals that hold predetermined qualifying business continuity certifications are eligible for professional membership and certification with

The Business Continuity Institute

CAVERSHAM, UK, March 21, 2010 – The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), a leader in setting and validating standards of professional competence and ethics in business continuity management (BCM), today unveiled plans for their ground breaking Alternative Route to Membership Program (ARM). This progressive new program has been developed as a way to further the mission of the BCI in “Promoting the art and science of business continuity management worldwide,” through the recognition of a prequalified level of business continuity professional.

The Membership Council of the Institute has carefully examined other BCM credentials, mapping them against BCI certification, and felt it was appropriate to extend an invitation to join the BCI to those who hold the respected credentials of MBCP, CBCP or ABCP. These credentials, specifically, have foundations broadly in line with the requirements for the BCI’s AMBCI and/or MBCI certifications. Recognized as a validation of experience and knowledge, professionals that hold MBCP, CBCP or ABCP certifications, are in good standing and have the required length of supporting practical BCM experience are invited to apply for membership of the BCI without having to pass BCI’s official exam.

Professional membership of the BCI provides internationally recognised status as this valued certification demonstrates the members’ competence to carry out business continuity management (BCM) to a consistent high standard.

Shortly after its creation in 1994, the BCI became the internationally recognized standard for business continuity best practices and has only continued to grow in both membership and global acceptance. With the onset of PS-PREP in the US, the BCI now finds its membership and practices rapidly filtering into the BC mainstream within the North American borders and is taking a progressive posture in highlighting the exponential growth of the BC discipline and providing industry leading knowledge and support to its members and the BC community as a whole.

Lorraine Darke, Executive Director of the Business Continuity Institute explains that “this latest effort to reinforce our organizational mission on a global scale should be seen as a strong step by the BCI to acknowledge the experience and knowledge of select credential holders with the understanding that the institute (BCI) clearly views the BC discipline as an ongoing education process – one that our organization believes in and has built in to its certification scheme.” Darke goes on to say that “the BCI is well aware of the tremendous value and support that the approved credentialing bodies have provided to the BC community and that through its acceptance of these certifications into its ARM program, the BCI is clearly showing its support for the greater mission of “Promoting the art and science of business continuity management worldwide.”

For more information on the BCI’s Alternative Route to Membership Program (ARM), or to register, please visit: http://www.thebcicertificate.org/alternative_route.html

 About the Business Continuity Institute: Based in Caversham, United Kingdom, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was established in 1994 to “promote the art and science of business continuity management” to assist organisations in preparing for and surviving minor and large-scale man-made and natural disasters.  The Institute enables members to obtain guidance and support from their fellow practitioners, as well as offers professional training and certification programmes to disseminate and validate the highest standards of competence and ethics.  It has 5,000 members in 90 countries active in an estimated 2,500 organizations in private, public and third sectors.  Please visit: www.thebci.org, or for education: www.thebcicertificate.org

About the BCI Partnership: The BCI Partnership, established in 2007, is the corporate body within the BCI with over 70 member organizations including BAE Systems, BP, BSi Group, BT, Community Resilience, ContinuitySA, DNV, Continuity Shop, EADS, Garrison Continuity, HP, Lloyds Banking Group, Lockheed Martin, Marsh, Milton Keynes Council, Prudential, PwC, Royal Mail, SunGard, Vocalink, and Zurich.  For more information go to www.bcipartnership.com

NEWS

For Immediate Release

Alex Arvanitidis

The Business Continuity Institute

(703) 637-4429

alex.arvanitidis@thebci.org

Business Continuity Awareness Week 2010:

Solving the business resilience puzzle

The BCI announces this year’s worldwide, virtual event will run March 22-26 and feature experts from eBay, Gartner, Zurich Insurance, BT and BSI.

CAVERSHAM, UK, March 11, 2010 – The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), a leader in setting and validating standards of professional competence and ethics in business continuity management (BCM), today announced plans for the annual global Business Continuity Awareness Week, which will run March 22 through March 26, 2010.

The week includes many virtual events that are open to all and are free-of-charge. A standard Internet connection is all that is required to listen and take part in live webcasts as well as access online collateral, resources and tools.   The full program can be viewed here: www.businesscontinuityawarenessweek.org

“It’s fashionable to talk about business resilience these days, but how do you achieve it?” asked Lyndon Bird, FBCI, International & Technical Director of the BCI. “BCM is a proven methodology that helps organizations understand what is important to them and their stakeholders, and how to protect that value in the uncertain times that we all live in.

“This extraordinary week of knowledge-sharing has proven to be instrumental in strengthening the awareness of this critical business discipline as well as providing business continuity professionals with additional information all from the convenience of their computer.”

Business continuity management leaders from firms such as eBAY, Gartner, British Standards Institution (BSI), Lockheed Martin and Zurich Insurance will be participating in the week-long event.  Highlights of the week include:

·         One step ahead – the BCM advantage:  a global, interactive video conference featuring experts from Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland , UK and the USA discussing subjects from the role of government to the benefits of business continuity for small businesses;

·         Business Case for BCM:  the latest international research from the BCI on what tangible benefits organizations are getting from BCM in terms of protecting value within their organizations;

·         Educational Webcast program – discussion and advice from top business continuity executives from eBAY, Zurich Insurance, the World Economic Forum, British Telecom, ContinuitySA and many more tackling subjects such as systemic global risks, mergers and acquisitions, Soccer World Cup 2010, supply chain resilience, and information security.

·         Online forum for newcomers: if you are new to business continuity then the BCM Forum is the place to ask any question you like about the discipline (the forum will continue after the week to build a BCM knowledge base for business continuity professionals);

·         Insurance and BCM:  a summit meeting with key insurance industry players looking for a win-win solution for clients and underwriters in recognizing the value of BCM programs.

