A holistic and integrated BCM solution
Business Solution
- Workplace Recovery
- Network Hosting
- QuickShip service for IP telephony
- Sungard AS’s Continuity Management Solution: LDRPS software.
Maintaining key teams at time of disaster and ensuring the continuation of essential production and recovery business processes requires a holistic and integrated solution. To this end, M&S relies on Sungard AS’s Workplace Recovery capabilities throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, its QuickShip service for telephony continuity and network hosting services for connectivity. M&S also aims to automate and streamline its BCM response through the deployment of specialist LDRPS software. This combination of services is designed to keep the Marks & Spencer group up and running, both in the UK and internationally.
Explaining some of the reasons why M&S renewed its initial contract for a further two years in 2010, John Frost says, “Over the years we have been impressed with Sungard infrastructure, the quality of its wide-ranging services and the skill and professionalism of its people at all levels of the organisation.”
A spirit of pragmatism drives the retailer’s BCM programme. Having conducted full business impact analyses across the organisation, M&S has been able to identify recovery priorities based on realistic Recovery Time Objectives and Recovery Point Objectives. These are reflected in plans that are practical, action-driven, business area-specific and easy to maintain.
A robust assurance programme ensures plans are thoroughly tested with an annual exercise involving the Crisis Management Team, Work Area Recovery tests and a rolling desktop testing programme in which each area of the business is methodically tested twice yearly.
One of M&S’s simple but effective innovations is the ‘evac pack’ – a distinctive, branded red suitcase distributed to every store that contains essential items for use in a crisis
While M&S had a well-developed BCM programme covering its UK organisation, this level of preparedness was not mirrored in its international operations and the BC team made redressing this situation a priority in 2010.
The team created an objective rating system to measure the preparedness of every department, store and business operation in the group worldwide, enabling them to direct their efforts where most needed.