Developing an organisation-wide business continuity programme in the public sector: Case study of the Government of Manitoba

Abstract

In January 2006, the Government of Manitoba began developing a business continuity plan (BCP) to provide protection of all functional areas. With an employee base of 13,000, widespread geographic locations and a broad range of services, the planning challenges for the organisation are diverse and complex. Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) was tasked with developing and implementing the provincial BCP programme. The experience of Manitoba EMO was informed by the well-established body of knowledge and best practices for business continuity planning, but also required adaptation of these guidelines to lead to effective implementation in a public sector environment. As the initial development of this programme has been reached and implementation has begun, this paper reviews the lessons learned and examples of how a BCP programme can be effectively developed in large public sector organisations.