Governance, Risk & Compliance
What is governance? From a business perspective, governance is the process or system by which day-to- day operational dealings are carried out, under the direction of various policies and guidelines that are established by corporate leadership. Productivity is the ultimate goal of any work environment, and through adequately applied governance, more efficient work systems are put in place for employees to follow. In short, governance is a means of control.
As virtually everyone knows, however, asserting and maintaining control is easier said than done when the vicissitudes of life get in the way, as they inevitably do. From the relatively minor interruptions to the earth-shattering major disruptions that can threaten a company’s long-term viability, the quality of a governance system becomes very apparent depending on how effectively businesses “ride out the storm,” whether literally or in the figurative sense of the phrase, in terms of public relations. In other words, will a company’s governance act as a lodestar when direction and guidance are in dire need?
Governance must ground every business continuity plan. KETCHConsulting can provide the foundation. Whether new management is coming into a business or a company is just launching, governance can provide the fuel to rounding out a successfully applied BC plan of action.
Here is a small sampling of what can be achieved through BCP governance:
- Rounding out the key components to what makes a business continuity plan successful.
- Business continuity plan design and implementation.
- Using the BC plan to create, implement and direct a business continuity management program.
- Leveraging the BCM program as a means to establish, build or enhance organizational resilience.
Governance is largely toothless without compliance. Businesses can’t operate outside of the permissible borders they’re bound by. As such, BC governance will be developed in concert with the rules and regulations established by the Department of Homeland Security’s Continuity of Operations guidance document. This not only serves as a blueprint for formulating an authentic continuity of operations framework but also ensures that it aligns with the standards that are supported and legitimized by both Disaster Recovery Institute International as well as the Business Continuity Institute, the official representative bodies of business continuity professionals.
With these principles applied and assurances made, business continuity managers will have the “code of conduct” that helps ensure an organization’s resiliency. These program management concepts and principles should be good for five years, but ought to be updated and reviewed thereafter, due to the fickle nature of continuity threats and how they change over time.
Businesses must have an ability to improvise. Forces present themselves that can’t always be forecast. But with governance in place, organizations can apply the guiding principles that enable businesses to overcome the harshest of disruptions. The continuity experts at KETCHConsulting help to make this possible.
