ISO 22301 Business Continuity helps to minimise business impact and protects reputation

Why ISO 22301 can help during a localised disruption or an international disaster!

Customers in AIB and Permenant TSB yesterday faced anxious moments as they could not access their cash due to two separate system outages. This wait was short lived however thanks in part to strong business continuity planning. ISO 22301 offers world class renowned business continuity planning.

The incident which happened yesterday afternoon had resulted in debit cards being unable to be used to pay for transactions, branches could not access customer accounts and customers could not access on-line or telephone banking.

A Permanent TSB spokesman confirmed that 80 branches offices were affected and no telephone or  on-line banking was available during the duration of the issue. He went on to assert that its automated teller machines suffered no system outage yesterday. The spokesman also denied the IT collapse was due to a lack of investment in systems and apologised to their customers.

AIB’s issues were very similar, they could not access customers accounts online, over the phone or even in branch. Balances could not be updated meaning deposits and withdrawals were put on hold but the systems came back within an hour.

While this kind of issue brings back memories of the Ulster Bank problems that left the bank struggling for over a month last summer, yesterday’s problems were fixed with minimal impact to customers and consumers. This is on the back of guidelines from the Central Bank to to review their contingency plans and to formally reconfirm that a robust recovery system is in place.

For ISO 22301 certified businesses this certification provides a large element of their businesses’ contingency plans. The standard helps businesses to ensure that they have their recovery system in place, this allows businesses to get up and running quickly and efficiently in order to ensure minimum disruptions to their customers.

Another aspect of an ISO 22301 certification is that it allows businesses to demonstrate that they have been independently verified as having an internationally recognised continuity program. This offers a competitive advantage over other businesses without the certification.

If you feel like you are ready to talk to someone about protecting your company from disaster, disruption or malice then contact us today to talk about ISO  22301 certification for your business.