SAI Global has released results from a business continuity benchmarking study. ‘Addressing the COVID-19 gap: How Business Continuity professionals can propel business forward’ provides the results of a pre-COVID survey and a March 2020 follow up.

The research demonstrates that operational resilience is front of mind for decision-makers, however, there remains a clear difference between being aware that something needs to be done and investing enough to ensure you’re prepared. The end result is that business continuity professionals are challenged with a lack of resources and executive buy-in at a point where their role and organization are being put through its biggest test and operational resilience is more important than ever.

The SAI Global study explored three key areas: the state of play in terms or preparedness, the technology in place, and how companies perceive their business continuity programs in the future.

Key findings include:

• A quarter say that business continuity is managed by a team of one
• Only 14 percent have a team dedicated to business continuity
• Over half don’t use software to execute their BCM program
• A quarter don’t have a vendor risk source, and treat it separately
• 43 percent believe cyber attacks will become more of a factor
• Nearly 40 percent do not consider climate change part of their program
• Nearly three quarters say their business continuity team will stay the same in 2020
• Less than half said organizational spend was set to increase in 2020