Business continuity management

It’s Business Continuity Awareness Week. Which coincides nicely with the news that we recently achieved ISO 22301 accreditation for business continuity management.

We’re proud to be one of the first UK businesses to achieve this international accreditation. We’ve always worked hard to ensure that all parts of our business are robust. Our business continuity provisions were accredited under the former British standard BS 25999, and the transition to the international ISO 22301 was a natural one for us.

Our COO and business continuity champion on the Board, Derek McManus sums it up nicely: “Achieving ISO 22301 accreditation demonstrates our commitment to providing a reliable, high-quality service to our customers. It shows that we have the resources, investment and processes in place to protect ourselves from potential service disruption – minimising the impact on our customers.”

The acid test

Last year, in the run-up to the Olympic Games, we got an opportunity that most businesses don’t – the chance to put our business continuity plans to the test.

We undertook a number of activities, and one of the most high-profile involved asking 2500 of our employees to work away from our Slough Head Office for one day. The goal was to try out our technology, our network and the way we work – for real, on a working day.

And I’m glad to say that we passed the test. Everyone was able to do their normal work – with no impact on our customers.

The ISO 22301 accreditation and the results of our flexible working day both demonstrate that we really do understand business readiness and continuity. And that our customers can rely on us when the unexpected occurs.

We can tell you more about business continuity and our ISO 22301 accreditation. Just call Matt Worth on 01235 433 507. You can also visit our website or follow us on Twitter @O2BusinessUK.