Pursuing potential: business continuity in a time of change

In a time of ongoing global disruption, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, the rise of inflation and high cost of living, supply chain issues and the energy supply crisis, as well as ongoing threats from climate change – building and maintaining resilience has never been more important for organisations worldwide. 

Business continuity is a vital part of our organisation, and adapting to and embracing technological change is critical for us in building resilience and thriving in the face of disruption.    

Organised by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), Business Continuity Awareness Week is an annual global event designed to support professionals and organisations in raising awareness of business continuity and resilience through education. Running from 15-19 May 2023, this year’s theme is ‘embracing the challenge of resilience’.  

Robert West, who leads our Business Continuity team, explains more about the role of business continuity and how we are becoming a more resilient organisation in unpredictable times to overcome new challenges.

What is the role of business continuity?

Business continuity is planning for disruptive events so that our organisation can continue to provide services to our customers and partners with the minimum amount of disruption possible.

As Head of Business Continuity, it is my role to ensure that all parts of our organisation have thought about and prepared for unplanned disruption, that plans are written and validated so that, should the worst happen, we are able to ensure that our people are safe, and that any disruption to service is kept to the minimum.

As we mature our organisation’s business continuity capability, I will be pushing to make resilience a default in the design of all processes and tools. My team are here to assist in ensuring that teams, across the globe, have the support they need in creating their plans and exercising through document review, desktop exercise and full-scale simulation of a disruptive event.

Why is business continuity so important and how do we embrace the challenge of resilience?

In an everchanging and increasingly volatile operating environment, it is imperative that we prepare our organisation to meet the rising levels of threat that we now face from the escalating environmental challenges and from the increased external threats, such as cyber-attack or public disorder. We should see this as an opportunity to make our processes and tools more resilient, and to enable us to be more flexible to the changing needs of our customers, partners, and suppliers. 

What have been some of our greatest challenges and how have we been able to manage those challenges? 

We are all still living through one of the biggest business continuity events in living history, Covid-19. Cambridge has risen to that challenge with impressive and robust actions to enable our colleagues around the world to continue providing the service required in all our global markets. The move to hybrid working was already being discussed before the pandemic, but that was accelerated as a result with huge success.

As a result of the pandemic, our organisation needs to be even more flexible to meet the changing needs of our customers, partners, suppliers, and the regulatory bodies from many countries, often with little notice. Both operational and technical teams have risen to the challenge. This has only been possible due to the attitude of our people and the collaboration between teams.

Whilst all this has been happening our organisation has also had to cope with the complexities created by conflict around the globe. Again, it has been mitigated by the willingness of teams to accept rapid change.

In the case of the Ukraine situation, the standing up of a silver team to facilitate a coordinated response has meant that the communication with our people on the ground in Ukraine is monitored on a frequent basis, and as the situation requires, to ensure that they are safe. Potential supply chain issues are being monitored closely and when issues are encountered, and resolutions are found they are communicated swiftly to process owners. 

How do you think innovative organisations can elevate business continuity awareness? 

An innovative organisation needs to ensure that the senior leadership team invests in making business continuity a priority, that they invest in the preparedness of their processes, technology, and communication capabilities. 

The organisation needs to put risk management to the fore and encourage group-wide collaboration. If this is done correctly, an organisation will be better placed to anticipate potential threats and react accordingly. If disruption is encountered, they will be ready to recover and emerge stronger.

What does the future of business continuity and resilience look like?

Successful business continuity and resilience lies in addressing the increasing complexity and interdependence of global supply chains. It will also be shaped by the accelerating pace of technological change, where emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and the ‘internet of things’ will provide new tools and capabilities for monitoring, managing and enhancing the resilience of critical infrastructure systems, and processes.

The Business Continuity team are part of our global Technology team. Learn more about our global tech community and discover opportunities to pursue your potential at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.