The document discusses virtualization as an enabler for business continuity. It provides an overview of business continuity management (BCM), including definitions, components like people, processes, and premises, and the benefits of virtualization for disaster recovery and improving uptime. The summary emphasizes that while virtualization helps with technology recovery, BCM is broader and aims to demonstrate preparedness to stakeholders through an embedded and tested approach.

1. Virtualisation: – Business
Continuity Solution or Enabler?
www.theagenci.com
VMUG 17 April 2012
Leeds

2. Hargobind Singh Ahluwalia, Managing Director
Agenci Ltd
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3. Introductions
Hargobind Singh Ahluwalia
Managing Director at Agenci Ltd | secure business
Business Continuity Consultant - RSA Emerging Markets
Senior Risk Consultant: Deloitte
IT Leader: GE Capital Solution ( Fleet Services)
More than 15 years of experience in business governance, risk and compliance. Extensively worked on
delivering Information security and business continuity using industry standard frameworks.
Hold industry certifications CISSP, CISA, ITIL. Trained in Six sigma.
Accountability and responsibility for the delivery of Business Continuity across 21 countries. Developed
BCM planning framework and training followed by delivering processes and training to build local
country capabilities.
Developed BCM and disaster recovery plans for businesses in Insurance, Retail banking, Finance,
Fleet management sectors.
Conducted design review of systems and interfaces for a Global Oil major, to define the scope of
disaster recovery testing as part of the business continuity framework.
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4. BCM in news
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5. Olympics 2012 and BCM
• Some of the areas where advice has been
provided by various government
organisations:
• Staffing issues – attendance, leaves etc.
• Internet services bandwidth and performance
challenge
• Mobile networks capacity
• Transport challenges – travel and supplies
• Good example of pro-active support in
anticipation of a specific planned
event/disruption.
http://www.london2012.com/documents/business/preparing-your-business-for-the-games.pdf
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6. Some potential disruptions
• Travel disruptions due to icy conditions and
inclement weather.
• Social/political unrest leading to various
disruptions. ( Riots in London, Unrest in
Middle east).
• Loss of key staff member/s.
• Loss of key suppliers.
• Loss of work premises due to flood, fire etc.
• Pandemic spread.
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7. What if?
• What would you do tomorrow if the office
building was on fire today?
• What would your staff do?
• What would your customers do?
• What would your competitors do?
• What would your bank and shareholders do?
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8. What is Business Continuity Management?
Definition:
“Business Continuity Management is an
holistic management process that
identifies potential threats to an
organisation and the impacts to business
operations that those threats – if realized
– might cause, and which provides a
framework for building organisational
resilience with the capability for an
effective response that safeguards the
interests of its key stakeholders,
reputation, brand, and value-creating
activities”.
© Business Continuity Institute 2010
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9. What does BCM deliver?
Business continuity processes are designed to:
• ensure people safety.
• make sure staff are able to cope with the disruption.
• minimise any risk of disruption to services.
• ensure we can maintain our essential services.
• ensure that if a disruption does occur, the main
priority will be the recovery of key services within
agreed timeframes.
• Provide clear communications to staff, customers,
stakeholders and management.
People safety is your number one priority
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10. What BCM is not
BCM is not:
• about “everything”.
• just about IT disaster recovery.
• about mitigating every possible threat to the
business but aims to have an agreed response
to un-predictable incidents.
• just about reacting to an incident but preparing
in advance.
• not a professional specialist discipline but
should be part of the business process in
Business As Usual (BAU).
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12. Embedding BCM
Embedding BCM in the organisation’s
culture means:
Understanding what is critical to our
Business and the threats to our people or
our processes
Identifying options for recovering from
incidents (large or small) that could disrupt
Business as Usual
BCM Policy and Making plans that enable buildings to be
Programme Management quickly evacuated and Business Critical
functions to be resumed as quickly as
possible.
Clearly defining roles and responsibilities
Ensuring staff in all business areas and
sites are involved in producing these plans
and are trained to implement them.
People and plans should be tested on a
regular basis to:
provide assurance plans will be
effective
as a training aid
to improve the plans
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13. Components of BCM
Effective Business Continuity is built on 7 P’s:
1. Programme – proactively managing the process
2. People – roles & responsibilities, awareness &
education
3. Processes – all organisational processes,
including ICT
4. Premises – buildings & facilities
5. Providers – supply chain, including outsourcing
6. Profile – brand, image, reputation
7. Performance – benchmarking, evaluation & audit
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14. Business Continuity Plans
Business Continuity Plans Definition:
“A documented collection of procedures
and information that have been developed,
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
CONTINGENCY PLANS
DISASTER RECOVERY PLANS
BUSINESS RESUMPTION PLANS
SPECIALIST PLANS – (e.g. Pandemic)
Other?
compiled and maintained in readiness for
use in an incident, to enable an
organisation to continue to deliver its
important and urgent activities, at an
acceptable and pre-defined level”
• BCP can exist at any level from
the whole organisation down to
procedural detail within a
department
• BCP can be scoped by product,
location, department and
scenario
• We cannot plan for everything –
so ensure plans cover what is
needed and at the right level
• Plans do not need to be large
and complicated - they need to
be appropriate
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15. Virtualisation benefits
• Recovering from disaster related to IT infrastructure
to improve up-time.
• Better feasibility and recoverability for the
infrastructure.
• Can allow the IT function to dedicate more time
supporting functional recovery.
• When implemented correctly can assist DR process
by shortening Recovery Point Objective and
Recovery Time Objective.
• Improves portability to a range of physical
infrastructure.
• When delivered for end-user devices can deliver
quick turnaround during the Work Area recovery.
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16. Summary
• Like Risk Management, the responsibility for BCM rest on
everyone’s shoulder and not just the BCM Manager.
• Virtualisation is a great enabler for the technology recovery but
there is much more to BCM.
• BCM is the clear way to demonstrate to stakeholders that the
company has prepared, and can effectively manage
interruptions to it’s Business.
• Having a embedded and tested BCM in the business
demonstrate pro-active management and in many cases
provide improvement opportunities.
• Industry data proves that interruptions are inevitable for all
organisations.
"He who fails to plan is planning to fail“
Winston Churchill (and others!)
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17. Questions?
?
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