Counting the costs … the parallax perspective

The technical definition of Parallax “is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight”(Wikipedia). It can also be used as a means to determine distance since nearby objects have a larger parallax effect when observed from different positions than more distant objects exhibit.

In simpler terms it means that we see something as different, and relating to its surroundings differently, when we look at it from a different place or a different point of view.

For me that especially relates to this issue of counting the costs and benefits for business continuity.

I have been fortunate, over the years, to have held a range of different job roles. Often these roles forced me to look differently at the idea of business continuity and the core question of its worth.

• As an in-house Head of BC (back in the heady days of the 1980’s) it was all about the budget.
  • The cost of BC was the amount I was allocated to spend, and I was probably a little altruistic and argued for there being a benefit.
  • But, in truth, the benefit was intangible and could only ever be realised in a major incident.
    • We didn’t have one, and there was no insurance discounts or customer demands to see evidence of BC.
  • I argued (very successfully at times) for the BC budget to be increased – but that is what you do in the corporate and Government world, increase your share of the pie when you can
• Later I was a CIO, and I could determine allocation of resources for BC, DR and a range of other purposes.
  • But continuity and recovery are just one of a myriad of demands, and my customers didn’t put a great value on it.
    • The other things got most of the resources, and most of my attention
  • We did have a major incident that kept us out of our building (and Data centre) for a month.
    • We built an alternative site from scratch in a week and had minimal (critical) operations running again
    • Great return on investment that cost $0 – I borrowed any plans we needed form my previous role as Head of BC.
  • When we got back to ‘normal’ there was just too much to do to invest in being struck by lightning twice.
• Later when I became a consultant the benefits of investing in a top shelf BC Programme became very tangible – at least to me.
  • Consultants can be very compelling with their arguments for why you need to increase your BC budget and how essential it is that you have a perfectly defined, built and operating BC programme.
  • But nobody else can really know what the optimum BC solution is for your organisation.
• These days I spend more of my time as a Programme Manager outside of BC, delivering large-scale change.
  • Co-ordinating multiple projects, determining where the resources I control are applied
  • Working closely with the Top Executives and delivering the outcomes they value and will pay for
    • A level of BC capability in the programme is normally expected, but not too much.
    • Risk Management, on the other hand, is absolutely essential – and a significant area of focus and scrutiny.
  • Sometimes implementing change will sometimes negate or diminish the existing continuity arrangements – but the change goes ahead and the continuity capability needs to be rebuilt later.
    • And, yes, probably by somebody else who has to go and secure the resources for it
  • At the end of the day, this is true ‘continuity of the business’, making it more efficient and more competitive – generating the income/revenue that will allow a BC cost centre to spend/invest going forward.

My experience has led me to think the key aspect we can focus on to exploit this Parallax perspective is distance. Remember the technical definition? The closer the object the greater the parallax effect.

We, in the BC field, are sometimes too close – and almost always too passionate – on the subject of how much BC is needed.

Passion is good, but distance is also valuable. When viewed from a dispassionate distance the variations, and the extent of BC investment that may be required somehow seems smaller.

All rather heavy going, and maybe at times self-indulgent and depressing. But learning to recognise that our Executives and Senior Managers have different, but equally valid perspectives, is critical to getting their support.

Perhaps it would have been easier (and more entertaining) to just let Joel Gray explain it, via this song from the movie Cabaret. (Please remember, it is satire).