8 minute read
Recently, Battleground had the opportunity to attend the Disaster Recovery Journal (DRJ) Fall 2024 conference in Dallas. DRJ’s annual spring and fall conferences are the longest-running and best-attended business continuity events in the world. Enjoy these DRJ Insights & Learnings.
DRJ brings together professionals dedicated to business continuity, crisis management, and organisational resilience. The conference provided a wealth of knowledge on how organisations can better prepare for and respond to disruptions.
In this article, we share key insights from the event, focusing on three critical areas that are essential for enhancing resilience within businesses.
1. Aligning Business Continuity with Business Objectives and IT Integration
A recurring theme at the conference was the importance of ensuring that business continuity plans are not just IT-centric but are deeply aligned with the organisation’s overall objectives. In the session “My Organisation’s Business Continuity Program is Built, Now What?”, speakers emphasised that resilience planning should be a comprehensive business initiative rather than solely an IT responsibility.
Understanding daily operations is crucial to anticipate what could break and how. For instance, disruptions often labelled as “just IT outages” can have far-reaching business impacts. In banking, an IT outage might prevent customers from performing transactions; in retail, it could mean customers are unable to make payments—imagine walking into a store where you can’t complete a purchase! Recognising these broader implications underscores the necessity of integrating resilience across all facets of the organisation.
Effective resilience planning requires input from across the organisation. It’s essential to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table and that their voices are heard. By involving diverse perspectives, you can develop more comprehensive and effective strategies that address the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. This collaborative approach ensures that the resilience team understands and operates within the business model, aligning continuity strategies with real business needs.
2. Embracing Integrated Software Solutions over Traditional Tools
Another significant insight from the conference was the shift away from traditional tools like Excel towards specialised software solutions for managing business continuity and resilience planning. In a room filled with 80 risk professionals, a revealing question was posed: “How many of you still use Excel to develop your Business Impact Assessments (BIAs)?” Astonishingly, only three hands went up. This indicates that the vast majority of organisations in attendance have transitioned to dedicated software solutions.
This trend highlights the limitations of relying on spreadsheets for complex resilience tasks. While Excel is a powerful tool, it may not offer the scalability, security, or collaborative features necessary for effective risk management in today’s fast-paced environment. In contrast, integrated software solutions provide a more robust platform for managing business continuity plans, crisis management plans, emergency management plans, and more—accessible via web and mobile devices.
In Australia, we observe a different scenario where many organisations still depend heavily on Excel for their BIAs and other resilience planning activities. This disparity underscores the critical need for Australian businesses to modernise their approach by adopting specialised software. Moving away from Excel and into a dedicated system enhances efficiency, ensures data integrity, and facilitates better alignment with business objectives.
At Battleground Group, we are strong advocates for this progression. As a software-led consultancy firm, our Battleground Live software empowers organisations to manage all their risk and resilience needs comprehensively. From business continuity plans to risk assessments, our platform offers a unified solution that streamlines processes and fosters collaboration across all levels of the organisation.
3. Communicating the ‘Why’ to Build Trust
Breaking down the ‘why’ barrier is essential for gaining buy-in from all stakeholders. In several sessions, including “Expertise and Enterprise Agility: Why Traditional Training, Tools, and Thinking are Changing”, “The Journey to Best in Resilience”, and “May You Live In Interesting Times! The Question Is, ‘How To Plan For Them?'”, the importance of transparent communication was highlighted.
People are more likely to support and engage with resilience initiatives when they understand the reasons behind them. By clearly communicating the purpose, strategy, and expected outcomes of your continuity plans, you demystify the process and build trust. This approach fosters a culture where team members feel empowered and invested in the common goal of organisational resilience.
Embedding resilience as a core value that is visible and supported from the top down is crucial. Giving your program visibility and ensuring that leadership actively promotes resilience helps to integrate it into the organisational culture. This top-down support is vital for gaining executive buy-in and ensuring that everyone understands what’s in it for them. Involving team members in the process and communicating intentions clearly helps to break down barriers and build trust.
4. Preparedness and Decision-Making in Crisis Situations
Crisis situations often require quick decision-making with limited information—a concept known as bounded rationality. The conference sessions “Building Organisational Resilience: People, Processes, and Culture”, “Cyber and Operational Resilience: Uniting for a Collective Response”, and “Resilience Reloaded: Mastering Soft Skills for Tomorrow’s Challenges” delved into this challenge, emphasising the importance of preparedness and having the correct information readily available.
Recognising that resilience is like insurance—crucial even if we hope to never use it—is fundamental. Building resilience is a slow process that takes time, often spanning multiple years before the organisation develops the capabilities to effectively mitigate risks. Utilising information collected during BIAs is invaluable for informing strategies, validating resource requirements, and planning how to restore systems in the correct order with minimal impact.
Having accurate and accessible data empowers your team to make informed decisions that minimise impact and facilitate effective recovery during incidents. In times of crisis, knowing how to bring systems back online in the correct sequence can significantly reduce downtime and disruption. Preparedness isn’t just about processes and technology but also about cultivating the right skills and mindset within the team.
Conclusion
The DRJ conference reinforced the critical role that alignment, communication, and preparedness play in enhancing organisational resilience. For businesses, these insights offer valuable guidance on strengthening business continuity and crisis management efforts.
By aligning business continuity plans with overarching business objectives and IT capabilities, organisations can ensure that their strategies are both effective and relevant. Communicating the ‘why’ behind resilience initiatives builds trust and fosters a collaborative culture where everyone is invested in the common goal. Lastly, recognising the importance of preparedness and making informed decisions during crises can significantly reduce the impact of disruptions.
At Battleground Group, we are committed to helping organisations navigate the complexities of resilience planning. By integrating these key principles, we aim to support businesses in not just surviving but thriving in the face of challenges.
