Steelhenge in the Media

NHS: Care With Continuity - Published CIR Magazine February 2010 issue

NHS Care With Continuity - Read the full article here

What are the realities of implementing business continuity within a care services environment? Rebecca Norton considers some of the likely challenges and how the standard approach can be applied.

Managing Energy Emergencies - Published Gas International December 2009 issue

Managing Energy Emergencies - Read the full article here

Report on the Managing Energy Emergencies Workshop, October 2009, Dublin.  Key topics included an update on the operation of emergency arrangements in the South and the North, feedback from Exercise Quartz, the impact of pandemics and fuel supply emergencies on the energy industry and how to lead an emergency response effectively.

Hands On ICT Planning - Published in Continuity magazine September/October 2009 issue

Hands on ICT planning - Read the full article here

With the worry of large scale staff absenteeism resulting from a pandemic, businesses are preparing plans to ensure that customer facing and revenue generating services can be maintained with reduced numbers of staff.  Equally important to maintaining almost every organisation’s core business processes are the ICT services.  Yet, it is easy to forget that ICT services are dependant on the human touch to keep operating at the desired levels.  This article examines the levels of human interaction required to run and maintain the ICT services.  It looks at the common interactive tasks such as day to day operations, backup and recovery processing and break/fix activities and the impact that a reduction in staff may have.

Top Ten Tips in a Crisis - Published in The Times 10th March 2009

Top ten tips in a crisis - Read the full article here

Firstly, open your crisis plan... if you don't have one then follow these tips:

1. Find out what has happened

2. Clearly identify a crisis team and team leader

3. Assess the impact (on your people, assets, customers, reputation)

4. Develop an action plan

People at Crisis Point Article - Published in CIR magazine September/October 2008 issue

People at Crisis Point - Read the full article here

When the phone rings, it is a person who takes the call, a person who takes the next step and people who respond and manage an incident. Working under pressure in the crisis arena presents a very different set of challenges to that of the normal work environment. Arguments for crisis preparation are manifold: staff deserve to be prepared, and experience shows that rehearsed teams always outperform those that have not. The groundwork is also more likely to lead to a successful outcome for the affected organisation – whether it is a question of keeping clients happy, saving brand reputation or simply maintaining continuity.

I have watched many crisis teams, continuity teams and even simply groups of people pulled together at a moments notice respond to various incidents and simulated scenarios. The lessons repeat themselves again and again. Those fortunate enough to have been trained and rehearsed in their incident management role over several years of a crisis management or business continuity management programme respond with increasing coherence, competence and confidence. However, many are not in this position.

Organisational Resilience Article: Playing With Fire - Published in The Daily Telegraph 31st May 2007

Playing With Fire - Read the full article here 

In a world increasingly obsessed with eliminating risk to individuals, businesses and public organisations today face a widening range of threats; are they really prepared for them?

Planning, training and exercising are the three parts of an organisation’s resilience strategy that are now, from a risk management perspective, absolutely non-negotiable.

The rising risk environment is well document and 'risk assessments' are now the prerequisite of every activity. But their very ubiquity obscures, and even exacerbates, the real problem for organisations. Assessing risk may absolve you from theoretical or legal responsibility when things go wrong: it doesn't do anything to ensure you can put them right.