Business As Usual helps you continue your business, no matter what!

Business As Usual offers practical implementation and training services, including templates and frameworks, in the areas of:

• Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
• Disaster Recovery (DR) Management and exercises/tests
• Audit preparation and BCP/IT Health Checks (HB221, CobiT, APRA)
• Pandemic/swine/H1N1 Flu Planning of SMEs and larger corporates
• Organisational buy-in and awareness of BCP/DR
• Integration with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
• Business Process Improvement

Compliance with government regulations and standards is facilitated by specialised pre-audit (including APRA) assessment, consulting and training services, which have been developed in accordance with the APRA Standard GPS222/APS232 (financial industry), British Standard BS25999, ISO22399 and Australian Standard HB221/292.

APRA Audits, Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

An increasing awareness of BCP and Disaster Recovery (DR) Planning and the emergence of regulations is seen globally across industries. In Australia, since April 2005, all Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs), i.e. Australian banks and insurance companies, must comply with - and are audited according to - a new APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) standard in regards to their Business Continuity Planning (BCP) capability.

What clients say

“Thanks for the great course. Your format, delivery and content are excellent. You have obviously invested many hours into development, and your real world examples from your (very) extensive experience add heaps. I learnt a lot. Some of which I’ve already utilised. Thanks again!” P. Howley - World Vision Australia

Other comments from consultancy clients and seminar participants (including Continuity Forum, itSMF, CPA Australia, Brunei Darussalam, and ALC participants in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Australia):

• “Excellent templates, which save time and effort in developing BC Plans.”
• “Very knowledgeable in BCP. Great ideas presented.”
• “Very informative! Instigated ideas, thoughts and questions to take back to the workplace.”
• “Good, practical, work-through examples.”
• “Suitable for small as well as large organisations.”
• “Very thought-provoking, well researched. Knowledgeable presenter.”
• “Excellent, a very clear and useful workshop”.

Avian influenza - an epidemiology of human H5N1 cases reported to WHO

Part of Weekly Epidemiological Record, published on WHO website (www.who.org) - 30 June 2006

• The number of new countries reporting human cases increased from 4 to 9 after October 2005, following the geographical extension of outbreaks among avian populations.
• Half of the cases occurred in people under the age of 20 years; 90% of cases occurred in people under the age of 40 years.
• The overall case-fatality rate was 56%. Case fatality was high in all age groups but was highest in persons aged 10 to 39 years.
• The case-fatality profile by age group differs from that seen in seasonal influenza, where mortality is highest in the elderly.
• The overall case-fatality rate was highest in 2004 (73%), followed by 63% to date in 2006, and 43% in 2005.
• Assessment of mortality rates and the time intervals between symptom onset and hospitalization and between symptom onset and death suggests that the illness pattern has not changed substantially during the three years.
• Cases have occurred all year round. However, the incidence of human cases peaked, in each of the three years in which cases have occurred, during the period roughly corresponding to winter and spring in the northern hemisphere. If this pattern continues, an upsurge in cases could be anticipated starting in late 2006 or early 2007.

A more standardized collection of epidemiological data by countries and timely sharing of these data are needed to improve monitoring of the situation, risk assessment, and the management of H5N1 patients.

For more information
Epidemiology of WHO-confirmed human cases of avian A(H5N1) infection
30 June 2006, Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) vol. 81, 26 (pp 249–260)

This consultancy service is used as ‘pre-audit’ to get the organisation ready for annual/APRA audits, or as a general check-up on its BCP/DR/ITSCM processes. The Health Check is developed in accordance with APRA, British Standard BS25999, ISO/PAS 22399, DS4 (COBIT) and Australian Standard HB221.

A Health Check report is provided after assessment.

In order to provide you with assistance in getting ready for internal/external BCP audits, Business As Usual also launches in 2009 a new 1-day workshop to assist with your organisation’s audit preparation and determine the gaps in your BCP.

Are you ready for the Business Continuity Audit? (1-day workshop)
Presented by Rinske Geerlings, CBCP (DRII)

This workshop gives you hands-on experience and is a confidence builder for those who are faced with the challenge of Business Continuity (BC) or Disaster Recovery (DR) audits. It assists in reviewing your own organisation’s BC capability and DR processes.

