Developing a business continuity programme at Arab National Bank

Abstract

This paper explains how the business continuity programme (BCP) was developed at the Arab National Bank and identifies the factors contributing to its success. The vision was a combination of both long and shortterm requirements. In the longer term, the bank wanted to formulate an effective business continuity management (BCM) strategy and make it an integral part of the bank’s corporate structure. However, in the shorter term, individuals had specific tactical goals to meet their yearly objectives. The key consideration was to ensure that every short-term activity formed part of the larger strategic map. Each individual effort contributed to the longer-term mission. Thus the BCM structure was gradually built to fit the corporate vision for a state-of-the-art business continuity capability.