ISO 22301 FDIS

As previously mentioned the Final Draft International Standard has been released.  The BSI have taken the unusual step of making this available for purchase, a recognition of the widespread interest.  This can  be found at - http://shop.bsigroup.com/en/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030259977

The FDIS still needs to be approved, but if it is, then publication will follow and so I would currently anticipate that the final version should be available in May of this year. 

ISO22301 Published as FDIS

ISO22301 has moved another stage closer to final publication as it has now been released as an FDIS. Only minor amendments are allowed at this stage but it is still subject to a final vote to ratify it for final publication.

Business continuity training, ISO 22301 and competence

Oprel are pleased to announce the launch of our training courses which can be provided as bespoke in-house courses or you can attend the public courses.  We are offering a course on implementing ISO 22301 taking you through all of the steps needed to implement this new standard, due for publication later in 2012.

Our larger offering is a new set of courses, organized as 10 modules and with study in between these modules where you can study in greater depth and apply what you have learned.  These courses take you through the basics of business continuity and then through the entire lifecycle, combining study with practical exercises.

We are trying to offer a different form of training to our attendees.  The training is not just in the class but is supported by mentoring and information sharing between modules.  Our aim is to impart knowledge and capability, you should emerge as a competent business continuity practitioner.  Too many courses are designed to cram information and then to take an exam for qualifications, but here we are aiming to produce competent people over a longer period with more in-depth support.

If this sounds interesting to you, please contact us.

2012–What does the new year promise?

As is fashionable at the turn of the year, I thought I would give some consideration to what the new year might bring us in 2012.  I often used to quote Sam Goldwyn, although I understand that I should be crediting the great Danish scientist Niels Bohr, in saying "it is exceedingly difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future".  If we ever doubted this, we should consider the predictions made by the knowledgeable for 2011.

I looked back at the Economist publication, “The World in 2011”, an annual which does have the good grace to review its own predictions retrospectively each year.  One of the biggest events of last year was the “Arab Spring”.  What did the forecasters have to say about this?

Tunisia is where the Arab Spring was born.  Tunisia did not feature at all in the magazine, including in the summary of countries and their prospects across North Africa.  Egypt would have elections for the succession of Mubarak which would pass on to his son, whilst Libya would remain under Gadhafi. Not one hint that there would be a massive uprising of popular sentiment and an overthrow of the regimes.

In Japan we have seen the terrible earthquake and tsunami and in Thailand widespread flooding, of course these were not predicted either.

So let us ponder 2012.  I predict that something unusual will happen that none of us can foresee. And that’s why we should plan for what are essentially unforeseen events that interrupt business and life in general, and not for a long series of specific scenarios which will never happen or at least, not in the way that you might predict.  Have a good 2012!

Standards News

ISO have issued a press release confirming the publication of ISO 22320:2011, Societal security – Emergency management – Requirements for incident response which I had mentioned in my recent post.  You can see the press release here: http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1496