Since 2006 Steelhenge has been contracted to provide the UK Ministry of Defence with business continuity training and exercise services for its Head Office and London Sites.
Each year, Steelhenge delivers a series of strategic desk-top exercises for senior business continuity executives, situational awareness study days for Head Office business continuity team members and full simulation exercises (SIMEXs) for the whole strategic organisation responsible for the continuity of MOD’s departmental core functions in crisis and recovery.
Scenarios are developed based upon currently-assessed risks to Government and the nation. The scenario and main events list are then developed through close co-operation with other Government entities, MOD departmental stakeholders and relevant external agencies. This process results in a robust scenario which stands up to scrutiny and can be used to address even the most complex issues affecting MOD business throughout exercise play. An additional benefit is that Steelhenge’s risks and impacts studies, which are used to build the scenarios, also serve as the basis for the building of contingency plans, aide-memoire and checklists for use by MOD in real crises.
The culmination of this process is the fully simulated exercise for the whole organisation, from Ministers downwards.
With the realism of the scenario as the basis, the virtual reality of the exercise experienced is enhanced through the use of a highly-developed virtual news network broadcasting current national and local ‘news’ on a continuous and dynamic programme. Realism in communication and information management is enhanced through using the Steelhenge Exercise LAN. This is a completely secure closed-loop LAN which, for the MOD, is designed to simulate intranet capabilities and all internal and external agencies.
The SIMEX experience enables MOD to be confident that it has the right mechanisms, structures, people and plans in place to make it resilient when faced with the management of, and recovery from a broad scale of disruptive challenges. It allows them to identify future risks, address areas for improvement and maintain the levels of training needed for staff to perform confidently.
