Business Continuity Consulting Services
Designed for the needs of SME organisations
Business continuity can be a daunting task for many organisations: deadlines can be challenging, customer and third party expectations are high and resources (both human and financial) are tight. We'll help you meet those challenges - without breaking the bank.
Business Continuity Consulting Services - with a difference
RiskCentric provides a unique blend of integrated business continuity consulting and support services to small to medium size organisations. Our approach is based on tailoring the level of help and guidance you require to deliver a business continuity plan (or remediate an existing plan) in a supported environment that fits your needs and budget. All our services are focussed on developing the capabilities of both your organisation AND your people.
Our, Continuity Coach service provides guidance and facilitation sessions at key stages in the business continuity plan development process. Continuity Coach is based on a proven framework and toolkit with integrated business continuity consultancy advice and support throughout all plan development activities. Following an initial, onsite training day, ongoing support and guidance is available at key development stages (either onsite or online) with an experienced consultant. This has proven to be the most effective method of delivering business continuity consulting services - significantly reducing the cost of traditional "day-rate" consultancy and at the same time growing business continuity know-how and skills within your organisation.
This business continuity consulting service leaves your organisation with more than a just plan document - it leaves you stronger and more capable
-
We build your skills and expertise by supporting and mentoring your team through the business continuity development process. so when the project is delivered you not only have the plan, you'll have the expertise within your organisation to take it forward
-
Your business continuity plan development team will learn by doing (with support if needed). This is far superior to classroom based training - the team learns by doing and receives guidance at the exact point and time needed.
-
Our toolkit is easy to use and based on standard Microsoft office tools and the included business continuity help desk ensures that you are not on your own once you have downloaded them
-
Your plan will stand up to the most rigorous audits, giving customers and stakeholders confidence in the business continuity arrangements you have created.
These services are designed to support you all the way through the business continuity plan development process - steering your team towards successful development and deployment of business continuity capabilities
Continuity Coach
The Continuity Coach service provides a delivery approach for business continuity consulting services designed for the needs of SME organisations. Continuity Coach delivers business continuity for your organisations that is:
-
Relevant to your needs and cost effective;
-
Gives your customers a warm feeling that you won't let them down if something disrupts your operations
-
Will stand up to any audit or third party evaluation
-
Is demonstrably compliant with accepted standards
-
Creates business continuity skills and capabilities within your organisation
Our service is delivered using trusted and proven process including our business continuity plan toolkit and support complimented with a "wrap-around" of an onsite "milestone" meetings to facilitate familiarisation plus review, feedback and support which ensures that the team tasked with implementing the business continuity plan have a support framework around them for the duration of the project. This option works well for organisations that are looking for structured delivery and support of their business continuity plan development - but who don't want to commit to a full-time consultant on the project. If you would like to discuss your needs in more detail - contact us using the link below and we'll be in touch to arrange a mutually convenient time to understand your needs, budget and timing
How does Continuity Coach Work?
The Continuity Coach service provides cost effective, high quality business continuity and incident management services to SME organisations. It combines skills development, a business continuity plan development toolkit and advisory services, enablig organisations to "learn by doing" whilst using a structured toolkit supported by expert advice at key stages of business continuity plan development. This approach significantly reduces the costs of traditional "day-rate" consultancy without compromising quality. Our delivery process is summarised below:
-
To avoid any unnecessary re-work, we conduct a short review of any plans and risk assessments already in place to determine if any of this previous work can be re-used.
-
We then deliver an introductory workshop for all participants in the project to provide an overview of the process and the business continuity plan development toolkit defined in our Business Continuity Roadmap This is normally performed in person at the client site.
-
At the commencement each stage of the roadmap “kick-off” meeting is held to introduce development considerations and any relevant tools within the toolkit to assist with completion.
-
An end of stage meeting with each participant to walkthrough the outcome of their work, on request.
-
On completion of overall plan development, we conduct a facilitated plan walkthrough to evaluate plans under a range of incident scenarios.
-
The final stage of development is the development of a business continuity management framework (often referred to as “the BCMS” – the business continuity management system) which supports the ongoing maintenance of the business continuity plan. This is a narrative style document produced primarily for third party review, which describes the operation of the organisations BCMS. The content of this document is designed to demonstrate that “due process” was followed in development and maintenance of the BC Plan. It is also cross-referenced to the ISO 22301 standard to confirm that all aspects of business continuity are compliant with the relevant clauses of the standard and, by default, with the majority of recognised business continuity frameworks
What does "Designed For the needs of sme organisations" mean?
In a nutshell it means that we know that SME organisations don’t have the luxury of a large “corporate function” that will be dedicated to issues like business continuity. We recognise that in SME organisations, the people involved in the development and management of business continuity also have day jobs!!
So instead of the usual menu offering studies, reports and mountains of documents served with a topping of specialist jargon – we aim to keep it straightforward and maintainable and above all, relevant to the organisations we work with.
So instead of studies, focus groups etc. etc. we steer you through the process of business continuity plan development by leveraging your understanding of your markets, your customers and the way your organisation operates. Using our tried and proven business continuity roadmap we mentor you through each stage, developing your business continuity knowledge and skills as we go - which significantly accelerates the development process and leaves you with the knowledge, skills and processes to manage business continuity.
Why does Continuity Coach Work So well?
Because you know how your organisation works and we know the trip-wires, tarpits and rabbit holes that can undermine and bog-down the development and deployment of business continuity initiatives. Your knowledge and our experience leverages the efforts of everyone involved. It also has the benefit of being far more cost effective than engaging a team of consultants on a day-rate basis.
Coaching your colleagues to develop business continuity plans and capabilities delivers the “best of both worlds”:
-
Your organisation learns business continuity by doing it
-
The coaching approach provides a safety net that ensures that the business continuity plan development stays on track
-
We can show the “tips and tricks of the trade” 9rather than the "text-book" approaches that help to accelerate business continuity plan development as well as giving that all important guidance that will enable you to provide customers and third parties the confidence that your organisation has developed a solid, reliable BCP that complies with accepted standards.
what does business continuity "best practice" really mean?
When clients contact us to discuss their needs they often mention achieving "best practice" as one of their objectives. So what is "best practice" in the context of business continuity?. For starters, best practice is NOT slavishly following the dictates of a particular standard or framework when it's clearly written for an organisations 10 times (or more) your size of YOUR organisation. For us best practice is:
-
Developing a business continuity plan that creates the capability for your business to recover from operational shocks
-
Customers and stakeholders are confident that they can rely on you when things go wrong
-
The development and maintenance process does not create a self-serving, bureaucratic, box-ticking overhead
-
Third parties and auditors can clearly see that your business continuity arrangements are based on sound, proven principles that are effectively protecting your organisation.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
RiskCentric | Business Continuity Specialists | Cambridge, United Kingdom | Contact us