Use the links below to read PDF documents giving answers to the most common questions in two categories:

• General information about the BCI
• Technical FAQs

Questions in the General information about the BCI FAQ document include:

ABOUT THE BCI

• What is the Business Continuity Institute?
• What does the Business Continuity Institute do?
• What recent developments have the BCI been involved in or undertaken?

MEMBERSHIP OF THE BCI

• Who are the BCI’s members?
• What are the grades of BCI membership?
• What benefits other than journals, are available to me as a member of the BCI?
• Can I be a member of the BCI?
• What is the difference between MBCI and SBCI?
• Do I have to take an exam to become a member?
• Is success in the BCI examination recognised?
• What is the BCI examination like?
• How do I find out if a course is accredited by the BCI?
• How long does it take for my membership application to be completed?
• How do I go about upgrading my membership?
• Can I pay the application fee and subscription fee in my local currency?
• What would the cost of my application fee and subscription fee be in my local currency?
• How do I log on to the members area of the website?
• I have forgotten my password and/or membership number, what do I need to do?
• How do I go about renewing my membership?
• What payment methods are accepted?
• Can I pay online?
• If I want to sign up to pay by Direct Debit, how do I go about doing so?
• If I want to pay by cheque, who should I make the cheque payable to and where should I send it?
• Can I get an invoice sent to my employer for my membership subscription?
• Can I pay the application fee and subscription fee in my local currency?
• When are my subscriptions due for renewal?
• I am now retired, can I claim a reduction in fees?
• Can I get a receipt for my subscription?
• Can I claim back tax on my subscriptions?
• What happens if I do not renew my membership?
• How do I notify you of new contact details – name, address and employer?

EVENTS

• When is the next annual conference?
• How do I find out about forthcoming BCI events and conferences?
• Can non-members attend BCI conferences or events?
• How do I book a place on a BCI conference or event?
• What resources can the BCI provide for Business Continuity Awareness Week?
• How do I find out where my local Regional Forum is?

TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS

• I would like to attend a training course, where can I get more information?
• I would like to complete a Training course in my own time, are there and distance learning courses available?
• Where can I get further information on Workshops being run by the Business Continuity Institute?
• Does the BCI run a CPD scheme?
• I would like to obtain some useful Business Continuity tools, what do the BCI supply?

BCI PARTNERSHIP

• Can my company become a BCI member?
• What is the BCI Partnership?
• Partnership Aims
• Who do I contact if I am interested in membership of the BCI Partnership?
• What is the cost and benefits of BCI Partnership membership?

Questions in the Technical FAQ document include:

• The BCI is committed to promoting “the art and science” of business continuity management; can you elaborate on that statement and explain the philosophy behind it?
• What is the BCI’s relationship with the BSI (British Standards Institute) like; how does it benefit each organisation and businesses in the UK and abroad?
• Does the BCI hold any best practice for managing/controlling conference calls, particularly in a crisis situation?
• An explanation of the terms MTO and RTO. I have seen the glossary for these 2 terms however, it would be helpful to have these explained as there are several interpretations being discussed throughout different areas. The MTO and the RTO seem very similar and I would appreciate your help on this with a definitive, simple explanation.
• With respect to Business Continuity Planning does the plan cover the employee's families as well ?
• Where is the general business executive on this issue? How would you characterize the general state of business-continuity/disaster-recovery planning among businesses, especially in the United States?
• Are there particular industries that are doing it particularly well and some that are still hesitant to invest the time and resources? Or is the split more between large and small companies, regardless of industries, for example?
• What is your elevator advice to the business owner that might see the value in BC/DR planning--but still doesn't give it the effort it requires because of immediate profitability concerns?
• Is BC/DR becoming a competitive differentiator? For example, do companies ever ask about vendors' plans in RFPs
• What are the big regulatory concerns on the table in the area of BC/DR?
• Does BCI recommend any sort of formula to a business in terms of how much time and money to invest in this planning (e.g., X percent of total revenues)?
• It seems that, in today’s political climate, government should be more involved in BCM and the associated disciplines, particularly with the threat of international terrorism and wide-scale natural disasters. What is the BCI view on this?
• What country or organisation should we look to as an example of best balancing BCM guidelines and business, and why?
• The BCI has a code of practice and ethics for business continuity practitioners, which presumably gives customers assurance that vendors that are BCI members are reliable and provide quality services. How important is this to the BCI and its members?
• According to a BCI survey looking into the after-effects of the July 7th terrorist attacks in London, 12.5 per cent of the respondents said that the creation of their business continuity plan was directly prompted by that days events. Is this a trend that the BCI still sees, whereby companies tend to only implement a business continuity plan after a major event?
• One recent event in the UK has been a better BCM case study than all others, and that’s the Buncefield explosion that took place in Hertfordshire in December 2005 when a petrol storage tank in a business park leaked. Why does this best illustrate the benefits of BCM?
• Of course, both the Buncefield explosion and London attacks are high-profile incidences. Surely there’s a case for BCM implementation to deal with more frequently occurring small-scale incidents?
• Many entrepreneurs adopt the ‘it won’t happen to me attitude’ and think their business is too small to need a business continuity plan. Why should they bother?
• What about a sole trader, who works from home and has no employees? Why should they bother with planning for incidents?
• Many entrepreneurs operating on a low budget believe business continuity planning is an unnecessary expense. How can small company owners keep costs down?
• What are key steps small business owners should follow when drawing up a business continuity plan?
• How should entrepreneurs test their plan?
• Many company owners forget people when it comes to planning for the unexpected. What are the key workforce issues to consider in business continuity planning?
• How can entrepreneurs create a business continuity management culture within their organisation?
• There are local BCM standards and guidelines in my country – how does the BCI regard these?
• Is the BCI relevant in the Southern Hemisphere as it seems to be a UK dominant institution?
• Is there any legislation that says that my organisation must carry out business continuity management?
• e there any plans to turn BS25999 into an ISO standard - similarly as it was done with BS7799.
• Are there any figures on the financial cost of downtime?
• Are their any discussions between the Insurance sector and BCM practitioners/BCI regarding the possible impact on the insurance premiums for the companies employing active BCM methodology?
• Has the BCI issued any guidance on where individuals that make up part of an organisations crisis management team should keep their copies of the business continuity plan i.e. should BCPs be kept in the office, at home, in a car? What is considered best practice?
• Could you please describe what BCI is and what it means to the BC professional?
• What is BCI’s relationship with other organisations, such as Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) and the British Standards Institute (BSI)?
• Do you believe that there should be international standardisation for the business continuity profession and why or why not? If so, what would it take to make this is a reality?
• Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Business Resiliency, Risk Management, Emergency Management, Crisis Management – these are all terms used throughout our industry. How do you describe the nuances between them and how do you see them working together?
• A question that is often asked of us is how to get executive management hooked into the idea of business continuity, without having to survive an actual crisis. In your experience and from your vantage point, what has been the most successful way to get executive management on board with BCM?
• Where do you see the business continuity industry headed over the next ten years? Will it change or we do just more of the same?