CAVERSHAM, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Business Continuity Institute (BCI), a leader in setting and validating standards of professional competence and ethics in business continuity management (BCM), today announced plans for the annual global Business Continuity Awareness Week, which will run March 22 through March 26, 2010.

The week includes many virtual events that are open to all and are free-of-charge. A standard Internet connection is all that is required to listen and take part in live webcasts as well as access online collateral, resources and tools. The full program can be viewed here: www.businesscontinuityawarenessweek.org

“It’s fashionable to talk about business resilience these days, but how do you achieve it?” asked Lyndon Bird, FBCI, International & Technical Director of the BCI. “BCM is a proven methodology that helps organizations understand what is important to them and their stakeholders, and how to protect that value in the uncertain times that we all live in.

“This extraordinary week of knowledge-sharing has proven to be instrumental in strengthening the awareness of this critical business discipline as well as providing business continuity professionals with additional information all from the convenience of their computer.”

Business continuity management leaders from firms such as eBay, Gartner, British Standards Institution (BSI), Lockheed Martin and Zurich Insurance will be participating in the week-long event. Highlights of the week include:

• One step ahead – the BCM advantage: a global, interactive video conference featuring experts from Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland , UK and the USA discussing subjects from the role of government to the benefits of business continuity for small businesses;
• Business Case for BCM: the latest international research from the BCI on what tangible benefits organizations are getting from BCM in terms of protecting value within their organizations;
• Educational Webcast program: discussion and advice from top business continuity executives from eBAY, Zurich Insurance, the World Economic Forum, British Telecom, ContinuitySA and many more tackling subjects such as systemic global risks, mergers and acquisitions, Soccer World Cup 2010, supply chain resilience, and information security;
• Online forum for newcomers: if you are new to business continuity then the BCM Forum is the place to ask any question you like about the discipline (the forum will continue after the week to build a BCM knowledge base for business continuity professionals);
• Insurance and BCM: a summit meeting with key insurance industry players looking for a win-win solution for clients and underwriters in recognizing the value of BCM programs.

“Every day across the globe, business continuity-related events are taking place,” said Margaret J. Millett, MBCP, MBCI, Director, eBay Inc. “As you read the headlines think how these could apply to your community or organization.

“An effective business continuity management program is vital and fundamental to increasing business performance. It is important for people in organizations to know of the great strides business continuity management has made in recent years, and Business Continuity Awareness Week is a key part of disseminating that knowledge.”

During the week, The BCI will also launch many new resources such as the much-anticipated Good Practice Guidelines 2010 which serve as the cornerstone for its professional certification; research on supply chain resilience, corporate governance and risk management; plus a number of new case studies.

For complete information, and to register for live events, please visit: www.businesscontinuityawarenessweek.org

About the Business Continuity Institute: Based in Caversham, United Kingdom, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was established in 1994 to “promote the art and science of business continuity management” to assist organisations in preparing for and surviving minor and large-scale man-made and natural disasters. The Institute enables members to obtain guidance and support from their fellow practitioners, as well as offers professional training and certification programmes to disseminate and validate the highest standards of competence and ethics. It has 5,000 members in 90 countries active in an estimated 2,500 organizations in private, public and third sectors. Please visit: www.thebci.org, or for education: www.thebcicertificate.org

About the BCI Partnership: The BCI Partnership, established in 2007, is the corporate body within the BCI with over 70 member organizations including BAE Systems, BP, BSi Group, BT, Community Resilience, ContinuitySA, DNV, Continuity Shop, EADS, Garrison Continuity, HP, Lloyds Banking Group, Lockheed Martin, Marsh, Milton Keynes Council, Prudential, PwC, Royal Mail, SunGard, Vocalink, and Zurich. For more information go to www.bcipartnership.com