Skills and qualifications to be achieved by students
Competency in business continuity management
By the end of the course, students will become competent and knowledgeable in business continuity management with the following:
- In depth understanding of the ten competencies defined by the Business Continuity Institute
- A business continuity ‘tool kit’ and experience of using it to achieve results
- The ability to design, implement and project manage business continuity programmes
- The ability to carry out the majority of business continuity tasks without external assistance
- Have a broad knowledge of the business continuity industry and the other complementary disciplines such as IT disaster recovery, risk management and emergency planning.
BCI licensed training – Understanding BCM principles and good practice
The BCI has licensed Continuity² to deliver its ‘Understanding BCM Principles and Good Practice Course’. This course will be delivered to students during their first year’s training. The course is based on the Good Practice Guide 2007 and covers the entire business continuity lifecycle. The course consists of 5 modules covering:-
- BCM Principles: Policy, culture and programme management
- BCM Analysis: Understanding the organisation
- BCM Design: Determining BCM strategies
- BCM Practices: Developing and implementing a BCM response
- BCM Practices: Exercising, maintenance and review
Business continuity ‘tool kit’
Throughout the course students will be provided with useful business continuity documents and templates that can be adapted for use in their own organisations.
Advancement within the Business Continuity Institute
Organisations that assist their business continuity staff to achieve BCI qualifications are not only demonstrating their commitment to business continuity but are also ensuring that they have competent and experienced business continuity staff. Following the BCI licensed training at the start of the course, students will take the BCI exam required to achieve Associate status (ABCI).
During the course students will be mentored towards MBCI status. To achieve this “applicants must be currently working in business continuity management and have knowledge and a minimum of 2 years working experience across all ten BCI Certification Standards”. The BCI uses scored assessments to determine a candidate’s suitability. A key part of the course is Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which will support the scored assessment.
At the beginning of the course each student will be required to fill in a log book of their achievements to date. Each student with their tutor will carry out a gap analysis against what is required for the MBCI. Together they will plan the practical activities that the student must carry out to achieve the qualification. The mentoring of students will play an important part in ensuring that students gain the necessary practical experience.