Business Continuity to the fore at TNETS
Allowing staff to work from home should haze conditions worsen is part of the business continuity plan of customs software and services provider, TNETS, to ensure their business and those of its clients continue to run smoothly.
TNETS is one example of how a business can prepare themselves, when there are unwanted disruptions and risks, as part of their ‘Business Continuity’ contingency planning.
The topic of Business Continuity was extensively discussed in a conference held by Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and supported by Spring Singapore at a convention in Suntec City recently to help businesses prepare themselves to face the future and to manage risks given current business uncertainties.
The shareholder and Managing Director of TNETS, Mr Hameed Ghouse, said, “The current work system that is available allows our 80 staff to operate wherever they are. With this, we are prepared to allow staffs to work from home if the haze condition worsens to enable the business to run as per normal.”
“Our firm is also in the process of getting BCM certification. We know how important this is as we expand and move on to the next level.”
Fellow TNETS shareholder and board director, Mr Neil Johnson, clarified that for the time being, their daily operations are not seriously affected by the haze conditions. However, they would become concerned with the situation should more staff suffer respiratory conditions, or should other factors such as enforced business closures affect their operations.
“Business Continuity measures we have taken elsewhere in our business include strictly limiting entry and exit to our business premises through the use of biometric sensors, and also preparing a climatically controlled server room to minimise potential system downtime.
According to Mr Hameed, the most important thing to ensure business continuity in a competitive environment is by developing on the quality and competencies of our staff.
“Business Continuity for us is not just about recovering from a disaster or unwanted incident but also about how we develop and train our staff so that they are able to quickly develop new business practices using new technologies in light of our fast changing work environment.”
Currently firms can get certification from the SBF which has been appointed by Spring Singapore to spearhead courses for Business Continuity Management (BCM) certification offered by Spring Singapore.
The head of Operations for SBF, Mr Victor Tay emphasized the importance of BCM because of the uncertainties on the risks we do not know and the increasing uncertainties in the world.
“Previously businesses have been affected by disease outbreaks such as Sars and Mers, and now the haze is having an impact. There are also economic shocks such as the dramatic changes in the values of the Malaysian Ringgit and the Swiss Franc and these drastically increase uncertainty.”
“Often, businesses do not know how to react resulting in a negative impact to their businesses. This is why we would like to emphasize the importance of this aspect” clarifies Mr Tay.
The original article in Malay can be found online here: http://beritaharian.sg/ekoniaga/sme-perlu-lakar-pelan-tindakan-bagi-pastikan-kesinambungan-perniagaan