Reducing risk to your business using standards

Serious accidents, IT security breaches, fire, floods, loss of suppliers, extreme weather – any of these can cripple a business, and many never recover. Using standards systematically prepares you in advance so threats like these, and many others you may never have considered, are far less likely to hit you, or can even be turned into opportunities

If an incident does occur, your down time and all the other costs of recovery will be significantly reduced.

But tackling risk can do much more for your business.

By understanding the risks you face and then acting to mitigate them, you become a tougher, more resilient business, able also to respond to and build upon new opportunities. If a problem does arise, or if you and your competitors face industry-wide challenges, you are better equipped to survive the initial problem and then rapidly recover, gaining market share as you do.

And that’s not all. By tackling your risks you’ll enhance your reputation, give your customers greater confidence, win new business and very likely reduce your costs. Above all you’ll understand more accurately how your business works and what its success depends on.

• Information security – is your confidential data properly protected?
• Health and safety – do you have proper processes to manage health and safety in your workplace?
• Data protection – are you sure you’re holding customer details securely?
• Supply chain security – how badly could you be hit if someone in your supply chain went down?
• Business continuity – do you have a system in place to help you recover from any of a range of incidents that disrupt your ability to operate?
• Food safety – can you ensure food safety along the food chain?

• 79% of BSI information security clients experienced faster recovery speeds after incidents
• 83% of BSI business continuity clients reported enhanced reputation as the key benefit
• 49% of BSI health and safety clients made costs savings (and 64% experienced fewer incidents)

Source: BSI Excelerator Research 2011 and Erasmus University study