| |
|
Getting credit for having a BCP
This month, U.S. credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) started evaluating the enterprise risk management (ERM) capabilities of non-financial companies that it covers. This is S&P’s announcement, and here are their answers to common questions about it.
What if S&P lowered its credit rating for a company from, say, A- (upper medium grade) to BBB+ (lower medium grade), in part due to its assessment of that company’s ERM capabilities? Suppose as a result, the company were forced to pay a 4.1% coupon instead of 3.9% to make a $200 million bond attractive to investors or underwriters. Two-tenths of one percent (the difference between 4.1% and 3.9%) of $200 million is $400,000.
Could you develop a company business BCM program for $400,000? Could you hire an experienced, certified BCP professional to run it for $400,000? Could you set up a recovery site? Could you make a company genuinely more resilient – and therefore more credit-worthy – for $400,000? As we say in Minnesota, ‘you betcha!’ The benefit side of the BCP cost-benefit calculation would be much easier to quantify.
Of course, it won’t be anywhere near that simple or simplistic, but S&P clearly believes that a company’s ability to manage its risks is an indicator of that company’s ability to repay its debts. Some companies have already learned that risk management is risk-vs-reward judgement, not just a cost-vs-benefit calculation. I believe it will eventually also be acknowledged that companies that manage risk well are also better companies, better employers and better investments.
How could one prove such companies were better investments? By tracking their ERM rankings against their stock prices. I have no doubt at all that S&P will be doing just that, and letting us all know when it has the proof.
Read the full version of this story on Nathaniel Forbes’ BCP Confidential blog.
Emergency Managers form Asia Council
Public- and private-sector emergency managers in 25+ countries in Asia have formed an Asia Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). The Council helps IAEM members in Asia earn their Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) credentials through training and education, and access to experienced EM professionals. The CEM® is the highest, internationally-recognized certification of EM skill and professionalism.
These are the new officers elected by IAEM members in Asia. Join the IAEM here. Learn more about the CEM® program here. Learn about the IAEM in Asia here.
Want to earn a real certification?
Only two credentials for BCP professionals are internationally recognized: the American CBCP from the DRII, and the British MBCI from The Business Continuity Institute. Their courses and examinations cost more because their credentials are worth more: MBCI’s and CBCP’s earn more money. You can check the global compensation surveys at recruiters BC Management.
Here is the 2008 course schedule for the BCI certification and exam in Asia and Western Australia from The BCI’s only licensed representative in Asia, BCP Asia. Here is the DRII’s course schedule in Asia from DRII Singapore.
For professionals with very high aspirations, the Certified Emergency Manager® (CEM®) credential of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is the most difficult to earn. It requires experience, an examination, an essay, professional contributions and 200 hours of training. There are only 1,800 CEM’s in the world, and only a handful of them are in Asia.
The Singapore Civil Defence Academy offers courses that earn CEM training credit; sign up for their courses here. More training endorsements by the IAEM in Asia will be announced soon.
Read about other professional, BCP-related credentials at this link.
Disclosure: The author, Nathaniel Forbes, is an MBCI and an instructor for the BCI certification courses in Asia and Australia. He is not a CBCP, but passed the DRII’s CBCP examination in 1997. He is a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) in Asia; he is hoping to pass the CEM® examination.
Singapore’s TR 19 BCM Standard
In the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s “Framework for Voluntary Preparedness” report of January 2008, the authors refer to Singapore’s Technical Reference for Business Continuity Management (TR19 ) as an “authoritative source” for “best practices” (page 4). That’s ironic, because in Singapore, TR 19 has been mostly a source of derision since its release in 2005.
SPRING sought public comments on the standard last month. Here are three:
-
Fix the marketing. Give the TR 19 document away to anyone who’ll read it. Put a full copy – not just the table of contents - on the SPRING web site. State the benefits of TR 19 in clear, simple bullets. Why is TR 19 better than BS 25999 or NFPA 1600? How will my company benefit from being TR 19-certified? Make a brochure about it and give away copies at every industry trade show, conference, seminar, workshop, tea talk and fire drill in Asia, North America and Europe. Talk it up. Where I learned to sell, the first rule was: ‘buy the first round of drinks.’
-
Get a success story and promote the heck out of it. I’d choose a big Singapore bank and encourage – no, beg – them to announce publicly that they plan to be TR 19-certified. Banks understand BCP. If you can’t get a Singapore bank to support a Singapore BCP standard, is the problem the bank or the standard? The Singapore telephone company and power company don't count, either; most companies can't relate to them as role models. Certification of an outsourcing back room in Bangalore, India doesn’t count, either.
-
Evangelize professionals. If you can’t convince people who do BCP for a living, you're not likely to persuade anyone else. Are there 50,000 full-time, serious BCM professionals in the world, counting MBCI’s, CBCP’s, CEM's, CISSP's, and holders of other professional credentials vaguely-related to BCP? Maybe. They are the market, because they can move opinions. I'd concentrate on them, and try to get them to do the selling to industry.
Read the full version of this story at: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/bcp/0,3800011228,63005069,00.htm
Outsource Your BCP Work in Asia
Need help but can't afford a full-time BCP professional? We outsource qualified BCP professionals for as little as one (1) day or two (2) days per week on contract. Read our Capabilty Statement with case studies of our satisfied clients over 12 years. Nathaniel Forbes at nforbes@calamity.com.sg, or call +65 6324-3091 in Singapore (12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time, 8 hours ahead of London).
Need help? In Singapore, call: +65 6324-3091 Fax: +65 6324-3093
Email: chris.tan@calamity.com.sg
 : nathaniel_forbes | AOL IM: KingmanReef
© Copyright 2008 Forbes Calamity Prevention Pte Ltd
Powered by: Littlebulb Ideas
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
