The Company: BAE Systems

BAE Systems is a global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions, and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 88,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $25 billion.

Problem Definition:

BAE Systems Land & Armaments operating group was tasked to implement a business continuity management program to ensure the continuity of business operations in the event of a disaster. BCM plans needed to cover numerous locations throughout the US and abroad. The company needed additional resources and guidance to fully implement a business continuity management program.

Solution:

The LW Group was selected from a number of potential vendors to partner with BAE Systems personnel to successfully implement the BCM Program. Our holistic approach to business continuity management was the key differentiator in the selection process. We emphasize the importance of protecting personnel, maintaining customer goodwill and preserving business reputation thereby maintaining value to stockholders.

While our approach addresses the typical recovery of data and systems, it goes beyond this to include recovery of critical processes (including the recovery of manufacturing processes and the supply chain).

Our initial recommendation to BAE Systems was to perform an assessment of their current BCM plans. The assessment revealed several key areas for improvement. Existing plans were not linked to each other and did not cover all aspects of business operations. The LW Group worked with BAE Systems to address all phases of business continuity management resulting in the adoption of our holistic BCM methodology. Plans were developed for critical business functions and linked together. The linking of plans ensures effective communication between plans and clearly establishes the necessary workflows to support the recovery. We worked with BAE Systems personnel to utilize their current plans, thereby leveraging their existing investment in BCM and reducing the cost of implementation of our recommended holistic approach to BCM.

BCM standards were developed to fit BAE Systems business model and environment, and BCM awareness training materials were created and provided to the staff. The completed BCM plans were exercised to validate their effectiveness. Upon completion of the project, BAE Systems was in possession of a tested BCM program that met their requirements and provided assurance of the company's ability to continue operations in the face of a disaster.