Advertising Agency
The Client
Our client is an award winning healthcare advertising agency with a global customer base.
Evidence of business continuity planning was increasingly being sought by the client’s customers and insurer plus there was internal recognition that the company’s rapid growth and business plans could potentially be stalled by an unexpected incident.
The client currently operates from a single location and a fire in a nearby premises highlighted to management that this type of situation could present significant challenges for them.
The Challenge
The client had initially set out to undertake implementing business continuity planning in house, but found it difficult to know where to set realistic parameters to keep the project manageable. As a relatively small organisation with a limited budget to spend on external resource, it was important that this was used in a clever way to make the most of what was available. The client was keen to identify affordable and justifiable recovery solutions rather than big ticket items. The company also wanted staff to be fully engaged in the process and understand the importance of business continuity management (BCM) and their roles.
The Solution
Teed’s consultant recommended a workshop style approach which involved having the right people in a room for half a day. Thoughts and requirements were validated as a group and this made it easier for interdependencies to be taken into account during analysis discussions. This method works particularly well with smaller businesses where roles and responsibilities are often more interconnected.
Analysis and strategy development workshops were facilitated for representatives from operations, creative, production and account handling. Critical activities, resource requirements and strategies were captured and once the recovery strategy was agreed with management, a business continuity planning workshop was facilitated by the consultant to capture the necessary information to enable the business continuity plan to be documented.
Once the business continuity plan was drafted, this was validated through a table top business continuity exercise for the incident management team. Separate BCM awareness sessions were held alongside to ensure key individuals were aware of their pre- and post-incident responsibilities.
The Result
The client can now be confident that staying in a single location will not jeopardise the business and technological improvements have been made so that support to key accounts will continue in the event of a disruptive situation. There is due recognition of the importance of embedding business continuity into the culture of the company so that it becomes a natural thought process for staff and management alike.
Customers and other stakeholders can be reassured that there are no concerns about continuity of services and this focus has allowed our client to stand apart from competitors.
By bringing Teed’s experience and efficient methods to the table, our consultant was able to simplify the process for the client and enable them to focus on issues that really matter to them. We were also able to use the client’s limited budget to maximum effect and ensure that they did not need to invest in expensive solutions when there were other options available to them.