Financial Services Industry Better at BC, Survey Says
A new survey says employees in the financial services sector are better prepared and more knowledgeable about business continuity than their counterparts in other sectors. But are they doing a better job at planning – or is it just happenstance?

In an article on the Financial News website, Eugene Grygo says the survey by YouGov found that 91 percent of employees in the financial services sector reported an awareness of their companies’ business continuity plans compared to a cross-industry average of 64 percent.

The survey also found that employees in the financial services sector are the most conscientious, with 72 percent saying they felt a responsibility to help the company to get up and running after a disaster. More than three-quarters, or 78 percent, also said they would want to return to work as soon as possible after disasters such as floods and fires or an information technology failure.

But according to Adam Honoré, an analyst with Aite Group, the greater awareness of business continuity and disaster recovery in the financial services sector is more happenstance than a special characteristic of the industry.

 “Who got hit harder by 9/11 than financial services?” Honoré asked Grygo. He added that financial services companies have had to deal with hurricanes, floods, electronic trading and higher transaction volumes. “This industry has had to face a scaling of volumes like no other industry—there’s been a doubling of volumes every year.”