The 19th Annual Business Continuity Awards - Celebrating achievements in business continuity, security and resilience, are open for entries. The annual Business Continuity Awards is the most anticipated event in the business continuity calendar and provides unrivalled networking, alongside a night of entertainment and celebration.

A disconnect exists between business continuity professionals and end users when it comes to workplace recovery, according to a report carried out by the Business Continuity Institute. The global study showed that, while only 12% of business continuity experts confirm their organisation lacks a workplace recovery arrangement, 31% of end users claimed their employers don’t have any arrangements in place, or they are unaware of what they are.

One in three organisations has experienced cumulative losses of over €1 million during the last year as a result of supply chain disruption. This is according to a report published today by the Business Continuity Institute. Despite a decrease in the percentage of organisations that experienced at least one disruption (70% from 74%), those organisations suffered more of them, with the percentage of organisations that experienced at least eleven disruptions during the year increasing from 7% to 22%.

Crises Control has been listed on the latest government G-Cloud 8 framework. The G-Cloud 8 Service is operated from two distinct environments to provide government and public sector customers with choice and price flexibility, dependent upon their information assurance requirements.

Communication issues have for the first time been named as the top cause of UK invocations in the UK in Sungard Availability Services’ annual Availability Trends report. Overall, the number of downtime incidents – in which staff were unable to work from their usual office or access business critical systems – remained largely the same, with only a five per cent decrease compared to 2014’s figures.

Research carried out into the causes of, and responses to, the persistent threat of cyber attack has found some worrying trends in how companies respond to such incidents, including how quickly -- or more to the point slowly -- they take action after an incident has occurred. The Business Continuity Institute’s research is based on a survey of 369 business continuity professionals from across the globe.

Congratulations to all of this year's Business Continuity Awards winners. If you didn't make it to the Marriott on Grosvenor Square to join the celebrations, found out who won here... Hosted by comedian Ed Byrne, the 18th annual Business Continuity Awards...

The concept of ‘scenario analysis’ is often referred to as an essential tool in the risk manager’s tool kit, but is rarely fully explained. Put simply, scenario analysis is an exercise conducted to consider the questions ‘what might happen and what would we do?’ It can help to highlight risks and opportunities in the short and long term and used to test the effectiveness and efficiency of the relevant controls in place. However, scenario analysis is not a stand-alone activity and it should form part of the organisation’s overall risk management system, which in turn should be aligned to the organisation’s business model.

The public consultation process for the international standard ISO 22316 Guidelines for organisational resilience is now open with UK comments requested by 13th June 2016. National standards organisation, BSI, is leading the consultation process in the UK. Organisations that are resilient understand their behaviour can create long term success," commented Scott Steedman, director of standards at BSI. "They take a proactive approach to governing themselves and have noted the importance of being prepared. This strategy applies across a wide range of disciplines such as asset management, business continuity, cyber security, environmental management and facilities management, to name a few. We are very pleased that ISO 22316 will continue the work started by BS 65000, and help deliver benefits to businesses of all sizes and sectors around the world.”

Kaspersky Lab has launched a specialised solution for securing critical infrastructure and industrial facilities, addressing the need to manage industrial cyber risks and protect the continuity and integrity of technological processes in these environments. Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity has been designed for use in power plants, refineries and assembly lines to railways, airports and smart buildings, which demand faultless continuity and consistency of the technological process.

Risk is something that dominates our lives but is sometimes hard to define and quantify – not least because it can mean anything from an injury resulting from a fall, going bankrupt the possibility of mass flooding caused by global warming, child sexual exploitation or a terrorist attack.

Having begun his career in disaster recovery at IBM in the 1970s, Jim Burtles has some 40 years’ experience in the business continuity sector. In 1994 he helped to found the original Business Continuity Institute. His practical experience includes hands-on recovery work with victims of traumatic events such as explosions, earthquakes, storms, and fires.

The most significant threats to the global business supply chain have been identified in a new industry report, with extreme weather and cargo theft topping the list. BSI's latest global supply chain intelligence report reveals the supply chain risks that caused the most damage to businesses in the last year, as well as predictions of the biggest threats in 2016.

Congratulations to all our finalists in this year's Business Continuity Awards, celebrating the very best in your sector. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner and awards presentation, during an evening of networking with hundreds of the business continuity and resilience professionals. Hosted by comedian Ed Byrne, the 2016 Awards will be a night to remember. This year’s finalists are…

Sungard Availability Services has announced its latest £4million investment across the organisation’s Workplace Recovery service locations, aimed at updating hardware. The upcoming refresh is Sungard AS’ most advanced so far, with each machine featuring Intel’s Quad core Itanium i7-6700 processor and the Q170 Skylake chipset.