Operational Resilience: Building Sustainable Disruption Readiness

An Operational Resilience Framework (ORF) is a company’s strategic plan to withstand, adapt, and recover from disruptions, ensuring critical services keep running by integrating risk management, business continuity, IT recovery, and crisis management. It shifts focus from just preventing failures to maintaining core functions during events like cyberattacks or natural disasters, often guided by regulations (like in finance) and centered on pillars like risk identification, planning, response, and governance to protect customers and market stability. 

Core Components & Pillars

• Risk Identification & Assessment: Mapping dependencies (people, tech, third parties) and identifying vulnerabilities.
• Business Continuity Planning (BCP): Procedures for maintaining operations during outages.
• Incident Response & Recovery: Steps to react, contain, and restore services quickly.
• Crisis Management: Broader leadership and communication during major crises.
• Adaptive Governance & Culture: Embedding resilience into strategy, culture, and continuous improvement.
• Scenario Testing: Testing plans against realistic disruptive events. 

Key Objectives

• Minimize harm to customers.
• Ensure the continued delivery of critical business services.
• Protect financial stability and market integrity. 

Why It’s Important

• Regulatory Demands: Financial regulators globally (like the FCA, EBA) mandate it.
• Evolved Threat Landscape: Addresses complex cyber threats and third-party risks beyond traditional BCP.
• Proactive vs. Reactive: Moves beyond data recovery to ensuring service continuity during and after disruptions. 

Framework Examples

• NIST & ISO Alignment: Frameworks like the Global Resilience Federation’s ORF provide implementation guidance, mapping to NIST & ISO controls.
• Integrated Approach: Combines elements of IT Disaster Recovery, Cyber Resilience, and Risk Management into a unified strategy.