MADISON, Wis/PRNewswire/ -- Business continuity management (BCM) has emerged as a key discipline that organizations can use to manage operational risk, according to new research fromContinuity Insights and KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.

The 2011-2012 Continuity Insights & KPMG LLP Global Business Continuity Management Program Benchmarking Study, which surveyed 685 executives from over 40 countries, revealed varied levels of business continuity management program maturity across organizations and identified opportunities for improvement through deeper integration with other disciplines.

For instance, the survey found that only 34% of BCM programs have a high level of integration with the organization's strategic planning capabilities, while just over half (52%) are tightly integrated with the enterprise risk management program in an organization.

The study also captured program development and performance data, including the financial impacts of adverse events, BCM leadership structures, budgets, headcounts, technology deployment, plan exercises and training.

Market Trends

Adapting BCM programs to address a cloud operating environment and social media considerations is widespread among the organizations surveyed (43% and 42%, respectively); however, nearly one-third of those using cloud do not have documented IT disaster recovery plans for it.

"Organizations are clearly giving more prominence to integrating business continuity management program considerations with other operational risk management priorities," said Greg Bell, a principal at KPMG LLP (U.S.) and the Global Information Protection and Business Resilience Leader.  "Although some companies remain at an early state of maturity, rapid changes introduced by cloud, mobility applications and social media considerations have served as catalysts to rethink traditional approaches to business continuity."

The research also found:

• Over 21% of respondents said their organizations do not have a senior management advisory or steering committee that provides input and assistance to the program leader.
• 65% of respondents' organizations have a full-time BCM coordinator.
• 32% of respondents indicated their BCM programs are well integrated with strategic sourcing and procurement capabilities.
• Less than 31% of the respondents believed their recovery time objective was completely met during the most recent interruption.

Program Governance, Critical Activities & Metrics

The joint study identifies several areas where business continuity professionals can improve organizational preparedness by developing BCM program elements, activities and governance, as well as gathering vital information and metrics.

Other highlights from the study include:

• Business continuity plan exercises are by far the most widely used method to measure the performance of BCM programs (85%), followed by audit findings (62%) and BCM program reviews (60%)
• Over 38% of the respondents do not know the financial impact of a five-day disruption or outage
• Nearly 40% of respondents do not know how much of the organization's application data is currently stored in the cloud

For the full report, which contains analysis, commentary from subject-matter professionals, and links to the full results and custom reports, go to http://www.continuityinsights.com/white-papers/2012/04/2011-2012-continuity-insights-kpmg-llp-global-business-continuity-management-program-benchmarking-study or to http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/2012-cin-kpmg-management-study.pdf.

About Continuity Insights

Continuity Insights (www.continuityinsights.com) is continuity from management's perspective. It speaks directly to the strategic view, embracing the issues and concerns of senior-level managers. The annualContinuity Insights Management Conference is the centerpiece of Continuity Insights' educational offerings, which also include webinars, regional events and virtual (online) events.

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About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International.") KPMG International's member firms have 145,000 people, including more than 8,000 partners, in 152 countries.

SOURCE KPMG LLP