The Integrated Approach: Bringing Risk & Resilience Together
Operational Resilience: The Evolution Beyond Business Continuity Management
In today’s dynamic and interconnected business environment, the concept of resilience is gaining prominence, pushing organizations to evolve beyond traditional approaches like Business Continuity Management (BCM). While BCM has been instrumental in helping businesses navigate disruptions, it is no longer sufficient on its own. Organizations need to embrace a more integrated and proactive approach—one that encompasses not just continuity, but also adaptability and agility. Enter Operational Resilience, a forward-thinking strategy that ensures businesses can anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruptions while maintaining critical operations.
The Shift from Business Continuity to Operational Resilience
Business Continuity Management (BCM) has historically focused on ensuring that an organization can continue to operate during a crisis. It typically involves planning for specific scenarios, such as natural disasters, cybersecurity breaches, or system failures, and designing processes to mitigate the impacts of such events. While BCM has served businesses well, it often operates in isolation from other risk management functions, leading to siloed strategies that fail to address the complexity of modern risk environments.
However, operational resilience takes a broader, more holistic view. It recognizes that disruptions can come from anywhere—both internal and external—and that the ability to recover from them is not just about maintaining operations but ensuring that the organization can thrive amid adversity. This shift is driven by the increasing complexity of global operations, technological interdependencies, and regulatory expectations that mandate more comprehensive resilience strategies.
The GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) Perspective
The growing focus on operational resilience has profound implications for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) programs. A GRC approach to operational resilience includes:
- Enterprise & Operational Risk Management. GRC programs integrate enterprise operational risk management, third-party risk management, and business continuity into a cohesive framework. This involves mapping out interdependencies across business functions and understanding how risks in one area can cascade across the organization.
- Resilience by Design. Organizations need to embed resilience into their operations, processes, and decision-making from the ground up. GRC platforms can play a pivotal role by providing 360° visibility into risks, controls, and resilience metrics across the organization. This enables proactive risk management rather than reactive crisis management.
- Regulatory Drivers. Increasing Regulatory requirements in India such as the GUIDANCE NOTE on Ops Risk and Ops Resilience by RBI in April 2024 are encouraging organizations to adopt operational resilience as a core aspect of their risk management strategies, evolving beyond BCM. These regulations encourage not just recovery plans, but also the ability to anticipate and withstand disruptions, requiring GRC functions to ensure compliance while supporting broader resilience initiatives.
Similar regulatory changes are found in: UK Operational Resilience framework, EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and Australia CPS 230
The Integrated Approach: Bringing Risk & Resilience Together, the R in GRC (GR2C)
One of the key drivers behind the evolution from BCM to operational resilience is the need for integration. Disconnected approaches to risk, resilience, and continuity leave organizations vulnerable. In contrast, an integrated GRC approach to operational resilience ensures that risks are managed as part of the organization’s overall strategy, not in silos.
This integrated approach demands:
- Alignment with Business Objectives. Resilience efforts must be tied to strategic objectives, ensuring that risk management supports the organization’s broader goals. This means embedding resilience into daily operations, not just during crises.
- Collaboration Across Functions. Operational resilience requires input and collaboration from IT, operations, compliance, and executive leadership. GRC platforms that facilitate cross-functional collaboration can help break down silos and create a unified approach to resilience.
- Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation. The pace of change in today’s risk landscape requires organizations to continuously monitor their risk environment and adapt their strategies accordingly. Operational resilience is not a static concept; it evolves as the organization and its external environment change. GRC technologies that support real-time risk monitoring and scenario analysis are critical to this adaptive approach.
Moving Forward: From Continuity to Agility
The transition from BCM to operational resilience represents a shift in mindset—from merely surviving disruptions to thriving in the face of them. GRC programs are at the heart of this transformation, providing the structure and oversight needed to integrate resilience into the fabric of the organization.
By moving beyond the reactive strategies of business continuity and embracing a proactive, integrated approach to operational resilience, organizations can not only withstand disruptions but also emerge stronger, more agile, and better equipped to capitalize on new opportunities. This is the future of GRC—operational resilience by design.
Michael Rasmussen (Guest Author)
Michael Rasmussen is an internationally recognized pundit on governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) – with specific expertise on enterprise GRC strategy and processes supported by robust information and technology architectures.
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