Those of you with good memories will remember with glee the 31st March 2022. That was the day you relaxed and thought “mission accomplished”, which is a phrase George Bush Junior came to regret!
Today the 31st March 2023 is now approaching faster and faster, as though you are being drawn towards it by a powerful elastic band. For those who are wondering, this is the absolutely latest date by which you should have renewed your Operational Resilience Self-Assessment document. It could be that your deadline is sooner as it needs to be done no later than 12 months from the previous one.
It will not be acceptable (or particularly clever) to dig out the old one, shove a new date on it and call it Version 2.0. The PRA asked to see many of the Version 1.0s produced and if they hold your new one up to the light and overlay your old one will they expect to see a difference. You can rest assured that they will not be impressed if they see no change, let alone progress.
Nobody expected firms’ Operational Resilience projects to be perfect in 2023, but there is an expectation that there will have been changes and improvements, as well as regular testing over the last 12 months. This testing, alongside any real events (perhaps that minor ransomware attack you suffered for example, or the rolling blackouts we might have to endure over the next few months) need a lessons learned review. All of this will necessarily make Version 2.0 very different from Version 1.0 – and yes, version 3.0 will be different as well.
One of the easiest ways of ensuring this difference is using an external firm like Aldbury International to help highlight the progress you have made, but which you might be unaware of! We have now seen how many firms are approaching the issue and can confirm if you are ahead of the rest or at least keeping pace.
But the big challenge we know that everyone is facing is how to transition from a project mindset (or as we call it “Big O.R”) to business-as-usual (“Little o.r.”). The first satisfies the regulator for now, covering last year’s bases, while the other and arguably far more important, ensures that your business really is resilient.
This is vital to your clients, your employees, your shareholders, your suppliers – they all rely on you to be still there next year and the year after that. Aldbury International’s aim is to help your business be truly resilient.
Call us on 020 3475 2953 to speak to us about how we can help you.