Client: Canadian Crown Corporation

Problem:  Our client is a Canadian crown corporation deemed as providing an essential service to the nation during the pandemic crisis. In advance of Covid-19 related events, the organization was undergoing efforts to enhance their business continuity practices.  The senior management team was very conscious of the value of a solid crisis management and recovery planning in enabling organizational resilience.

Solution: Members of the Baiame Team supported the client in the execution of a Business Impact Assessment (BIA) and the subsequent implementation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) grounded in principles and best practices developed by Gartner. In order to maintain oversight over BCP implementation and ongoing organizational readiness, the team developed and gradually implemented a related senior management level monitoring program. Key BCP metrics were designed to be simple, measurable and reviewable on a monthly basis. Further, metrics enabled senior management to set targets and enforce transparency over organizational readiness to respond to threats particular to the corporation.

The plan for the BCP monitoring program focused on mission critical business processes, personnel, equipment, and suppliers and included a recommended suite of metrics as follows:

• % of mission-critical business processes without backup architecture to support defined recovery time objectives (RTO)

• % turnover of mission-critical IT personnel

• % of mission-critical equipment without a backup

• % of mission-critical suppliers without BCM programs/contractual terms that ensure ongoing adherence to defined RTO

• % of mission-critical crisis management and recovery plans not tested (with remediation) within the last 12 months 

Impact: The project resulted in increased governance and senior management level oversight of BCP implementation which ensured clear direction and quick action in response to Covid-19 related events.