Press Release, Caversham, UK

17th July 2012

A recent survey undertaken by the BCI and LRQA as part of a joint study on the adoption of standards, including the newly released international standard for business continuity, reveals ISO 22301’s potential to be a real game-changer on the international scene.

615 business continuity practitioners (primarily members of the BCI) working in 60 countries and across 15 different industry sectors participated in the survey.  The initial findings have been summarised in a report that completes part one of the study.

Key findings show:

• 85% of survey respondents felt the primary benefit of the ISO would be to provide a common language for international working with customers, suppliers and within their organisations.
• Respondents in Asia, Middle East and Africa were particularly enthusiastic about the new ISO standard.
• Certification levels are expected to treble over the next three years, as 67% of respondents seek to at least align to the new ISO in the next three years.

The ISO is published against a baseline where most practitioners make reference to a standard in developing their BCM programmes but few take the step of getting a third party to independently certify their programme against a published standard.

The practice of BCM has enjoyed a plurality of approaches as witnessed by the large number of existing standards, guides of practice, industry regulations and statutory requirements.  This new ISO has the potential to provide a single common and global approach to BCM.

Commenting on the publication of part one of the study, Lyndon Bird, Technical Development Director at the BCI:

“We should not underestimate the value of a common international language in supporting the adoption of business continuity management.  The enthusiasm that is greeting this standard in Asia, Africa and the Middle East is a great sign of the importance of BCM around the world.   We are also encouraged to see indications that sectors such as manufacturing may be more likely to commit to BCM now that there is a an ISO standard.”

To view a copy of the report, click here.