So this is what passes for thought leadership in business continuity management (BCM) these days.

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), a U.K. professional association with global ambitions and under-exploited footholds in the growth markets of Asia, Middle East and South America, goes looking for a partner in North America. After thoughtful deliberation about the future of BCM in the 21^st century, and with all the time in the world to make a choice, they select…the Disaster Recovery Journal (DRJ), a 24-year old, American, family-owned magazine publisher and conference producer that must be the only BCM business in the world still calling it “disaster recovery,” the most-resented term in BCM profession.

BCI’s announcement says the alliance “aims to align thought leadership between [the] two organizations,” while DRJ’s press release says the alliance will “broaden and deepen discussions in…business continuity and related professions.”

That “thought leadership” bit caught my eye. When I first skimmed the headline, I mistakenly thought the BCI and the American professional association formerly-known-as the Disaster Recovery Institute International – DRII – had finally decided to stop pissing on each other’s shoes. Now, that would be news.  Read more... (2676 words, 2 images, estimated 10:42 mins reading time)

Updated: August 4, 2011 @ 15:30

What’s the future career path for today’s BCM professional? I’ve plodded along a BCM career path for 14 years, and I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. All I see is more tunnel.

Here’s a simplified job description for a BCM Manager in a multinational company in Asia, and maybe where you live, too:

1. Get lukewarm to tepid management support
2. Struggle for modest funding in good times, grovel for derisory funding in bad times
3. Perform a risk assessment (optional in many companies)
4. Lead reluctant business units through a business impact analysis (BIA)
5. Develop continuity strategies that don’t cost anything to implement
6. Write plans in a template, removing any opportunity for creativity
7. Set up (and maintain) a recovery site
8. Exercise, often without any element of surprise
9. Repeat endlessly.

Did I miss anything?

I’m not making a judgment about the value of BCM or BCM professionals. I am one. I’m making a judgment about the long-term prospects in our profession for the vast majority of practitioners today. I know several regional, national or international BCM directors who get to travel, manage the work of others, make presentations at industry conferences, give interviews to reporters. But I hope they’ll be happy doing the same thing in 2020, because I just can’t see many of them moving up the corporate org chart. There may be exceptions, but I think they only prove the rule.  Read more... (3923 words, 1 image, estimated 15:42 mins reading time)

A headhunting partnership between U.S. recruiter BC Management (BCM) and Asia’s Forbes Calamity Prevention (FCP) placed its first candidate as BCP Manager at the Taiwan headquarters of a global insurance company.

BC Management specializes in business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, risk management, and information security careers. Forbes Calamity Prevention focuses on Asia from its Singapore office, covering the booming business centers of India, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. The companies have 20 years of satisfied clients between them.

“With FCP, we can help hiring managers recruit high-quality candidates in business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, risk management, and information security for companies in Asia, ” said BC Management President Ms. Cheyene Haase. “Asia is the next recruiting frontier for multinational companies, and their interest in qualified Asian BCP candidates is really booming.”

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