This year has certainly felt far too like 2020 for my liking!  The challenges of COVID, travel disruption, and hybrid working have become ‘normal’ for us all, but as is my tradition at this time of year, I would like to focus on the opportunities that 2021 has brought us, as we spend too much time focusing on the worst case scenarios in our daily work!

I think it has been incredible to see how businesses have adapted over the year, and it has been a joy to see so many of our clients thriving, while striving to keep their people safe.  At PlanB we have had to adapt our training and exercising to embrace the Hybrid model of working, and I’m very proud of all my team for their determination and enthusiasm in this area. 

I think that we have rarely sent out an email in 2021 without the word ‘Cyber’ in it!  We have all felt the consistent threat of attacks since the SEPA hack on Christmas Eve last year. In response to the demand, we have developed our Training and Exercise programme – How to Respond to a Cyber Incident, which has been rolled out at Gold Level to many of our clients.

Our MITS (Media Incident Training Simulator) has also been a favourite of our clients this past year, enabling them to run Simulated Exercises with a high level of realism.  The feedback we received on the latest updates was all very positive, and so we will be officially launching the upgrade in 2022 and rolling this out to all of our future MITS exercises.

We know that many of you are still struggling to finalise your Operational Resilience frameworks as the implementation deadline for the initial work is looming.  We have heard from many firms that they have not yet turned their thoughts to the scenario testing they must deliver; to determine if their Important Business Services (IBS) can withstand a severe but plausible scenario. If that sounds like you, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will support you through your final stages.

A hugely encouraging trend that we have seen this year is for clients to secure longer term projects with us, demonstrating the impact COVID has had on everyone’s thinking around BC.  Now it is much more common for you all to request 3 year exercise support, or BC Ongoing support, to help ensure that you manage and maintain your BC systems and process appropriately. We are very excited to be involved in these longer term supportive projects, and we expect to see a lot more in 2022.
 
Finally, I just want to express my gratitude. I am privileged to have assembled the most remarkable team of people at PlanB, who pull together to make each of our projects a success for our clients. I would like to say a HUGE thank you to our clients for trusting us to support them.  We are very grateful for the role each of you have played in our success over the last year.
 
Everyone at PlanB would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Yuletide Greetings, Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, and Seasons Greetings! And here’s to a safe and incident-free New Year!
,
Best regards
Charlie