Business Continuity Management
Last checked: February 2025
Disruptions such as fires, utility outages, Cybersecurity threats and severe weather events can happen at any time, and often without warning. Business Continuity Management (BCM) is all about expecting the unexpected, and planning ahead accordingly, to minimise the impact of disruptive events when they arise.
At the University, maintaining business continuity during a disruption could take many different forms depending on the nature of a disruptive event and its impact – from ensuring that teaching can continue, and that staff can be paid, to maintaining critical research activities, keeping campuses open, and delivering essential student services – there are many critical business functions and activities across the organisation that need to be protected so that they can be restored and maintained when it matters most.
Explore this page to learn about BCM at the University, and why it’s so important.
What is business continuity
Business continuity is a business capability. It focuses on having a plan in place to deal with incidents and emergencies that could disrupt the operations of an organisation so that it can continue to function with as little disruption as possible when disruption occurs.
BCM is a holistic management process ensuring that whenever disruptive incidents occur, the following can be achieved:
- operations continue and products and services are delivered at pre-agreed level
- brand and value-creating activities are protected
- reputations and interests of key stakeholders are safeguarded
To learn more about BCM and why it’s important, watch this short video from The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) which provides a helpful introduction.
The BCM Framework
The University’s BCM Framework and system seek to minimise the impact that disruptive incidents have on the critical business functions of the University, including its teaching and learning, student and staff services, research activities, administration, and partnerships.
The University maintains a suite of Business Impact Assessments (BIAs) and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) spanning key organisation-wide business processes, its Faculties and Graduate Schools, Chancellery and Student and Scholarly Services departments, and shared services including Campus Management, Enterprise Technology, Cybersecurity, and Health and Safety Services.
Within these plans, business areas have identified the Maximum Tolerable Outage (MTO) and peak periods for critical business functions and activities, in addition to alternative sites from which to operate, and the minimum resources (staff, equipment, systems etc.) required to maintain business continuity amid disruption.
Disruption scenarios and recovery strategies
Recovery strategies step out pre-planned responses to specific disruption scenarios – this ensures that when a disruptive event arises, a targeted plan to respond quickly and effectively is already in place.
BCPs are prepared with a hazard-agnostic approach to ensure flexibility of application in the event of any given disruption by focusing planning across the following broad recovery strategies:
- Loss of access to building, site or location
- Loss of key people
- Loss of utilities (gas, water, sewerage, waste management, electricity etc.)
- Loss of critical equipment or infrastructure
- Loss of university network access
- Loss of key IT or telecommunications system
- Loss of key third party supplier or partner
Access BCP - Systems, tools and documentation
BCPs, BIAs and related documentation including reference materials and how-to guides are stored within the RiskWare ERMS Business Continuity module and on the BCM SharePoint. BCPs can also be accessed by staff with BCM responsibilities through the RiskWare pocketBCP app – the app can be downloaded for free via Google Play or the Apple App Store, with secure access provided through the input of SSO credentials.
BCP activation
BCPs can be activated in preparation for, or following, a disruptive event that has a significant or sustained impact on some or all the University’s critical business functions. Activation may be initiated at a local level by a BCP Team Leader or delegate, or centrally by the Emergency and Business Resilience (E&BR) team within Health and Safety Services, the Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT), or the University’s executive leadership team.
In the event of a significant disruption, the University will work to resume or continue operations at a sufficient level to maintain critical business functions until business-as-usual (BAU) operations can be reinstated. In restoring critical business functions following a disruptive event, non-critical business operations may operate at a reduced level while recovery activities take place. This ensures critical business activities can still be performed while work continues to resume all operations at full capacity.
Current program of work
In 2021, the University commenced a significant program of work to enhance its BCM processes in response to the unprecedented disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Work continues as part of this uplift project to further develop and expand the BCM program which includes an ongoing annual cycle of review and testing.
Departments and teams within the University wishing to increase their business resilience through business continuity planning can contact the E&BR team for further information, guidance, and support.