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A STRATEGY FOR BUSINESS CONTINUITY – VIRTUAL WORKSPACE STATION Sunil Paul, Co-founder of Finesse, the global provider of digital transformation solutions, outlines a ‘Strategy for Business Continuity’ during pandemics & unprecedented threats On 12 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially confirmed the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak as a pandemic. The WHO defines an epidemic as ‘the worldwide spread of a new disease’ for which “most people do not have immunity.” From its epicentre in Wuhan, China in December last year, Covid-19 has spread to 191 countries as of 23 March, infecting 332,966 people and killing 14,511, according to data reported to WHO. As its director-general had noted, “Every day, Covid-19 seems to reach a new and tragic milestone.” J P Morgan Global Economics Research said that “it expects the global economy to experience an unSMARTSMB / April 2020
precedented contraction during the first half of the year as containment measures are driving deep collapses in monthly economic activity.” There is no doubt that global businesses are getting hit on all fronts as countries shut down, supply chains splinter, travel restrictions and quarantines hit people and cargo movements, and employees are exposed to the risk of infections. More than half of companies (51%) around the world have no business continuity plan or protocols in place to combat the coronavirus outbreak, according to a recent study by global consultancy firm Mercer. With a higher-than-average number of illness and deaths in age groups
different than what is seen in typical flu outbreaks, with no vaccine or proven antiviral medication, and a possibility of multiple outbreaks, Covid-19 could be the feared ‘single biggest threat’ to business continuity. Traditionally, business continuity plans have focused on threats like natural disasters, technical disasters and malicious acts that affect a specific geographic area, facility, or system. They also assume that once the event has occurred, it is over and, while the effects may linger, recovery can begin. However, a pandemic is fundamentally different from traditional business continuity threats in that it is worldwide in scope, of indefinite duration and can be a moving
