3 Business Continuity Lessons from 2017

 

3 Business Continuity Lessons from 2017

As we move into 2018, organizations of all kinds are considering ways to best prepare themselves for the business continuity challenges that lie ahead. In fact, more than 35 percent of business continuity professionals say their company will spend more on business continuity efforts over the next 12 months than in previous years. Perhaps this should come as no surprise. After all, 2017 was a dynamic year, full of countless examples of what to do and what not to do when your business is faced with difficulty.


Consider just a few of the biggest trends in business continuity: Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen a surge in ransomware, data breaches, and other cyberattacks. The new presidential administration has shifted gears on a variety of business-impacting policies, including tax reform, healthcare, and corporate regulations. Meanwhile, communities and organizations across multiple states were severely impacted by the most active and intense hurricane season that they had seen in years.

Lessons to Learn

These and other headline events from 2017 offer valuable lessons for organizations of all sizes in every industry. As you work to prepare for 2018 and beyond, be sure you’re incorporating these key lessons learned into your business continuity program:


1. Create a plan of action for combating the newest cyberattack techniques.

Ransomware was one of the hottest topics in business continuity this year, as attacks rose at least 250 percent and impacted tens of thousands of companies and individuals around the world. From the WannaCry attack to the HBO hacking scheme, these incidents demonstrated in real time how devastating ransomware can be from both a financial and a reputational perspective.

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No matter the size or nature of your organization, if it uses digital technology for storing, processing, or sending and receiving company data, it is vulnerable to a ransomware attack. As these breaches continue to grow in popularity among cyber criminals, it is vital for you and your team to determine how to best prepare for and combat such attacks. In many cases, simply tightening your data security and creating backups of key systems and documents can help to neutralize the impact of ransomware.


2. Account for all possibilities—even the seemingly impossible ones.

American Airlines is in the midst of a decidedly unwelcome business continuity crisis as it works to correct a problem that left as many as 15,000 of its December flights without pilots. The company said the issue was the result of a glitch in their scheduling system. Now, officials are scrambling to cover thousands of flights, offering pilots time and a half to entice them to work over the holidays.


You might think this is the type of problem that American could have never predicted or prepared for, right? It just seems too bizarre and unlikely to warrant being included in business continuity planning or in a business impact analysis (BIA). However, American was actually aware of this potential problem, because the Irish airline Ryanair suffered the exact same crisis just a few months ago, leading to 20,000 flights being grounded and the company losing untold amounts of money.


American’s mistake offers a valuable lesson for your business: If it could happen to a competitor, it could happen to you. Be sure to keep an ear to the ground for business continuity hits and misses in your industry, and look for ways to incorporate those insights into your program on a continual basis—before they happen to you.


3. Consider competing business priorities.

Naturally, business continuity is a top priority at any organization. But within your business, where does it rank compared to other goals, such as maintaining tax efficiency and ensuring a profit? This is a question that many pharmaceutical companies are asking themselves after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, a popular destination for manufacturing operations due to its significant tax advantages.


Of course, there will be many cases when business continuity processes butt up against other priorities, such as controlling costs, and these priorities and their key drivers will likely shift over the years. That’s why it’s important to have a methodology in place for gathering stakeholders, exploring these priorities, and considering whether to dial up or dial down your business continuity efforts. The Puerto Rico hurricane serves as a reminder to always stay on top of business continuity planning and treat it as a constant work in progress.

Always Improving

No one could ever say that the field of business continuity doesn’t keep you on your toes. There’s a constant push to improve preparedness, better understand risk, and when a crisis strikes, achieve a faster, more effective response.


Incorporating these and other lessons learned into your program can help you prepare for the challenges of 2018. But in the meantime, be sure to watch for other important business continuity lessons—because next year will surely be full of them.

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