… BCM in the Public Sector

Today and tomorrow I will be in Melbourne for a Conference addressing BCM in the Public Sector. Today I am facilitating an interactive session on the subject of “Making business continuity an everyday activity”.

Tomorrow I am conducting a half-day workshop entitled “Establishing and Delivering a BCM Programme – thinking beyond the plan”. This workshop is about the application of real programme management, not just the concept that you have an annual cycle of activities that you repeat ad nauseam.

For something different I will be updating this post throughout the day with comments and Observants from the various sessions. Looking forward to some interesting sessions discussing the specific challenges and application of BC thinking to public sector needs.

The conference opened with a presentation from the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority presenting on their benchmark survey of BCM in the Victorian Public Service. The VMIA provides risk and insurance services to all Victorian Government agencies.

Interestingly they also publish their own BCM Guidelines, which blend risk and BC models with the flavouring of some Australian standards and the older Standards Australia BC Handbooks.

The results were presented in contrast to vthe BCI’s published global data, and it is interesting that there was broadly similar findings, with some deviation due to recent extreme weather events in this state.

The always entertaining and engaging Carl Gibson followed, challenging many aspects of “conventional wisdom” in and about BCM.

One of the participants observed that this presentation left him feeling uncomfortable – which really indicates that the presentation served its purpose.

You cannot just take what worked for another person, and perhaps only in one organisation, and just apply it to your situation. That applies even when that advice is contained in a published national or international standard.

The unenviable task of following Carl’s presentation was allocated to addressing the perennial issue of “Garnering support for BCM from executive management” with examples drawn from the Victorian Department of Justice. The last session of the morning reminded us that BCM is not an activity that can, or should, be viewed in isolation. Like risk management, BCM works best when the ideals are integrated into other organisational functions.

While my quest to “live blog” the forum failed miserably after the lunch break that is more a reflection on the level of engagement within the group than anything else.

This was a small group and it was very relaxed and promoted interaction and discussion. Like all conferences there was a mix of experience levels and backgrounds – which makes for interesting conversation and difficulty in finding just the right level to pitch content.