Business continuity standard on its way

A "full and robust" standard for business continuity in the UK is due to be introduced next year, it was revealed today. The announcement came as risk management and business continuity management technical standards committees were launched by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The BSI said the committees' task would be to develop national best practice documents to provide guidance for business on how best to manage risk and business continuity.

Head of risk market development at the BSI, Nicki Dennis, said: "Recent events have emphasised the need for companies to integrate business continuity and risk management into their corporate strategy to minimise the instance of loss or damage to finances, staff or reputation in difficult times.

"Standards provide a practical framework for addressing these important issues and, in addition, offer tangible fiscal benefits to business."

A BSI publicly available specification (PAS) on business continuity management - PAS 56 - already exists, and the committee is planning on using this as the basis of a full British Standard for business continuity management.

Public consultation for the new standard is scheduled for January 2006 with the final standard due to be published next summer, said Nicki Dennis.