Risk

The potential for risk is everywhere around us... how are you planning to mitigate, avoid or transfer the potential risks to your organization? Before you do anything else, you must identify those risks. The New Year brings new sources of risk as well, and each organization needs to do whatever it can to figure out where trouble might lurk. Read this week's articles for clues and suggested mitigation activities.

KPMG has identified seven key strategic, operational and external risk areas that should top CROs' risk management agendas this year. (Item #1) Technologies and security issues need to be considered for remote access. (Item #2) The combination of risk management and business continuity provides the level of resiliency that most organizations must achieve in light of the uncertainty that exists today. (Item #3)

Many companies are concerned that business interruption losses, which usually result from property damage, will increasingly be driven by cyber-attacks, technical failure or geo-political instability as new non-physical damage causes of disruption. (Item #4) Here's some help to fill out a risk assessment template. (Item #5) The author believes that, without a business continuity plan in place, the basic survival of a company over the medium to long term is severely at risk. (Item #6) >

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Key risk management issues for 2016

Chief risk officers (CRO) will need to keep close watch on a number of strategic, operational, and external risks this year, according to new research by KPMG LLP. Effective risk management and mitigation will be critical, since companies' strategies, business models, operations, reputations, and, ultimately, survival are on the line.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/index.php/news/erm-news/805-key-risk-management-issues-for-2016

2. Managing remote access risks

Various business continuity incidents - and even normal activities in the business calendar, such as bank holidays - can see a large rise in the number of workers connecting remotely; and this in itself can cause problems. In this article Guillermo Lafuente looks at the technologies that are available to help manage remote access requirements; and what security issues need to be considered.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/index.php/news/technology/774-managing-remote-access-risks

3. Risk Management and Business Continuity: Improving Business Resiliency

Preparing for and responding to negative events, from the mundane to the catastrophic, from the predictable to the unforeseen, has become a fact of life for businesses and governments around the world. We don't have to look any further than the seemingly daily reports of cyberattacks on governments, corporations and individuals to comprehend the severity of the problem.
http://www.riskmanagementmonitor.com/risk-management-and-business-continuity-improving-business-resiliency/

4. Businesses face changing risk landscape in 2016

The risk landscape for businesses is substantially changing in 2016. While businesses are less concerned about the impact of traditional industrial risks such as natural catastrophes or fire, they are increasingly worried about the impact of other disruptive events, fierce competition in their markets and cyber incidents. These are the key findings from the Allianz Risk Barometer 2016, the fifth annual survey on corporate risks published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), which surveyed over 800 risk managers and insurance experts from more than 40 countries.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/index.php/news/erm-news/803-businesses-face-changing-risk-landscape-in-2016

5. Guidance Notes to Complete the Risk Assessment Template

This template is provided to all participants during a typical Risk Assessment workshop for the purpose of scoring the:

List of Potential Threats (Column 1: Threats)

Probability of Event Occurring (Column 2: Probability of Event Occurring)

Assess Potential Human and Property Impact (Column 3: Impact on Staff/ Property)

Assess the Potential Business Impact (Column 4: Impact on Business)

http://www.bcmpedia.org/wiki/
Guidance_Notes_to_Complete_the_Risk_Assessment_Template

6. Business continuity planning mitigates risk

Disaster recovery and business continuity are an integral part of business sustainability, and organizations need to ensure they are protected against risks faced and are able to lower the impact of possible business disruption.
http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147983

Quote of the Week:

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."

-- Douglas Adams