ContinuitySA Quarterly Newsletter

1. Q4 2012
Keeping ContinuitySA
clients informed
Editor’s Note
Do you feel the holiday spirit yet, or are you still focused on
In this Issue getting things out without any thought of slowing down?
I
1 BCM World
Conference t’s been a busy year indeed offering and that it is a dedicated
but a highlight for us was our approach to support based serv-
3 The BCI SADC Diamond Sponsorship of the ices with a host of benefits and
reaches new ITWeb’s Inaugural Business Con- support methods.
grounds tinuity 2012 conference held on
the 13th & 14th November which Some key highlights of the Disas-
5 Triple4 adds was also endorsed by the BCI, of ter Recovery/Business Continuity
more value to which ContinuitySA is a Gold Part- survey results which was done in
its Managed ner. The event showed promise conjunction with ITWeb and Con-
Services offering and will definitely become a cal- tinuitySA in October have been
endar event going forward and highlighted on page 7, and if you
6 Davies takes should not be missed. For more in- have not seen the actual results
full control at formation or to recap on the then click here and take a look at
ContinuitySA event click here. the full breakdown which is on the
ITWeb website. Michael Davies,
7 Costs vs minimal Inside this edition, Michael Davies reaffirms that the main obvious
distruption gives us some feedback on the benefit of having a disaster recov-
BCM World Conference and exhi- ery/business continuity plan in A final reminder that you are wel-
8 ContinuitySA bition 2012 which was hosted in place is to continue business with
takes corporate come to send us your news, views
Olympia, London. Congratulations minimal disruption. and articles to be included in our
social also to Michael who was recently
investment next issue of the chronicles. Thank
promoted to Chief Executive Offi- The ContinuitySA Training Acad-
strategic you again to everyone who has
cer of ContinuitySA. emy have finalised all their training
contributed so far.
dates for 2013 and these can
9 ContinuitySA The BCI Chapter for the SADC be found on the ContinuitySA It’s been an amazing year, with its
adds more Region in Africa reached new website or you can contact successes and challenges all
course dates grounds according to Louise our training department on rolled into one, and from the Con-
to its 2013 Theunissen, (MBCI) (PMP), BCI training@continuitysa.co.za to tinuitySA family we would like to
schedule Board Member. Louise notes that obtain the full schedule. wish all of our readers, clients,
as part of the recent strategy ses- suppliers and patrons a peaceful
sion the key activity will be the for- On the marketing side of Continu-
holiday season, travel safely and
mation of the BCI Chapter Board itySA we have lined up a few
may you all go into 2013 with a
for 2013 and 2014, which will follow things for 2013 one being our web-
positive outlook.
a formal election process adminis- site facelift which will incorporate
tered by the BCI’s central office. a Blog for ContinuitySA. We are all I bid you adieu till 2013.
Louise also emphasises the BCI’s set for the Business Continuity
Wishing you endorsement of the ITWeb’s Busi- Awareness Week 2013 which will Editor – Cindy Bodenstein
all a happy ness Continuity 2012 Conference, be taking place from the 18th to
cindy.bodenstein@continuitysa.co.za
22nd March 2013 and the theme
holiday which proved to be a great
is, ‘For the risks you can see and
marketing@continuitysa.co.za
achievement for the BCI. www.continuitysa.co.za
season and the ones you can’t’. You can read
Scott Orton, co-founder and sales all about this in the ContinuitySA
prosperous director at Triple4 details the value Chronicles 1st edition for 2013.
new year! around their Managed Services
All Links
ive
now Interact
and Live!
1

