What is the role of a Certified Business Resilience Practitioner (CBRS, CBRM, CBRITP, CBRA, CBRMA and MABR?)

A Certified Business Resilience Specialist (CBRS), Certified Business Resilience Manager (CBRM), Certified Business Resilience IT Professional (CBRITP), Certified Business Resilience Auditor (CBRA), and Certified Business Resilience Manager & Auditor (CBRMA) possess comprehensive and in-depth knowledge, skills, and experience to assist organizations in establishing effective business resilience programs.  These professionals possess comprehensive knowledge of the field as defined by BRCCI’s “Common Criteria for Business Resilience Professionals”.

The Common Criteria for Business Resilience Professionals is a common set of knowledge, concepts, and topics that form the core competency requirements in business resilience.

What is the objective of a Business Resilience Program

The business resilience program objective is to empower the organization with the ability to rapidly adjust and transform business in response to any change in order to prevent and mitigate hazards, capture opportunities, create competitive position, and improve shareholder value.  The program enables organizations to become resilient by proactively adapting and adjusting to any changes resulting from either unexpected events, such as disasters, or normal business demands and activities such as mergers, downsizing, or market changes.

How does a Business Resilience Program relate to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning?

The fields of business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning have played critical roles in helping businesses achieve parts of –-but not all–-of the business resilience program objective.  The primary objective of disaster recovery planning has been limited to protecting IT infrastructure and services from unexpected events and disasters.  Business continuity planning extended the boundaries of disaster recovery planning to include the protection of business operations and processes.  However, the objective of a business resilience program is larger than both business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning.  A business resilience program covers both unanticipated changes as well as anticipated changes.

What are the requirements of a Business Resilience Program?

BRCCI has defined five high-level requirements for a Business Resilience Program. The program needs to be comprehensive, methodical, adaptable, proactive, and reactive.

• Comprehensive – This characteristic requires that a business resilience program is based on a comprehensive scope that covers organization’s end-to-end business and operational aspects.  The scope includes business resilience strategies, business processes, people, IT assets and resources, non-IT assets and resources, product and services, supply-chains, laws and regulations, etc.
  
  
• Methodical – This ensures that a business resilience program is built on a structured, systematic and analytical approach for achieving resiliency objectives.
  
  
• Adaptable – This characterizes the ability of a business resilience program to adapt quickly to changing threats, circumstances, and business demands. 
  
  
• Proactive – This is the ability of the business resilience program to anticipate future business changes, impacts, and discontinuities, and take preemptive actions to protect the resilience goals.  The proactive business resilience program also has the ability to take advantage of opportunities to increase the shareholder values.
  
  
• Reactive – A business resilience program needs to have a strong reactive capability – in addition to the proactive capability to defend or protect the organization from unexpected situations that can lead to disastrous consequences.

What are the main components of a Business Resilience Program?

BRCCI defines a model for the business resilience program which satisfies the five high-level program requirements.  The business resilience program model consists of four main components:

Business Resilience Strategy Planning (BRSP)
Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
Business Resilience Management (BRM)

How can I become a CBRS/CBRM?

The CBRS/CBRM designations are achieved through BRCCI's Management Path. The Certified Business Resilience Manager (CBRM) designation is the highest level certification in this path while the Certified Business Resilience Specialist (CBRS) designation is an intermediate level certification.   To obtain the CBRS certification, candidates must successfully pass the CBRS/CBRM knowledge and experience examination. To obtain the CBRM designation, candidates must pass the CBRS/CBRM exam and possess a minimum of 2 years of practical work experience.

How can I become a BRCCI member or an Associate of BRCCI?

Membership in BRCCI is open, and professionals wishing to join BRCCI automatically become an Associate of BRCCI. Associates of BRCCI may or may not have experience in business continuity and resilience and do not need to posses any professional certification.

Associates of BRCCI or members however must have an interested in business continuity and resilience and may be currently working in the field. BRCCI welcomes individuals from various fields such as risk management, information security, audit, business continuity, etc

Professionals wishing to join BRCCI automatically become an Associate of BRCCI.  Download the Associate of BRCCI / Membership Application

When does the CPE Points Program commence? What is the deadline for submitting the CPE Points Record Form?

The Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Points Program commences in 2008. Certified professionals must submit CPE points by March 31st of the year following the CPE Activity Reporting Period.

Download the CPE Points Program Document and CPE Points Record Form

What is the CPE Activity Reporting Period?

The CPE Activity Reporting Period is a full calendar year and commences the year following the year in which certification is granted.  

I just achieved my certification, when should I submit my CPE points?

You must submit your CPE points for the year following the year in which you obtained the certification.

Is there an annual certification maintenance fee for the year in which certification is achieved?

No, the annual certification maintenance fee for the year in which certification is achieved is waived.  The annual certification maintenance fee commences the year following certification.

I am a consultant and often times I am busy helping organizations to create and establish business continuity and resilience programs.   Is there a CPE points category for consulting professionals like myself?

Yes.  The category “Business Continuity and Resilience Program Establishment, Maintenance, and Execution Activities” is available for both consulting and non-consulting professionals who are involved in development, implementation, management, and/or support activities.

What is the requirement for maintaining my certification once I have achieved it?

There are two essential requirements to maintain certification:

• Submit the CPE Points Record Form for each CPE Activity Reporting Period

• Submit the annual certification maintenance fee.

When does the annual certificaton maintenance fee need to be paid? What is the amount if I have single designation? What is the amount if I have multiple designations?

You will be notified of this fee annually on 31st of December with the instructions on how to make the payment.

The annual certification maintenance fee is $50 USD whether you have a single designation or multiple designations.