Middle East Survey: Disconnect in companies’ continuity plans


Written by Phil on November 19, 2009 in Business Continuity, survey.

Seventy-two per cent of companies in the Middle East have business continuity (BC) policies – but of this just 70 per cent have fully worked out continuity and disaster recovery plans, according to a new survey.

A reasonable number of companies have implemented initial elements such as identifying and training staff and formulating a business continuity management (BCM) policy.

But only 19 per cent of respondents have had a robust BCM programme in place for a number of years, said the report by IT solutions company eHosting DataFort and the BCM Institute.

Seventeen per cent of those questioned said they had started to maintain and exercise their plans, while 10 per cent had recently developed BC plans.

Only 19 per cent are currently developing and writing BC plans, while 12 per cent are at the decision-making stage or intend to initiate a BCM programme.

Overall, 76 per cent of organisations are at different stages of the BCM lifecycle, while the remaining 24 per cent are still to take a decision or have no concrete plans to initiate a programme in the near future.

“The repercussions of the recent power outage in Sharjah, the undersea cable cut that caused widespread internet outage for almost a week and the devastation caused by Cyclone Gonu in Oman are prime examples that strongly underline the need for proactive planning,” said Yasser Zeineldin, CEO eHosting DataFort, a Tecom subsidiary.

See Disconnect in companies’ continuity plans, by Nancy Sudheer.

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