2. Business Update:
BCM World Conference
by Michael Davies – Chief Executive Officer, ContinuitySA
The BCM World Conference and Exhibition 2012 which is hosted annually by the
Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was held on the 7th and 8th November this year
in Olympia, London. It was a showcase for trends, products and services in the
Business Continuity Management (BCM) world and utilised a three stream structure
for sessions which catered for the BCM newcomer through to the experienced
practitioner. In addition to the three stream conference sessions there were a num-
ber of practitioner presentations and vendor showcasing sessions running at the
same time.
session on lessons learned during plan- What is clear is that organisations are
ning for the Olympics in London. The con- demanding more than disaster recovery
ference provided an opportunity to or business continuity plans reliant only on
share best practices with BCM experts IT systems and that organisational
from around the world, be part of the resilience is placing more importance
global thought leadership and future than before on dealing with people,
direction of BCM, network with peers, whether they are clients, suppliers, staff or
colleagues and industry experts and other stakeholders.
gain practical insights into good BCM
practice. We at ContinuitySA have seen this trend
developing and continue to forge ahead
T
at finding ways to offer comprehensive
he conference commenced with
solutions to improve our clients’ resilience
an interesting videoconference
and bring operational relevance into
keynote address from Richard Reed
business continuity through customised
from the United States who was in-
solutions.
volved in the recovery operations
caused by the devastation of Hurricane
Sandy along the East Coast of the United
States. A key aspect of this was the issue
of societal resilience and the integration
of public and private actions to restore
order after a disaster. This was followed
by the three concurrent streams address-
ing various topics such as BCM policy
and programme management, organi-
sational resilience, black swans and sce-
nario analysis, awareness and measuring
and benchmarking BCM programmes on
the first day.
On the evening of the first day there was
a Gala Dinner and Awards amid the wax-
works of Angelina Jolie, Jonny Wilkinson,
the Queen, Nelson Mandela, Churchill,
Prince William and Kate Middleton The conference was well attended with
amongst many other famous people at good participation from diverse countries
the Waxworks Museum of Madame Tus- around the globe.
sauds. It was a great fun filled evening
As economic and political volatility
with entertainment, good food, much
ramps up and natural disasters seem
amusement (provided by the attendees)
more common place, it was interesting to
and recognition of excellence in the field
note that there is growing emphasis
of BCM.
around organisational resilience, crisis
The second day covered topics such as management and mass notification tools
determining BCM strategies, use of soft- for companies.
ware, role of social media, crisis manage-
ment and one the of last sessions being a
2

3. The BCI SADC
reaches new grounds
As the weather started warming up in September and as the trees
started to bloom, the BCI saw a new leaf unfold with the approval of
the BCI Chapter for the SADC Region in Africa. This was an exciting time
for the members in the SADC region, as we now had an opportunity to
grow our region in the areas we felt were previously lacking.
By Louise Theunissen, (MBCI)(PMP), BCI Board Member
A
s a Chapter we can now focus based in the United Kingdom, with the re- The Committee members have put in a
on increasing activities and quest for nominations from BCI SADC great deal of personal time and effort in
through these initiatives increase Board Members being the first step. The re- the specific initiatives that were set at the
the interaction between mem- quest for nominations has been submitted beginning of the year.
bers in the region. The Chapter will strive to and will officially close on the 21st of No-
increase the promotion of BCI accredita- In addition to the approval of the SADC
tion and BCM Training availability to its establishment proposal and final business
members. The Chapter, together with the plan a number of additional objectives
support of its members and interested par- have been achieved. For one the com-
ties and through our combined input into munication to our BCI Africa members and
business continuity standards and regula- interested parties has increase two fold.
tions, can make a valuable contribution to The communication not only includes no-
the global development of BCM. As a tification of relevant events, but also arti-
Chapter we will also be able to formally cles, white papers, webinars and other
represent the business continuity profes- information of interest. Four successful
sionals in the whole SADC region when en- forum sessions have been held Gauteng,
gaging with other professional bodies and not to mention the activities within the
institutes. These are just a few of the areas Mauritius and CapeBCP forums. The com-
that were highlighted as benefits when mittee has also commenced with discus-
deciding to request the establishment of a sions with the BCI on the development of
Chapter. a BCI micro-site for the SADC region.
Gaining Chapter Approval took some Another initiative that has taken long hours
time, but I believe the hard work will with and a great deal of team work is the
vember 2012. The BCI SADC membership ITWeb Conference held on the 13th and
time reap reward. To define the next steps base holds a great deal of skills and I urge
that needed to be taken for the actual es- 14th of November that was endorsed by
you to support this initiative in an effort to the BCI. The ITWeb’s Business Continuity
tablishment of the Chapter, a committee exceed our Chapter expectations for 2013.
strategy session was held on the 5th of Conference 2012 attempted to unlock
September. During this session key activi- One of the objectives of the BCI SADC some of the secrets to business continuity,
ties were confirmed and allocated. Committee during 2012, which will be- how it should be implemented, and its
come an objective of the board, is the in- value to an organisation.
One of the key activities identified at the crease of membership and although there
strategy session, was the formation of a Even with the event being arranged within
has not been a huge increase in members a short timeframe the conference at-
BCI Chapter Board for 2013 and 2014. over the last quarter we have had an tracted approximately ninety delegates.
The BCI Chapter Board will hold the re- heightened interest from current members With this being the inaugural event, it is a
sponsibility for defining strategic direction wishing to participate in our SADC activi- great achievement for both ITWeb and
of the Chapter and the management ties. On behalf of the current committee, I the BCI.
would like to thank you for the interest you ...Continued on next page
thereof. The formation of the board will fol-
low a formal election process this year, ad- have shown.
ministered by the BCI’s central office
3

