Business Continuity Management
In the following we would like to illustrate to you how we ensure failsafe business operations and the continuation of our services even in times of crisis or emergency.
Our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is based on clearly defined processes and measures that form an integral part of the “Protection & Resilience” framework of Allianz SE, our parent company.
We do not only rely on state-of-the-art technologies, but we have also turned our organizational structure into an important cornerstone of our resilience and flexibility.
As a result of our ongoing focus on value creation, metafinanz has created an agile and customer-centric team organization based on distributed responsibility rather than centralized control. When it comes to ensuring legal and compliant operations as well as proper business management, on the other hand, we rely on a formal and centralized structure.
Our formal structure, the broad range of our services and the way that we deliver these via a large number of small but powerful teams form a robust framework upon which our business is built. This strong foundation gives us the confidence that we are capable of continuing business operations even in times of crisis.
The Business Continuity Management (BCM) program of metafinanz comes into effect
- in the event of business interruptions that impact the entire company. It is called into action by our central crisis management team.
- in the event of service interruptions limited to certain functions. Measures are triggered by the responsible person(s).
The BCP (Business Continuity Plan) enables us to provide essential services to customers without interruption. It is geared to ensure that metafinanz can provide internal and external customers with all essential business services in the accustomed quality even during the presence of events or incidents that affect regular operations. This plan does not limit or restrict any initiative, assessment or independent action that may be required to ensure adequate and effective mitigation, preparation, response, recovery or employee safety.
This freedom of action is complemented by coordinated measures that are necessary for the successful achievement of objectives. This means: Essential operational services, i.e. the provision of agreed services as well as invitations to tender, preparation of offers, conclusion of contracts and invoicing, are the minimum functions that are required immediately or in the course of the first weeks after an event or incident. These services must be ensured to maintain business operations and meet mandatory requirements in a manner that will not raise any concerns from regulatory and government agencies, customers, shareholders and employees.
The metafinanz Business Continuity Plan (BCP) defines the structure that will govern our response in the event a business interruption that was identified during risk assessment occurs. The plan also identifies all critical business areas, their critical processes and tasks as well as dependencies on tools, resources and service providers.
This allows the provision of all services that have been identified as critical for upholding operations (business impact analysis) and the organization.
The metafinanz Business Continuity Plan (BCP) defines the structure that will govern our response in the event a business interruption that was identified during risk assessment occurs. The plan also identifies all critical business areas, their critical processes and tasks as well as dependencies on tools, resources and service providers.
This allows the provision of all services that have been identified as critical for upholding operations (business impact analysis) and the organization.
The BCP is structured to anticipate the minimum level of action required, according to the order in which they are normally implemented. It also identifies the persons that will be carrying out the relevant steps.
The structure of the plan is designed to handle incidents that could lead to an interruption of operations. A crisis management team has been set up and serves as the key point of contact in all relevant cases. It ensures that information is collected and analyzed during the course of incidents, provides the management board with all relevant information and organizes communication with teams and employees. The members of the management board are each responsible for the final decisions under the BCP. Business interruptions are managed individually and under the supervision and direction of the management board. In principle, the management board can delegate tasks. The Business Continuity Management Team is responsible for the coordination and development of the BCP. The BCP and all related plans and documents are continuously refined and adapted to current requirements.
The scope of this plan covers:
- Recovery procedures, i.e. emergency recovery plans for the internal service units (Finance, IT, HR, etc.) as well as the business units. These plans provide the organization with the information necessary to respond to an unplanned event and to support the recovery and resumption of critical and essential functions and processes in a coordinated manner.
- Business recovery plans. In the event of a disaster, our business recovery plans provide details of the key steps to be taken and the information required to minimize the potential impact of an event on our business and reputation. These are considered preparedness plans, which means they are to be read, understood and updated in anticipation of a service interruption, that is, before it occurs.
The persons who have been chosen to assume a key role within the framework of business continuity management and the associated plans are considered suitable by management.
