Continuity Corner #12
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008PL 110 – 53 Title IX
On Aug 3, 2007, President Bush signed into law ‘PL110 – 53 Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007’. One of the provisions of the law – Title IX - was to call for businesses of all sizes to voluntarily plan for and be prepared for a disaster or emergency.
A key provision to Title IX, directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a voluntary certification program for private sector preparedness. This program should be developed with mutual cooperation between DHS and qualified private sector entities.
To this end a number of initiatives have begun including a national forum sponsored by the Sloan Foundation. Their findings were published in the last couple of weeks and can be found at http://www.nyu.edu/intercep.
Having recently participated in BSI’s October launch of BS25999- Business Continuity Management System, I whole-heartedly agree that a standard is needed that is developed by knowledgeable parties and allows for accreditation of the company, and not the continuity professional who developed a company’s plan. It is through this type of company accreditation that businesses large and small can build plans based on a common framework. This consistency of framework, then allows companies to speak a consistent language and address continuity issues throughout the supple chain.
BS25999 which places emphasis on the creation of a management system which provides for continuous improvement and also provides an auditable standard for a companies Business Continuity Management effort, is a good example of a standard that allows companies flexibility to develop their plans and yet provides a common guide to those plans. Another benefit of the standard is that it provides a company focus to move the plan from a project to an integrated part of the companies overall management system.
Its an exciting time to be part of the Business Continuity Community with the legislative and private sectors moving closer to an understanding that businesses need BC Management in order ‘Expect the Unexpected’ and respond appropriately.
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