4. The ITWeb Business Continuity Confer- The exhibition area was a hive of activity Western Cape Business Continuity Group
ence 2012 took place a week post the with over 45 different exhibitors showcas- is the only forum that is not a formal BCI
BCI’s BCM World Conference held on the ing their products and services and a Forum, from discussions held over the
7th and 8th of November at the Olympia constant flow of traffic of over 1,000 at- past couple of month they have shown
in London. Over 350 delegates attended tendees to the exhibition. The feedback an interest in joining the BCI community.
the Conference and benefitted from to date has been very positive and has
some excellent sessions on Business Con- more than delivered the business case for The success of BCI Chapter SADC is
tinuity and related topics delivered by a next year's Conference, which is already dependent on the participation of all
top line up of international speakers. The scheduled to take place at Olympia, members, membership organisations and
Conference was kicked off by an insight- London on 6th to 7th November 2013. interested parties. To those members and
ful and inspiring speech by our keynote membership organisations who have not
as we transferred across live to the White If you are interested in networking with yet been involved, we urge you to patic-
House to hear Richard Reed, Vice Presi- fellow practitioners, but do not have the ipate.
dent for Preparedness and Resilience means to attend the various confer-
ences, please remember that there are Please play your part in the growth of
Strategy at the American Red Cross, Business Continuity within Africa through
speak on the subject of National Pre- currently three forums or interest groups
operating within the SADC Region, i.e. getting involved in our exciting initiative.
paredness and Societal Resilience, which
was of particular relevance given the re- The South African BCI Forum, The Mauri-
cent Hurricane Sandy that swept the East tius BCI Forum and Western Cape Busi-
Coast of the USA. ness Continuity Group. Although the
For enquiries on participation or regular communication, please contact Louise Theunissen (MBCI)(PMP),
Mobile: +27 82 928 7158 or Mail to: louise.theunissen@continuitysa.co.za
BCI Forum South Africa
Should you have any enquiries as to how you can make
a difference or would like to be included in regularly
communication, please contact Louise Theunissen (MBCI)(PMP), BCI Board Member
Mobile: +27 82 928 7158 or Mail to: louise.theunissen@continuitysa.co.za
4

5. Triple4 adds more
value to its Managed
Services offering
By Scott Orton, Co-founder and sales director of Triple4.
Triple4 currently has a pro-active support offering called Managed Services
(MSO). MSO is a dedicated approach to support based services and offers
numerous benefits over traditional support methods such as hours based or
full outsource support. Now Triple4 has added further value to this offering
by alleviating the pain points that some tasks take that normally require con-
siderable time and effort as well as offering hosted exchange and cloud
based back up to subscribers.
“Business nowadays relies on a vast array • Proactive monitoring of disk space, CPU, • Onsite troubleshooting (if required)
of technologies and equipment, and Memory and other customised perform-
therefore requires a multitude of skilled IT ance monitors • All support has guaranteed response
personnel to support their environments,” times based on predefined severity lev-
says Scott Orton, Sales director, Triple4. “ • Full software, hardware and network in- els and criticalities
The purpose of our Managed Service Of- ventory is available as part of the serv-
fering is to centralize these skills under one ice, including auto call logging if
roof and provide customers access to a changes occur. “ These additional Managed Service offer-
vast array of different skill sets. “ The services above are in addition to the ings add massive value to our existing serv-
standard offering which includes proac- ices and truly give our customers a
Latest value added additions to this MSO
tive support such as: competitive advantage” concludes
service include :
Orton.
• Hosted exchange mailbox and Cloud • Flat-fee IT services – The costing is based
based back up for subscribers of desk- on fixed pricing per server, desktop or
top agents monitoring agent, therefore there are no
hidden costs
• Anti-virus services and licensing is bun-
dled with the cost • A full helpdesk with call logging and tick-
eting is included as part of the service
• Patch Management of all supported
software is part of the offering • Day to day support of the supported
Please click here to visit our
platforms is included as part of the serv-
• Software Deployment for desktop ice, including mundane tasks such as website or if you want to discuss
agents password resets, or user account cre- this with me, call me on
ation.
• Desktop Policy Management for desk- 083 600 2536 or
top agents • Remote control and troubleshooting is
email: scott.orton@triple4.co.za
included and offers support from any-
• Monitoring of event logs, performance where an Internet connection is avail-
monitors and service state with auto call able
logging when errors or issues occur.
5