“Every day across the globe, business continuity-related events are taking place,” said Margaret J. Millett, MBCP, MBCI, Director, eBay Inc.  “As you read the headlines think how these could apply to your community or organization.

“An effective business continuity management program is vital and fundamental to increasing business performance.  It is important for people in organizations to know of the great strides business continuity management has made in recent years, and Business Continuity Awareness Week is a key part of disseminating that knowledge.”

During the week, The BCI will also launch many new resources such as the much-anticipated Good Practice Guidelines 2010 which serve as the cornerstone for its professional certification; research on supply chain resilience, corporate governance and risk management; plus a number of new case studies.

For complete information, and to register for live events, please visit: www.businesscontinuityawarenessweek.org

About the Business Continuity Institute: Based in Caversham, United Kingdom, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was established in 1994 to “promote the art and science of business continuity management” to assist organisations in preparing for and surviving minor and large-scale man-made and natural disasters.  The Institute enables members to obtain guidance and support from their fellow practitioners, as well as offers professional training and certification programmes to disseminate and validate the highest standards of competence and ethics.  It has 5,000 members in 90 countries active in an estimated 2,500 organizations in private, public and third sectors.  Please visit: www.thebci.org, or for education: www.thebcicertificate.org

About the BCI Partnership: The BCI Partnership, established in 2007, is the corporate body within the BCI with over 70 member organizations including BAE Systems, BP, BSi Group, BT, Community Resilience, ContinuitySA, DNV, Continuity Shop, EADS, Garrison Continuity, HP, Lloyds Banking Group, Lockheed Martin, Marsh, Milton Keynes Council, Prudential, PwC, Royal Mail, SunGard, Vocalink, and Zurich.  For more information go to www.bcipartnership.com

NEWS

For Immediate Release

Alex Arvanitidis

The Business Continuity Institute

(703) 637-4429

alex.arvanitidis@thebci.org

Research shows that good Business Continuity Management (BCM) improves day-to-day resilience within organisations

The latest Business Continuity Institute worldwide survey, entitled ‘The Business Case for BCM’, shows that less than 50% of respondents have to deviate from business-as-usual when faced with disruption, as a result of efficient BCM

CAVERSHAM, UK, March 19, 2010: On the eve of Business Continuity Awareness Week 2010, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) announces its recent worldwide survey results, in a report entitled “The Business Case for BCM”, which demonstrate that Business Continuity Management (BCM) can deliver increased business resilience and drive higher organisational performance.

Out of 221 organisations that have implemented Business Continuity Plans (BCP), 77% were able to recover faster as a result, with a quarter recovering in half the time compared to without the plan. In addition, 55% said their plans have led to substantial cost savings or protected critical revenue streams in the last 12 months.  

The majority of organisations are using BCM to deal with as many as five disruptive events per year, some significantly more.  This contrasts with the long held view that BCM is just about infrequent, catastrophic events.   A number of these disruptions are business or market related such as financial failure of a supplier or even employee kidnapping; these new disruptions join the more ‘traditional’ ones such as IT, flooding and fire. BCM therefore offers the benefit of a single approach to deal with the consequences of a very wide range of disruptions, eliminating much of the need to predict and plan for individual threats.

According to these survey results, the highest levels of disruption were caused by: severe weather, IT and telecom disruption, swine flu, lack of energy supply, and fire.  The high levels of IT, telecom and computer virus disruptions underline the vulnerability inherent in our digital economy.

Lyndon Bird FBCI, Technical Director at the BCI, says – “This survey confirms BCM as a broadly applicable business method that delivers on its promise: it can deliver tangible top and bottom line benefits to businesses.  It is also very encouraging that senior management are recognising BCM’s contribution to underlying organisational resilience and overall business performance”.  

Martin Caddick MBCI, Risk and Business Continuity Service Leader at PwC, says – "Against a backdrop of growing exposure to risk in the global economy, this encouraging survey shows how Business Continuity management is maturing and becoming increasingly embedded in business. We are now starting to see a range of quantified benefits emerging from the continuing investment made in BCM, alongside a greater understanding of the widening spectrum of risks that BCM can help mitigate. The progress shown by the survey's findings will help to build the case for work yet to be done across UK businesses."

Keith Tilley, Managing Director UK and Executive Vice President Europe for SunGard Availability Services, says - "This survey underlines the importance of business continuity management in ensuring the resilience of all organisations. Although there is obviously pressure on organisations to reduce expenditure in the current economic climate, it is vitally important that they continue to review, test and update their business continuity plans, as well as those of their supply chain. If organisations are unable to cope effectively in the event of an outage, strike or major incident, then relationships with customers could be put at risk, which could ultimately damage a business’ bottom line”.

Business Continuity Awareness Week (BCAW, 22nd to 26th March 2010) provides business leaders with an unparalleled opportunity to learn about Business Continuity Management and how it can help their organisation.  Free webinars from leading organisations such as eBay, Zurich, BT, World Economic Forum and BSI can be accessed through a single gateway found at www.businesscontinuityawarenessweek.org.  The week kicks off with a global video conference, register here:  http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=65758&pw=BCI
ENDS

About Business Continuity Management
Business Continuity Management (BCM) identifies potential threats to an organization and the impacts to business operations that those threats, if realized, might cause. It provides a framework for building organizational resilience with the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities.

About the Business Continuity Institute
Based in Caversham, United Kingdom, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was founded in 1994 and leads on the development of best practice in Business Continuity Management. The BCI also contributes to relevant legislation and standards. It has over 5,000 members in 90 countries countries active in an estimated 2,500 organizations in private, public and third sectors. For more go to www.thebci.org   The BCI Partnership, established in 2007, is the corporate body within the BCI with over 70 member organizations. For more go to www.bcipartnership.com