Firms urged to plan for extreme weather

With much of the UK facing a March cold-snap this week, tech companies are failing to plan for disruption caused by extreme weather - especially the likelihood of staff being prevented from reporting into the office.

Despite warnings of the potential impact on performance and productivity, companies are failing to protect themselves according to research by the Cabinet Office and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

One in five IT organisations was affected by extreme weather in 2006, while one in four businesses expressed concern about the effects of a lack of staff.

Business leaders must stop thinking about strategic initiatives, such as good IT and good business continuity planning, as a cost. It is an investment and should be clearly measured as such.

Jo Causon, director of marketing and corporate affairs at the CMI, said: "[Companies] should look at infrastructure issues but also the skills issues that they have."

Causon said companies need to consider how employees can work remotely and who staff can contact when they are unable to get into work. "We'd like to see more attention in business plans to these particular areas," she said.

Tom Howard, chief technical director at co-location and managed services company Qube, said: "Whether it's a problem with public transport or occasional central London power outages, UK companies are not investing seriously enough to avoid a multitude of events that can have a serious impact on their normal operations."

He added: "Business leaders must stop thinking about strategic initiatives, such as good IT and good business continuity planning, as a cost. It is an investment and should be clearly measured as such."

The research suggested businesses consider tech issues as having more of an impact on future costs and revenues than lack of staff. Nearly 80 per cent of companies surveyed by the CMI said loss of telecommunications is a concern, followed by the loss of IT and access to sites (both 72 per cent). Only 44 per cent said staff shortages are a concern.

Causon said technology is nothing without the people who can use it and unless organisations balance their business continuity needs their plans will be inadequate.

Bruce Mann, director of Civil Contingencies at the Cabinet Office, said events such as the Carlisle floods, London bombings and Buncefield depot explosion demonstrate the range of impacts emergencies can have but there are still too many organisations without sufficient business continuity plans.