6. Davies takes full control
at ContinuitySA
Michael Davies has been appointed CEO of ContinuitySA, Southern Africa’s
leading provider of business continuity services. The post of managing di-
rector was created for Davies in July 2011 as part of a phased succession
plan to prepare the company for the retirement of former CEO, Allen Smith.
Smith now assumes the position of chairman.
As managing director, Davies was responsible for ContinuitySA’s core operations. This new move sees him assume responsibility for
the entire group, including Globility and Triple4.
Globility provides call centre infrastructure to a range of long- and short-term clients, and is es-
sentially an extension of ContinuitySA’s existing business, which includes providing work-
place-recovery solutions for call centres. ContinuitySA acquired 50% of Triple4 in June
2011. Triple4 provides leading-edge network infrastructure solutions, giving ContinuitySA
the ability to deliverhosted virtualised business continuity solutions.
Davies says that the change has not affected ContinuitySA’s overall strategy to con-
tinue to be the leading supplier of business continuity management services in Africa.
“The growing availabilityof affordable bandwidth is changing the face of business con-
tinuity management, making it a key contributor to organisational resilience and-
becoming more operationally relevant to organisations,” Davies observes.
“Combined with bandwidth, virtualisation is helping to create a pool of re-
sources that can be used for testing and other services within the IT de-
partment. The resulting move towards the hosting of business continuity
management is driving ContinuitySA’s growth in the local market.”
Davies says that client interest in business continuity across Africa is
also growing, in part fuelled by increased activity by multinationals,
which typically have the legal obligation to ensure business conti-
nuity. ContinuitySA currently has permanent facilities in Botswana,
Mauritius and Mozambique and is aiming to grow by partnering
with local companies across the continent.
“Demand for our consulting services
is rising noticeably in South Africa
and beyond,” Davies concludes.
“This trend is being driven by the
growing realisation by all industry
sectors that business continuity is a
strategic necessity now that IT and
the business are indistinguishable.”
6

7. Costs vs minimal distruption
ITWeb in conjunction with ContinuitySA done a survey around Disaster
Recovery/Business Continuity, below are the key highlights from the survey.
A
majority of organisations (78.95%) When asked what the reasons were for or- “The ideal timeframe will vary from com-
have a disaster recovery/business ganisations not having a disaster recov- pany to company, and from industry to in-
continuity plan in place. ery/business continuity plan in place, dustry, but we would suggest full scenario
29.17% stated cost, 8.33% connectivity, testing of an organisation’s disaster recov-
This was one of the key findings of the and exactly half (50%) selected ‘other’. ery/business continuity plan takes place
ITWeb/ContinuitySA disaster recovery sur- twice a year because environments
vey, which ran on ITWeb Online for 14 days “An organisation needs to analyse itself in change so quickly in the world today,”
in October, attracting 135 responses. terms of potential business impacts and Davies advises.
risks and then, based on that assessment,
However, 16.54% of respondents stated the organisation is then able to prioritise The survey also asked respondents which
they do not have a disaster recovery/busi- exactly what measures need to be put areas of their organisations use third-party
ness continuity plan in place, while only into place with regards to its disaster re- providers; the highest score was for hosting
4.5% were unsure. covery/business continuity plan,” says (29.03%), followed by offsite backup
“There are many benefits of having a Davies. (17.74%) and consulting services (13.71%).
disaster recovery/business continuity plan It also emerged from the survey that The survey also revealed that the biggest
in place,” says Michael Davies, CEO of 66.13% of organisations experienced concern with putting mission-critical appli-
ContinuitySA. power outages/failure issues in the past cations in the cloud is security (42.5%), fol-
five years, resulting in their organisations lowed by accessibility (20.89%). Some
“The main obvious benefit is to experiencing downtime. Some 52.23% 13.33% of respondents stated that their or-
cited system upgrades as the reason for ganisations have no concerns.
continue business with minimal downtime, and 34.69% cited configuration
change management issues. “Organisations should perform due
disruption. Another benefit is to diligences on cloud solution providers, in-
cluding enquiring about their business
give clients peace of mind and continuity plans. SLAs should be agreed on
ensure that delivery to them is between both parties and organisations
should make a point of only dealing with
reliable. Of course, to maintain reputable companies providing cloud so-
lutions. Also, organisations need to decide
or build the reputation of the what is put in the public cloud and what is
company is important too.” put into the private cloud,” Davies con-
cludes”
The survey also revealed that 66.02% of or-
ganisations that do have a disaster recov- Interestingly, 20.97% of organisations never – Article, compliments of ITWeb
ery/business continuity plan in place said carry out full scenario testing of their disas-
their plans are well communicated ter recovery/business continuity plans,
throughout their organisations; however, while 16.13% do so every six months,
29.13% revealed that their plans are not 15.32% on a quarterly basis, and 12% only
well communicated, and 4.85% were once a year.
unsure.
7

