30 Nov 2022
How Cyclonic proof is your organisation?
The annual cyclonic season in the Indian Ocean Islands has officially started on 15th November 2022. Some countries have not been impacted by significant cyclones for many decades whilst others have experienced severe cyclonic conditions last year. Hence, all organisations have the responsibility to protect their business and keep their employees safe and secure during cyclonic seasons.
When a country is hit with a severe cyclone, it faces the possibility of flooding, damage due to high winds, road closures, extended power and telecommunication outages, all of which will affect the ability for an organisation to continue operating. Notwithstanding the risk of a total supply chain disruption with the potential closures of ports and airports also exists.
Preparing your employees and your organisation is an important part of deploying an effective Incident Response Plan against cyclonic risk.
Please find below a list of critical questions, honest answers to these can provide an overview of an organisation’s preparedness while facing cyclonic conditions.
- How resilient is your organisation and can your business withstand a prolonged disruption?
- Do you have a Business Continuity (BCP) and / or Crisis Management Plan in place?
- Do you know what your mission critical processes, excluding IT systems, are and how long can you operate without them?
- What are the real risks to your business, the impacts they would have and probabilities of these happening?
- Do you have mitigating actions in place?
- If you have BCPs or Contingency plans in place, when last were they tested and by whom?
- Do you have dedicated resources, with assigned roles and responsibilities, to address disruptions when they occur?
- Do you review and validate your Business Continuity Management (BCM) requirements on a regular basis?
- Do you conduct an annual Business Impact Assessment review of your critical functions and services?
- Do you have a clear understanding of the actual dependencies and interdependencies which exist within your organisation?
- Have you properly evaluated your human capital and are there key players within your organisation with appropriate succession planning in place as well as documented process details for their key roles?
- What training and awareness programs do you have in place for the effective implementation and on-going maintenance of your BCM Program?
- Have you implemented a proper communication plan with clear roles and responsibilities with all your stakeholders?
- Have you evaluated the impact of disruptions in your supply chain?
- Can your IT department map an accurate recovery plan which is aligned to the business requirements for maximum permissible downtime and the relevant associated data loss?
We strongly recommend that critical processes with the expected recovery time are identified, contingency plans are reviewed and tested as well as ensuring that your employees are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
Our facilities, available on 24/7 basis, are strategically located and easily accessible from any part of Mauritius. With more than 14 years of experience in Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Management, BIRGER. is your complete Business Continuity and Resiliency solutions partner. We help protect your business and data with adapted solutions to your organisation.
For more information on the topic and our Resiliency Solutions & Services, please contact us by mail resiliency@birger.technology.
BIRGER.