November 14, 2005—A survey of business continuity managers found that 83.2 percent said, “yes, it is important that pandemic impacts are covered by business continuity plans:”, with 6.5 percent saying “no” and 9.6 percent “not sure.”
The online survey, conducted October 6 to November 10, 2005, received 221 complete responses.
These results were consistent across all organization sizes, says Continuity Central, an online resource for business continuity information. According to the survey, 82.4 percent of large, 84.7 percent of medium and 83.9 percent of small organisations stated that it is important that pandemic impacts are covered by business continuity plans.
However, one sector stood out from the crowd. Only 72.5 percent of responders in the financial services sector think that it is important that pandemic impacts are covered by business continuity plans. 17.7 percent of respondents in this sector are unsure whether it is an issue or not.
The second main question asked by the survey looked at levels of current preparedness, asking respondents to answer yes, not yet, or no to the statement, “My organization’s business continuity plans include preparations for pandemic impacts.” Overall, 27.9 percent of respondents replied “Yes#151;we have already considered this issue;” 54 percent stated “Not yet#151;but it will be included in the near future;” and 18.1 percent said “No, and there are no plans to include pandemic impacts in the future.”
For more on the survey, visit the Continuity Central Web site.
