Business continuity institute certification

Routes to professional recognition of competence with the Business Continuity InstituteUntil 2008 the BCI existed only as a membership organisation where understanding of,and competence in,business continuity management was reflected in the seniority of membership grades ie Associate (ABCI), Specialist (SBCI), Member (MBCI) and Fellow (FBCI). All members within these professional grades have had to demonstrate knowledge andexperience of working as a business continuity practitioner(or in an associated discipline for SBCI).In 2007 the Business Continuity Institute introduced the BCI Certificate which presented the opportunity of offering a credential,not linked to membership, which provesunderstanding of the principles and methodology of business continuity management. Candidates for the BCI Certificate need to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the Business Continuity Institute’s Good Practice Guidelines (GPG).Experience of working as a business continuity practitioner is not a prerequisite to sit the examination although experienced practitioners may find it beneficial to draw upon their experience.New Credential-CBCIFrom April 2008 the BCI introducethe post nominal credential of:CBCI (Certified by the Business Continuity Institute)Awarded to successful candidates who achieve a “Pass” or a “Pass with Merit”in the BCI Certificate examination.CBCIs will have the opportunity to be placed on a register of those holding this credential (an annual fee ispayable). They will also be invited to apply for professional membership of the Business Continuity Instituteif they are able to demonstratesufficient practical application of their knowledge.Professional Grades of BCI MembershipFrom April 2008 all new applicants for professional grades of membership and upgrades between the grades are required to hold the BCI Certificate. Experience criteria to allow entry into professional membership have been changed and the Specialist (SBCI) category has been overhauled to enable it to better reflect the roles of those working within associated disciplines.
10 Professional Certification Standards become6The Business Continuity Institutehas a long established set of 10 competencies that applicants for professional grades of the Institute have been assessed against. These required skills are the ability to: Initiate and Managethe need for a Business Continuity Management (BCM) Process or Function; Conduct aBusiness Impact Analysis; Carry out Risk Evaluation andControl; DevelopBusiness Continuity Management Strategies; Establish Emergency Response and Operations; Developand Implement Business Continuity and Crisis Management Plans; Raise Awareness and develop Training Programmes; Maintain and ExerciseBusiness Continuity and CrisisManagements Plans; EstablishCrisis Communicationscapability; and Establish procedure and policies for Co-ordination with External Agencies.Applicants for professional membership will still need experience within these fundamental skillsbut, to maintain consistency with the BCM Lifecycle, they have been mapped against different stages of the Lifecycle and are now presented as 6 Certification Standards. A subject overview is outlined below:1. BCM Policy and Programme ManagementEstablishing the need for a Business Continuity Management (BCM) Process, including: resilience strategies, recovery objectives, business continuity and incident management plans, obtaining management support for such a process.Organising and managing the formulation of the function or process either in collaboration with, or as a key component of an integrated risk management initiative.Developing, co-ordinating, evaluating and creating plans and procedures to communicate with external stakeholders, including the media, during incidents.2. Understanding the OrganisationBusiness impact analysis (BIA):Identifying the impacts resulting from disruptions and disaster scenarios that can affect the organisation and developing techniques that can be used to quantify and qualify such impacts.Establishing critical functions, their recovery priorities and inter-dependencies so that recovery time objectives can be set.Risk evaluation and control:Determining the events and environmental surroundings that can adversely affect the organisation and its facilities with disruption and/or disaster and understanding the damage such events can cause.Establishing the controls needed to prevent or minimise the effects of potential loss.Providing cost-benefit analysis to justify investment in controls to mitigate risks.