Assurance Plans Guideline

All business continuity analysis should be risk based, and risk prioritised to deal with the important business risks first. This means that any risks to your business need to be identified, examined and dealt with.
There are 4 options for dealing with each risk:

1. Reduce the risk. Reducing the risk falls into 2 categories - reducing the likelihood of the problem occurring and reducing the impact of the problem if it does happen. A simple example is that by having a fire alarm you are reducing the likelihood of a fire spreading unseen and by installing a sprinkler system you are reducing the impact of fire.

Reducing the risk is often referred to as mitigation. For example, data backups are a form of mitigation. They reduce the impact if a problem occurs which affects the primary data source. Any mitigating actions require testing to provide assurance they work when required.

2. Transfer the risk. This is an interesting option which may be seen as a get-out, but which is a perfectly valid thing to do. By transferring a risk it becomes someone else’s problem and you therefore have the risk covered. We are not talking about blaming someone else, or even transferring the risk to someone else in the company.

For example, there could be a risk that office space will not be available in the case of a disaster in the main location. Therefore the risk can be transferred to a third party company which organises office space for disaster recovery and keeps offices available for companies who need such a recovery service.

3. Accept the risk. By accepting the risk of a potential problem you are at least aware of its existence and can plan for it happening. If it is a risk that would have no impact for an acceptable period of time it should still be noted but you may decide to take no action until it occurs.

Almost by definition, accepting a risk is also reducing the impact of the risk as you are aware of the potential problem and can write it into your business continuity plan.

4. Ignore the risk. This option should never be selected. There is never a reason for ignoring a risk once it has been identified. A risk can be accepted (acknowledged) but must never be ignored.

Once the actions for each risk have been identified, then anything put in place to help cope with a risk needs testing. However, many companies either test nothing at all or try testing every facet of a business continuity plan. Both methods are doomed to failure. The answer is to adopt a risk based testing approach from two perspectives: the business continuity plan is fit for purpose and it will work when invoked.

A health check (testing the plan is fit for purpose) needs to be performed by someone other than the authors of the business continuity plan. Ideally it’s performed by an independent third party that specialises in testing business continuity plans, but it could be a disinterested party from another part of the company. Independence is essential here for an objective assessment.

Testing the plan will work when invoked, must be viewed in a business context and the elements of the plan prioritised so that the risks with the most business impact and likelihood are tested first. This approach and the techniques to perform business continuity testing in a cost effective manner are the subject of other articles.

Copyright Acutest UK 2005

A Streeb is an experienced practitioner of business continuity testing at Acutest, an independent consultancy specialising in business continuity assurance and software testing services. For more information on this topic visit http://www.acutest.co.uk or send an email to enquires@acutest.co.uk

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Life Insurance. Doesn’t it just conjure up some insurance salesman knocking on your door trying to sell you a policy that covers you for accidents only, for a small amount and costs you the earth? No? It doesn’t too me either because those days are long gone!

I prefer to call it “Life Assurance” anyway, because it is assuring you that your life is convered in the event of death and that what your life is insured for, will be paid out to your estate or policy owner.

But how many of you actually have this cover in place? I know of lots of my friends, who are in their 20’s who don’t have the cover because 1) they don’t know anything about (lack of education) and 2) they don’t think they need it and see it as an extra cost. How little they know… like anything, the earlier you start, the cheaper it is…

Following are 10 important reasons why YOU should have life assurance and why those around you too should invest in this:

Reason 1
Hello? Do you have any bills, like maybe a mortgage?? This alone is a pertinent reason to have life assurance… it means that should you die, this major bill will be paid off and not left to your survivors to deal with!

Reason 2
Young, fit and healthy? No ailments? Then this is the best time to get life assurance! Your premium will be small and if you take out a policy that allows you to keep the same premium until the age of 65, you will have considerable savings… the earlier you start, the better. And then if you develop any health issues throughout your life, it doesn’t matter, because you already have the cover in place!

Reason 3
Are you married? Do you care about your spouse? Then is it not thoughtful to make sure that your spouse does not have to worry about money should you pass before they do and vice versa? I know a couple who cancelled their life insurance and then 6 months later he was diagnosed as having stomach cancer, and died 18 months later… leaving behind a wife and two children still at home and a mortgage… and no monetry relief for his family. Is this what you want to put your partner through?

Reason 4
Want to leave a legacy for your future grand children? What better way then ensuring your estate will actually have some legacy to pass on! You can elect in your will to have the proceeds of your life assurance paid directly to your estate and then as per your will, divy up the proceeds.

Reason 5
Peace of mind… yours that is. If you can’t afford health insurance or any other insurance, you can afford life insurance… and should you develop a terminal disease… your life insurance will pay out a lump sum upon confirmation of this, allowing you to fulfil any dreams you have not achieved or to get your affairs in order.

There are many more reasons I could go into here, but you get the gist… just like you wouldn’t risk not having your car insured or your house or contents… how can you not insure your number one asset… yourself?

There are plenty of fantastic financial advisers out there. If you don’t have one, a great place to start is your bank, they have trained staff that can guide you… just make sure you read through any quotes you receive etc and make sure you understand just what you are being covered for.

My 2 cents worth

Kat Beechum is a passionate writer. Much of the inspiration for Kat’s work comes from her varied and many interests and hobbies.

Kat lives in New Zealand with her partner and their two cats, Cooper and Phoenix.

If you found this article useful, please visit http://www.money-or-excuses.blogspot.com

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