8. ContinuitySA takes
corporate social
investment strategic
In a bid to align its corporate social investment with its busi-
ness strategy, ContinuitySA has entered into a three-year
partnership with Habitat for Humanity. In terms of the new pro-
gramme, ContinuitySA will build a house a year as part of the
Raising a Roof initiative.
T
he Habitat for Humanity model requires the sponsoring company to fund
the materials for building a house, and to supply the labour to build it. It
is also a condition that the beneficiary of the project contributes his or
her sweat equity.
Cindy Bodenstein, ContinuitySA’s marketing manager, explains: “As Africa’s
leading business continuity provider, we provide our clients with reliable infra-
structure and even a second “home” at need—now we wanted to provide
that same sense of security by providing good, solid homes to people that
need them.”
Bodenstein says that in line with King III recommendations, ContinuitySA be-
lieves in being a responsible corporate citizen, and this programme is part of
demonstrating that commitment to the wider community.
“Another factor in our thinking is the realisation that our success is built on the
skills and passion of our people, and our ability to attract and retain them is re-
lated to our status as an ‘employer of choice’,” she says. “We were excited
by the Habitat for Humanity model because it goes beyond a monetary do-
nation and involves our employees in the process.”
The partnership between ContinuitySA and Habitat for Humanity has already
borne fruit, with the first house completed in early September. “Our staff vol-
unteers were really inspired by their participation, and we already have people
wanting to get involved in next year’s project,” notes Bodenstein.
8

9. ContinuitySA adds more
course dates to its 2013
schedule
Africa’s largest Business Continuity service provider, ContinuitySA,
has enhanced its Complete Continuity Training Academy
The two-day course, the IT Service Continuity Training is The 5 day Complete Continuity® Practitioners
targeted at IT and Business Continuity Management (BCM) pro- Programme is designed to equip business continuity prac-
fessionals responsible for the continued uptime of IT services titioners within any organisation in all aspects of implementing,
within their organisations. managing and maintaining an effective business continuity
framework in their respective environments.
Key elements of the IT Service Continuity Course include:
The course is based on the Business Continuity Institute’s Good
• The link between BCM and IT Service Continuity Manage- Practice guidelines and is fully ISETT SETA accredited with 149
ment; credits at NQF Level 6.
• The evolution of IT Service Continuity; Key elements of the 5 day Complete Continuity® Practitioners
• The latest concepts and trends in IT Service Continuity; Programme include:
• Conducting an Infrastructure Impact Analysis; • Introduction and Origins of BCM
• Formulating and implementing cost effective IT Service Con- • Trends and Observations
tinuity strategies to meet business requirements; • Standards and Compliance
• Security management in IT Service Continuity; • Elements of the BCM Lifecycle
• Testing the IT Service Continuity framework; and • BCM policy and Programme Management
• A Continuity-as-a-Service case study. • Embedding BCM in the Organisations culture
Attendees will not simply be bombarded with theory, but will be • Understanding the organisation
taught skills proven in the real world by active BCM practitioners
with MBCI (Member of the Business Continuity Institute) certifica- - Business Impact Analysis
tions.
- Continuity Requirements Analysis
The course is based on the Good Practice Guidelines of the BCI
and complies with the British Standard BS 25999 to ensure it is on - Risk Assessment
par with international best practices. • Determining BC Strategy
Dates for the IT Service Continuity course are as follows: - Selecting strategies and tactical responses
IT Service Continuity Programme (2 Day Training) - Consolidating Resource levels
13th & 14th February (JHB) • Developing and Implementing a BC response
13th & 14th March (CT) • Exercising, Maintaining and Reviewing
Click on the dates to view full schedule • Measuring BC Maturity
Dates for the 5 day programme are as follows:
Complete Continuity Practitioner Programme
(5 Day Training)
28th January to 1st February (JHB)
For more information on these courses, 18 February to 22 February (CT)
contact training@continuitysa.co.za, Click on the dates to view full schedule
or call +27 (0)11 554 8000.
9