Commercial Initiatives – are led by David Leigh, a specialist in business continuity, disaster recovery and incident management. They offer a comprehensive service based on the following principles :
Continuous Improvement
A methodology that aims to ensure a company’s BCM/ISM programme is appropriately maintained. This typically consists of four elements :
- Plan Currency
- Exercising & Testing
- Programme Review
- Strategic Review
Information Security Review
A baseline review of an organisation’s current strengths and weaknesses against a comprehensive set of information security controls (typically BS7799/ISO17799). May include network penetration testing.
Exercising and Testing
The execution of Recovery Plans in a “safe” environment, to assess the plans’ effectiveness, identify weaknesses and improvements, and exercise Recovery Team members. This can take many forms and may be full or partial, pre-arranged or unannounced. Options include structured walkthroughs, call out tests, technical (eg IT) recovery and business function recovery exercises and network penetration tests.
Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
An assessment of a business detailing the impact that would be felt if it were unable to operate normally due to a major incident or security breach. Expressed in both quantitative (financial) and qualitative (reputation) terms, the BIA is used to determine and justify a BCM and/or ISM strategy.
Recovery Strategy Development
- An examination of external and internal recovery solutions appropriate to the company’s requirements.
- The determination of cost-effective solutions to meet a company’s Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and recovery needs. This usually follows and is driven by the Business Impact Analysis.
Incident Management
- The process of managing an incident that escalates beyond day-to-day operational failure.
- Assistance with the recovery process and management of external and internal teams throughout an incident.
Risk Analysis
- An assessment of the threats to a company, both commercial and environmental.
- The categorisation of such threats and means of mitigation.
Plan Development
The formal documentation of procedures to enable a company to execute its BCM or ISM strategy at the time of an incident.
Implementation
Project management of creating the recovery solution(s) identified at the Recovery Strategy Development stage. This includes the acquisition, delivery and installation of equipment and facilities, and the release and issue of Business Continuity Plans and associated documentation.
Health Check/ Capability Review
A review of existing Business Continuity or Disaster Recovery plans and their underlying strategies to determine an organisation’s readiness and recovery capability.
Testimonials
“When we had our gas explosion in Salford in November 2010, the plans developed for us by David Leigh and the Commercial Initiatives team provided us with a strong foundation to deal with the ensuing crisis. The Incident Management Plan itself ensured that we were able to focus on the key issues during the immediate aftermath of the incident thus avoiding “headless chicken syndrome”. Our response was widely praised by other bodies including the Police and statutory authorities. Without the plan, and perhaps even more importantly, the rigorous scenario testing of the plan we had undertaken with David and his team our response would have been far less professional. We were able to move seamlessly from the Incident Management phase to wider business recovery as a result of looking beyond the initial incident during our planning and scenario testing exercises. The incident attracted widespread media coverage both locally and nationally and again the work we had done with David and the team on media relations enabled us to respond effectively to that interest and manage any difficult reputational issues.
Although we would prefer that they didn’t, disasters and crises do happen and thanks to the work we had done with Commercial Initiatives we were able to deal with this major incident effectively and professionally”
- Paul Whitehead, Director of Finance and Corporate Services at City West Housing Trust
” We have used Commercial Initiatives several times now to run a test of our business continuity plan, using real life scenarios. The exercises have always been valuable, helping us to review and improve our plans through David Leigh and the Commercial Initiatives team completing a Business Impact Analysis for us. Commercial Initiatives have also developed our departmental recovery team plans. We have really learnt from the expertise of David and his team. Staff particularly participating in the exercise say they have come away with a very practical and enjoyable experience of business continuity.”
- Kathryn Bull, Executive Director A2Dominion Housing Group
