The Key IT Group has secured its reputation as a leading IT specialist in Malta, covering a full portfolio of practical and consultancy services.
Among its dedicated departments, the business continuity management (BCM) division is one of the most pioneering, designed to prepare organisations to effectively manage incidents so as to stop them becoming disasters.
And to further develop this bourgeoning division, Key has now engaged the services of BCM specialist Robert Clark. Mr Clark’s experience is truly international and has seen him work in 10 different countries across a variety of industry sectors with companies including IBM, British Airways and Barclays Bank. Additionally, he was recently awarded a Masters Degree in Business Continuity, Security and Emergency Management from Bucks New University in the UK.
His new Key Services Business Continuity Management role hands him the responsibility for not only ensuring that Key Services is ready to face potential disaster, but also to help the company’s clients achieve a vital state of business continuity readiness.
“People do not realise that it can take just a few seconds for an organisation to go from being highly successful and profitable to being faced by total failure,” he explains. “The vast majority of business-threatening incidents are not caused by fires, floods or bombs. They are just ‘quiet catastrophes’ that you will never hear about in the media but that can still have a cataclysmic impact on an organisation’s ability to function.” In fact, in recent years, the importance of BCM has been emphasised by a number of high-profile events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that caused almost 3,000 deaths with related job loss estimates exceeding 500,000. Meanwhile, cyberspace threats continue to proliferate, and natural disasters regularly cause severe global supply chain disruption. And while it is tempting to assume that Malta will stay under-the-radar of any international disasters, the reality is that businesses here are vulnerable. As Mr Clark explains: “In truth, if ill-prepared to respond to a serious incident, it may only take seconds for even the most successful of organisations to be facing total failure. Brand names and reputations taking years to build could be destroyed in an instant.”
With this in mind, Key will be supporting organisations to develop their BCM capabilities through a programme through the Business Continuity Institute. “We will also be working with our customers on a one-to-one basis to ensure they are prepared should the worst happen,” he adds.