Presentation of the world’s first certificates for BS 25999, the new standard for business continuity

Press release: 20 November 2007

Two UK companies are the first in the world to have achieved certification for their commitment to ensuring business continuity in the event of disaster or disruption.

On the day that the globally-recognised standard for Business Continuity Management, BS 25999, is fully published, certificates confirming compliance were awarded by BSI Management Systems to TDG plc and SunGard Availability Services (UK) Limited.

The two companies were handed their certificates at a presentation in London on 20 November 2007 by BSI Management Systems Managing Director, Flemming Norklit.

Mr Norklit said: “The significance of today’s presentation is huge for organisations throughout the world who hope to minimise the risk to their businesses presented by the threat of disruption.

“TDG and SunGard are at the head of a long and growing line of leading-edge companies wishing to prove that they are doing what is required to protect their businesses. At our launch events last month in London, New York and Tokyo we had record numbers of attendees and the level of demand for certification to BS 25999 is like nothing previously experienced in the world of standards, not only in the UK but all over the world.”

The draft of the standard was released in the summer and since then BSI has been working with a small number of forward-looking organisations to assess their compliance to it.

Mr Norklit added: “The moment it was formally published we reviewed the new document and confirmed that TDG’s and SunGard’s management systems fully complied. Not only can they and their stakeholders be assured that they have a robust Business Continuity Management System, but they have helped us to develop an assessment and certification scheme that from today we will be offering to clients around the world.”

Simon Beesley of TDG, UK-owned European supply chain specialist, believes that achieving the certification will give his company a competitive edge.

He added: “Our major clients such as supermarket retailers have long insisted that we prove we have solid plans in place to provide business continuity and thus assurance of supply. Now that we have BSI’s certificate, proving that fact is significantly easier. We will now be insisting on it from our suppliers and expect it to be widely adopted throughout our industry.”

In accepting his award for certification against the Standard, Keith Tilley, Managing Director UK and Senior Vice President for Europe at SunGard Availability Services commented:
“Given our four decades’ heritage in business continuity management, we recognise how BS 25999 can not only help organisations become more resilient, but more agile and competitive as well.  Certification against the standard not only demonstrates our commitment to best practice to customers, it also provides us with valuable insight into the issues and challenges that certification may present.”

BSI’s Flemming Norklit said: “In a fast moving business environment subject to multiple sources of risk, business continuity management is regarded by most boards as essential and today it is widely recognised as a core corporate governance issue. This is why the first British Standard for business continuity has been developed.

Note to editors

TDG plc

TDG plc is one of Europe's leading supply chain management companies. It was founded 75 years ago and has 7,000 employees. Its head office is based in London.

SunGard Availability Services

SunGard Availability Services is the pioneer and leading provider of information availability solutions, helping to ensure that more than 10,000 customers in North America and Europe have access to their business-critical information systems. With over 4 million square feet of operations space, SunGard offers a complete range of information availability solutions that include professional services, recovery solutions and managed IT solutions. SunGard provides services to support an always-on production environment, as well as over 30 technology platforms to support customers who require a traditional 24-48 hour recovery time frame. SunGard also has technology and systems management services for application and data centre outsourcing, as well as business continuity consulting services and planning software.

SunGard Availability Services (UK) Limited has been recognised as Service Provider of the Year an unprecedented five times in the Business Continuity Awards’ nine-year history, and has been a finalist on all but one occasion: a track record unequalled in the industry. SunGard and its customers have also achieved success in the Most Innovative Product, Most Effective Recovery, Industry Personality, Lifetime Achievement and Consultant of the Year categories, amongst others.

Trademark Information:  SunGard and the SunGard logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.