A single disruption can have far-reaching consequences for an organization. Whether it's a supply chain breakdown, cloud infrastructure outage or cyberattack, unexpected events can impact operations, revenue and customer trust. Operational resilience helps organizations prepare for these challenges and recover quickly when disruptions happen.
What is operational resilience?
Organizational resilience is an organization's ability to withstand, recover and deliver critical business operations during unexpected disruptions. This concept is not reactive. For your organization to thrive during times of trouble, leadership has to proactively put plans in place to ensure core functions can continue and impact is minimized.
Organizational resilience vs. operational resilience
Though these two terms are often used in the same space, it’s important to think of them as separate concepts. Organizational resilience is a long-term concept, referring to the broader ability of the entire company to adapt to any form of change. Operational resilience, on the other hand, refers to more immediate recovery, focusing on the company’s ability to maintain expected functions and provide services during and after disruptions.
What are the key components of the operational resilience framework?
- Identifying potential risks
- Information security and protection
- Crisis management plans
- Implementing continuity strategies
- Building flexibility into systems and staff
- Developing quick recovery plans
Why is operational resilience important?
The occasional disruption is inevitable. Whether it be a natural disaster, cyber threat, network outage or a worldwide pandemic, it’s no longer a question of if a business-altering incident will happen—it’s when. When an organization is operationally resilient, it’ll be able to anticipate, prevent and recover from these events.
Successfully incorporating operational resilience gives your organization a layer of protection and a competitive edge. When other organizations falter at the first sign of disruption, you will have plans in place to keep services going and customers at ease.
Top 3 benefits of operational resilience
- Minimized damage—Operational resilience helps ensure critical functions remain operational and keeps revenue streams safe
- Regulatory compliance—Building a system that can withstand disruptions ensures your organization is less likely to risk potential penalties and violations (particularly relevant for those in finance)
- Customer experience—Ensuring operations still work during or after a disruption leads to a glowing reputation, fostering trust and loyalty from your customer base
What are the five pillars of operational resilience?
The operational resilience framework requires concerted coordination between leadership, employees and stakeholders. To create a well-rounded plan, the framework should fulfill these five pillars:
The five pillars of operational resilience:
- Risk identification and assessment: involves finding and handling the risks that could potentially impact an organization’s ability to function under pressure, often with AI services
- Business continuity planning: includes easy-to-understand steps the organization and its people should take in the event of a crisis
- Incident response and recovery: refers to the process of identifying, responding to and recovering from the unplanned event, detailing who does what and in what order
- Crisis management: ensures the organization can continue to function and deliver services during a disruptive ordeal, as well as become stronger for future challenges
- Adaptive governance: promotes active learning from all incidents to help better prepare an organization and its members for future issues
How technology plays a role in operational resilience frameworks
Technology is a foundational component of modern operational resilience frameworks. When a massive power outage or telecom failure occurs, organizations are often left with chaos and questions as the disruption unfolds.
In those moments, traditional methods like spreadsheets and manual outreach won’t offer a quick enough solution. That’s where having the right technology comes into play.
Modern solutions give organizations the tools for real-time visibility, automated response and speedy recovery. When a company implements the proper technology, it will have a leg up on future crises. That’s why it’s often a crucial part of digital transformation.
Types of technology used in the operational resilience framework:
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Machine learning (ML)
- Risk management platforms
- Business continuity management (BCM) software
- Disaster recovery (DR) infrastructure
- Integrated resilience software
- Security operations platforms
Which industries benefit most from operational resilience?
While numerous industries can implement these preemptive processes, certain operations benefit more from a strong operational resilience framework than others. These include financial services, manufacturing and delivery services and government operations.
Financial services and institutions
Banks and other financial institutions are among the leading industries that should build operational resilience frameworks. Putting plans in place for digital transformation to address unavoidable disruptions, such as cyberattacks or system failures, is key to preventing significant financial losses, maintaining customer trust and complying with regulations.
Manufacturing and delivery services
Providing manufacturing organizations with operational resilience frameworks gives supply chains reassurance that they can continue to deliver their products and services during and after disruptions. For example, instead of being out of luck when a shipment is delayed, the company can use technological processes and real-time data to reroute it and keep production lines on schedule.
Local and federal government operations
Whether at the state or federal level, nothing is more interrupting than a government service being slow or down during a crisis. Ensuring that agencies have operational resilience frameworks with AI and plans in place enhances protection of critical infrastructure, strengthens workforce safety and improves responses to issues.
What is the difference between operational resilience and business continuity?
While operational resilience and business continuity are often brought up in the same discussions, the two differ in several ways. Operational resilience takes a proactive and preemptive approach, considering both internal and external operations and regulations to work through potential risks. Business continuity is more reactive, focusing on recovery plans after a disruption to minimize downtime and restore operations as quickly as possible.
CGI and operational resilience
We help organizations develop operational resilience through our expert business consultant services. Our experienced professionals provide end-to-end services to manage tasks, enhance overall cyber defenses and ensure long-lasting success for your company.
