We have prepared a glossary of common terms for your convenience. These terms have been extracted from various sources. Just click on the alphabet of the term you are looking for to find the definition.
We shall be updating these terms from time to time so please visit us to get the latest updates.
You will find at the end of the definition there will be an abbreviation within bracket. This indicates the source of that definition. At times a single term may have different definition from different sources. We have included it for your benefits.
Below is the meaning for each abbreviation:
- BCI - Business Continuity Institute, UK
- DRII - Disaster Recovery Institute International, US
- BCMI - Business Continuity Management Institute, Singapore
- MS1970 - Business Continuity Management Framework, Department of Standards Malaysia
- ASIS International – Organization for security professionals.
| Full Rehearsal | A stimulation exercise involving a Business Continuity E/I/C where the organisation or some of its component parts are suspended until the exercise is completed. |
| Gap Analysis | A survey whose aim is to identify the differences between BCM / Crisis Management requirements (what the business says it needs at time of an E/I/C) and what is in place and / or available. (BCI) |
| Hazard | A source of potential harm or a situation with a potential to cause loss. (BCI) |
| High Availability | Systems or applications requiring a very high level of reliability and availability. High availability systems typically operate 24 x 7 and usually require built in redundancy built-in redundancy to minimize the risk of downtime due to hardware and/or telecommunications failures. (DRII) |
| Hot Site |
An alternate facility that already has in place the computer, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure required to recover critical business functions or information systems. (DRII) |
| Impact | The potential level of impact and effect of a Business Continuity E/I/C over time on an organisation. The level of impact and effect is usually relative to the size of an organisation and its BCM resilience. The types of business impact are usually described as financial and non-financial and are further divided into two specific types of impact. (BCI) |
| Incident | Any event which may be, or may lead to, a business interruption, disruption, loss and/or crisis. (BCI) |
| Incident Command System (ICS) | Combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures and communications operating within a common organizational structure with responsibility for management of assigned resources to effectively direct and control the response to an incident. Intended to expand, as situation requires larger resources, without requiring new, reorganized command structure. (NEMA Term) (DRII) |
| Inherent Risk | The possibility that some human activity or natural event will have an adverse affect on the asset(s) of an organisation and which cannot be managed or transferred away. (BCI) |
| Integrated Test | A test conducted on multiple components of a plan, in conjunction with each other, typically under simulated operating conditions. (DRII) |