Deloitte: MENA demand for business continuity management on the rise

27 May, 2014 – Businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region are facing the increasing challenge of managing complex operations across multiple entities as they integrate business partners, suppliers, and even competitors into an extended enterprise, all in an environment subject to security, financial, and market risks. The reliability and continuity of these operations are critical to business survival, and to building competitive advantage, so the need for an effective risk reduction and business continuity management (BCM) program has never been as evident for MENA companies, whose demand for such programs is on the rise. International certifying bodies are now casting their net to include regional risk and continuity management services which offer support to companies in the MENA region.

In this regard, the Deloitte Middle East firm was recently awarded the Business Continuity Provider of the Year 2014 (Business Continuity Management by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), the leading membership and certifying organization for Business Continuity professionals worldwide. The award ceremony took place early May in Dubai as part of the inaugural BCI Middle East conference and award distribution ceremony.

The BCI Middle East Awards are the ultimate international acknowledgement of achievement and contribution in the Business Continuity Management industry in the Middle East as BCI puts it, recognizing outstanding contribution of business continuity professionals and organizations across the globe. Quoting the BCI, “The winning organization of this award offers a comprehensive array of solutions designed to help their clients evaluate their risks, determine acceptable levels of exposure and monitor the applications of these controls. Throughout 2013 they excelled in delivering business continuity, resilience and operational risk management solutions to a number of clients and redefined the standard of excellence in the BCM Domain for its region.”

“Having Deloitte Middle East recognized as providing outstanding business continuity management services is an honor for us, and a real testament to the expertise that our professionals in enterprise risk services in general and business continuity management services in particular are providing to our clients in our region,” said Omar Fahoum, chairman and chief executive at Deloitte Middle East.

Fadi Sidani, Enterprise Risk Services leader at Deloitte Middle East clarified, “Business Continuity Management is regarded as part of Risk Management and based on the proprietary Deloitte BCM methodology, which is designed on a modular framework that allows us to tailor our services to a client’s particular business needs. BCM identifies and provides solutions to an organization’s exposure to internal and external threats in an ever changing business climate. It covers current state assessments, as well as design and implementation related to Business and Operational Resiliency, Organizational Resiliency, Technology Resiliency and Vendor & Supply Chain Resiliency.”

“We have worked with clients across the region to better navigate in today’s world challenges and measure, manage and control risk to enhance the reliability of their systems and processes throughout the enterprise,” added Sidani.

“Our strong capability to provide cutting-edge resiliency and continuity services”, concluded Tariq Ajmal, Information & Technology Risk Services leader at Deloitte Middle East, “is delivered by over 25 dedicated and trained professionals (many of whom are CBCI and ISO22301 L.I. certified) who are further supported by more than 200 regional risk professionals. Our team has been involved in both the assessment and implementation of numerous Business Continuity Management projects in both Middle East as well as globally”.

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities.  DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients.  Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a more detailed description of DTTL and its member firms.  

Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges. Deloitte’s more than 200,000 professionals are committed to becoming the standard of excellence.

About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)

Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and is the first Arab professional services firm established in the Middle East region with uninterrupted presence since 1926.

Deloitte is among the region’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through 26 offices in 15 countries with more than 3,000 partners, directors and staff. It is a Tier 1 Tax advisor in the GCC region since 2010 (according to the International Tax Review World Tax Rankings). It has received numerous awards in the last few years which include Best Employer in the Middle East, best consulting firm, and the Middle East Training & Development Excellence Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).