Senior execs don't need to know the details of how to go about building business continuity capabilities for their organisation - that's a job for specialists with experience. But what EVERY senior exec should know is what makes an effective business continuity programme and how they keep a finger on the pulse to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. These 6 points will help any senior management team to ensure that they have business continuity capabilities that can be relied upon

1. You know what your operational priorities would be in the event of a major operational disruption in terms of maintaining customer goodwill, avoiding contractual liabilities and avoiding legal/regulatory exposures

2. You know that IT systems can be recovered within a timeframe that mitigates the above exposures

3. You know that your workforce can be relocated to an alternative workplace (physical or remote) with sufficient capacity to resume near to normal working patterns that will fulfil operational priorities

4. You know you have established channels of communication that would be used during an incident to communicate with staff, customers and any other affected parties.

5. You know that all of the above work - in terms of people, process and resources - and that any corrective actions are identified and addressed because you have current and reliable information on assurance and testing activities

6. You know you can prove all of the above to a third-party.