Knowing “what” and “who” to expect at the upcoming 10th Asia Business Continuity Conference

On 1st of November this year, Business Continuity Management (BCM) practitioners and representatives from around the world will gather once again at Asia’s most dynamic city-state to attend the much anticipated 10th Asia Business Continuity Conference (ABCC) at the Marina Mandarin Singapore.

Organized by the region’s leading provider of BCM training and consultancy – Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd (BCP Asia) – the event marks the 10th anniversary of the ABCC and is set to provide participants with an array of highly interesting topics and activities.

For this reason, this feature article provides information on the speakers, their presentations and the exciting portions of the conference that this year’s participants will have the benefit of taking part in.

 

ABCC Speakers and Presentations

10th ABCC Speakers (from top left to bottom right): Tay Ter Long, Executive Director of Langdon & Seah Pte Ltd; Kenny Seow, Area Representative for Western Australia, Business Continuity Institute; Nisar Khan. BCM Manager of Kuwait International Bank; Victor Ng, Associate Director of BCP Asia, Wynnford Medrano BCM Manager of AXA Philippines and Vijay Magan, Head of Business Continuity and Risk Solutions of Intertek India.

As the 10th ABCC’s theme is “Business Resiliency in the Face of Global Change,” this year’s esteemed speakers are renowned BCM experts representing various countries and industries. The topics to be discussed are also that of issues relevant to organizations in Asia – one of which is the impact of natural disasters to businesses in the region.

To tackle on this subject is Wynnford Medrano, BCM Manager for AXA Philippines, who will be presenting on “Environmental Changes: The Impact of Natural Calamities on the Philippine’s Insurance Industry.” According to Wynnford, environmental changes should be one of today’s biggest concerns as it affects everyone – including businesses in the region.

“It is safe to say that there is not one entity here in Asia – be it an individual, company or group – that has not experienced the impacts of environmental changes. Everyone is affected and we must take measures to adapt and survive. And this holds very true in business today,” he said.

Another highly significant issue to be tacked during the 10th ABCC is the new international standard for BCM,which is the ISO22301. And to lead the discussion is Victor Ng, Associate Director of BCP Asia, with a presentation titled “Effective Transition to ISO22301: Why and How?”

Last year, Victor provided participants with a highly informative preview of the ISO22301. Following its official launch last May, however, Victor is now set to provide tips on how certified organizations can effectively transition to the new international BCM standard – from a BCM consultant’s point of view.

“Transitioning over to the ISO22301 is definitely one of key steps to establishing business resiliency today. And, although the process may present various challenges, there are certainly strategic ways to overcome them,” he said.

Other topics to be discussed during the 10th ABCC are:

•  “Advance Business Continuity (ABC) for the Banking Sector in Asia” by Nisar Khan, Business Continuity Manager, Kuwait International Bank
•  “Supply Chain Resilience: Lessons Learned from the Food Industry in Australia” by Kenny Seow, Area Representative for Western Australia, Business Continuity Institute
•  “Renewed Focus of Businesses and Practitioners on BCM (In Asia)” by Vijay Magan, Head of Business Continuity and Risk Solutions, Intertek India

 

Experience Sharing and Facilitated Discussion

Aside from highly interesting presentations, two other special portions await participants of the 10th ABCC: the first-ever “Experience-Sharing” session and the newly-improved “Facilitated Discussion.”

The “Experience-Session,” which will be led by Tay Ter Long, Executive Director at Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd., aims to provide participants with a general idea on the whole process of attaining a BCM-certification, the obstacles to expect and how to overcome them.

The presentation will also provide information on the benefits of BCM-integration today which, according to ABCC Conference Chairman Henry Ee, is one of the most commonly asked questions among professionals today.

“Today, there is an apparent increase of interest on BCM among organizations in the region. Most often, those that are new to BCM would ask me why do we need it and how do we begin? On the other hand, those that already have a BCM program in place would ask where do we go from here? We aim to address these questions during the session and we believe that participants will indeed gain a lot from the experience,” he said.

In fact, the same can be said with this year’s version of the “Facilitated Discussion.” The only difference is, however, participants will not only increase their knowledge on BCM but also their contacts in the industry.

“The way the facilitated discussion works this time is that participants can get to choose from four BCM topics that we believe are most relevant to businesses and professionals today. These topics will each have a discussion table wherein they can interact directly with industry experts as well as with other delegates,” said Henry.

The four BCM topics with Discussion Tables are:

• Discussion Table 1: “ISO22301: What Challenges to Expect and How to Overcome Them”
• Discussion Table 2: “Integrate Risk Management and BCM for Effective Supply Chain Resilience”
• Discussion Table 3: “Infocomm Technology (ICT) Resilience Tips You Should Know About”
• Discussion Table 4: “BCM as a Career: Getting Started and Getting Ahead”

 

Continuity After the Conference

Despite already having the right ingredients to keep participants interested and excited about BCM during the event, Henry also mentioned that BCP Asia intends to keep in touch with participants to assist them in their “BCM Journey.”

“We sincerely believe that keeping people interested and engaged is the key to the BCM’s growth in Asia. For this purpose, we will also provide questionnaires and forms during the event so participants can write down any relevant queries and suggestions they would like to share with us. We will then do our best to contact them or address their questions through articles in our newsletter and other means. Our doors are open and we welcome these kinds of exchanges and interaction – this is the message that we are trying to send,” he said.

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To register to the 10th Asia Business Continuity Conference, you may click on this link or send an email to enquiry@bcpasia.com

For more details about the event, please visit www.bcmconference.com.

This article was written by Glen Oliver, writer for the Business Continuity Planning Asia Pte Ltd (BCP Asia). For comments, queries or suggestions, you may contact them at enquiry@bcpasia.com