This workshop assists your organisation with assurance or compliance/certification with standards such as ISO/PAS 22399, APS222/GPS232 (APRA), BS25999, AS HB221:2004, Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, NFPA 1600:2007, ITSCM (ITIL) and DS4 (COBIT)

Learning Outcomes

• Understand how to review the organisation’s BC/DR processes
• Improve your preparedness for BC/DR audits and assurance initiatives
• Be better equipped for any Business Continuity audit consulting work
• Understand in what ways BC/DR audits can be challenging
• Learn how to present findings and recommendations to senior management
• Know how to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls in relation to BCP audits

Next dates:
Melbourne - Mon 23 March 2009
Sydney - Tue 31 March 2009
Brisbane - Tue 21 April 2009

Other cities in Australia, New Zealand and Asia at request. Visit the training website for more information, download the brochure here, email us for more information, or phone Greg or Dennis at ALC via (+61) 2 9388 9999 for further details.

Other information about Business As Usual training courses that are available in combination with the 1-day Audit workshop (including testimonials) can be found here.

Development and improvement of BC Plans

Business As Usual coaches managers responsible for BCP/DR with implementing improved processes, as required by using Business As Usual templates and/or in house training.

BCP - Board preparation and presentations

Business As Usual assists with board presentations at the organisation, in order to get the business case (and budget) for BCP/DR approved, and facilitates board room rehearsals and role plays based on disaster scenarios.

Regular involvement with business groups and running practical workshops form the basis of Business As Usual’s ‘best-practice’ approach to Business Continuity.

A set of templates facilitate the implementation of improved BCP/DR processes. Templates are developed in accordance with APRA, the newly released British Standard BS25999 and Australian Standards.

Examples of templates offered by Business As Usual to assist your organisation in documenting its Business Continuity process, are related to:

• Risk assessment and categorisation
• Business Continuity Planning organisational structure
• Documenting key business processes
• Performing operational and financial Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
• BC Plan development
• BC Plan exercises and training

Click here for information on simple, affordable BCP/DRP templates for Small and Medium sized organisations (SMEs)

This service includes assistance with achieving compliance (e.g. operational risk management including Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II compliance) and cost efficiency/productivity improvement projects.

Wednesday Nov 1 22:59 AEDT - NineMSN

The head of spy agency ASIO says he was shocked by the magnitude of the home-grown terrorist threat facing Australia when he took charge of the organisation.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director general Paul O’Sullivan said he was alarmed by the number of Australians who were travelling overseas to train as terrorists when he up the job 16 months ago.

“I was surprised to see that we do have a serious problem in Australia,” he told a National Press Club dinner in Canberra.

“It does come as something of a shock to see that there are home-grown people who would like to do us harm in this country.”

Mr O’Sullivan was also asked about the fate of two Iraqi asylum seekers who were the subject of adverse security assessments by ASIO, one of whom is still in immigration detention on the Pacific island of Nauru.

Both men were picked up by the cargo ship Tampa in August 2001.

Mr O’Sullivan said Mohammed Sagar, the man being held on Nauru, was not interested in settling in Australia.

The other man, Muhammad Faisal, was flown to Australia in August to treat his mental illness.

Mr O’Sullivan said Mr Faisal had applied for a new protection visa and would automatically get a new security assessment from ASIO as a result.

In response to a question from the floor, Mr O’Sullivan said the role of ASIO had changed fundamentally since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Intelligence gathered by the organisation was being used increasingly as evidence in court proceedings and this was changing the way the agency was collecting and recording evidence, he said.

©AAP 2006

Business As Usual assists by providing IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Master Level training (Service Support and Service Delivery processes) and implementing ITIL processes.

ITIL (ITSCM) integration with BCM

Organisations that struggle with linking ITIL (ITSCM) with BCP/DR processes have come to the right partner, as certification is held in both of these areas and we are experienced in aligning Business Continuity plans with IT Service Continuity plans.

For a presentation given by Rinske Geerlings during the Dec 2006 itSMF NSW seminar, please click on the link below:

Presentation given by Rinske Geerlings (itSMF NSW seminar - 7 Dec 2006)

For the upcoming itSMF conference (27-29 August 2008, Canberra) where Business As Usual will be speaking, see the itSMF Conference website.

By Steven Deare, ZDNet Australia - 12 October 2006

Business continuity planning has become so driven by information systems that many organisations neglect to practise how employees themselves would seek refuge in the event of a disaster.   For the full article, click here.