Written by Anneri Fourie | Crises Control Executive
Most organisations have business continuity plans. Yet, when a crisis hits, far too many discover that these plans fall short. They may have documents and checklists, but those don’t always translate into real-world resilience. The problem is not the lack of plans, it’s that many don’t truly understand how mature their business continuity efforts are or where they need to improve.
This leads to wasted resources, misplaced confidence, and a slow, costly recovery when things go wrong. Simply put, business continuity is not about ticking boxes; it is about being ready to respond, recover, and adapt in practice.
That’s where a Business Continuity Maturity Model becomes essential. Rather than guessing how prepared you are, a maturity model gives you a clear, objective picture of your current capabilities. It identifies what’s working well, where the gaps are, and guides your next steps to build a resilience programme that actually delivers when it matters.
In this article, you will learn how to assess your business continuity maturity with precision, apply best practices to improve where it counts, and how tools like Crises Control help you turn assessment into action.
What Is a Business Continuity Maturity Model and Why It Matters
A Business Continuity Maturity Model (BCMM) is a way to measure how developed your organisation’s business continuity management (BCM) really is. It goes beyond asking if you have a plan; it evaluates how embedded and effective that plan is across your business.
Instead of a yes-or-no checklist, the model looks at several areas that together make your resilience stronger:
- Governance and leadership
- Risk assessment
- Business impact analysis (BIA)
- Continuity strategy development
- Testing and exercises
- Communication and training
- Crisis management integration
Each area is scored on a scale from basic or reactive steps to advanced, well-integrated practices. This shows you not just where you are today, but also where you can go next.
Without this clarity, organisations risk believing they’re ready when they’re not. They may overestimate their ability to handle disruptions or underinvest in critical areas. The BCMM provides a fact-based way to avoid those blind spots and build a programme that stands up under pressure.
Assessing Your Business Continuity Maturity: A Clear Path Forward
Understanding your maturity level is not a pass-or-fail test. It is about getting an honest view of your current strengths and weaknesses so you can make smart choices about what to improve.
Here is a straightforward approach to carry out an effective maturity assessment:
1. Choose the Right Framework
Pick a maturity model that fits your sector and the regulations you must meet. This could be an industry-standard framework like ISO 22301 or a customised approach tailored to your organisation’s unique risks and priorities.
2. Involve the Right People
Business continuity is not the job of a single team. Bring together representatives from IT, risk management, finance, HR, operations, and frontline departments. Their input helps ensure the assessment captures the full picture.
3. Look Beyond the Surface
Don’t just check if documents exist. Ask deeper questions, such as:
- Is the business impact analysis current and used to inform decisions?
- Are recovery strategies realistic and linked to actual business needs?
- Do exercises simulate plausible scenarios and lead to meaningful improvements?
4. Benchmark and Prioritise
Use your scores to compare where you stand against peers and previous assessments. Focus your efforts on areas where maturity is low but the impact of failure would be high.
5. Present Clear Results
Share findings in simple dashboards or reports that highlight key issues and progress areas. This helps secure support from senior leaders and keeps the team aligned.
Moving Up the Maturity Ladder with Practical Steps
Once you know your starting point, building maturity is about progressing through clear stages. Here are practical ways to develop each key area, moving from ad-hoc to proactive management.
Governance and Leadership
- Early Stage: Assign a dedicated executive sponsor who champions continuity.
- Intermediate Stage: Develop formal policies and integrate continuity goals into overall risk management.
- Advanced Stage: Embed continuity metrics in enterprise-wide reporting to track performance and justify resources.
Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
- Early Stage: Create basic BIAs focusing on IT systems.
- Intermediate Stage: Expand BIAs to cover all departments and quantify financial, reputational, and operational impacts.
- Advanced Stage: Update BIAs regularly, incorporating lessons from incidents and changes in the business.
Strategy and Recovery Planning
- Early Stage: Develop simple recovery plans based on known risks.
- Intermediate Stage: Align recovery strategies with BIA findings and identify interdependencies between functions.
- Advanced Stage: Include third-party risks and supply chain considerations to ensure resilience beyond your walls.
Training and Testing
- Early Stage: Conduct basic tabletop exercises with continuity teams.
- Intermediate Stage: Run scenario-based drills involving multiple departments.
- Advanced Stage: Review results rigorously and update plans continuously, embedding a culture of readiness.
Technology and Automation
- Early Stage: Store plans digitally but update manually.
- Intermediate Stage: Use automated tools for notifications and compliance tracking.
- Advanced Stage: Provide mobile access and real-time updates, enabling faster responses when crises arise.
Each step up the maturity scale builds resilience in tangible ways, ensuring your organisation can withstand disruptions and recover faster.
Where Business Continuity Standards Fit In
Business continuity standards such as ISO 22301 or FFIEC guidelines are critical in setting minimum expectations and aligning with legal requirements. But often, organisations treat these standards as documents to be filed rather than practices to live by.
The maturity model connects these standards to real-world application. It ensures that compliance efforts translate into actual capability. When used together, the standards provide the “what” and the maturity model shows the “how“, how well the organisation implements, maintains, and improves business continuity.
In this way, maturity assessments support audit readiness, regulatory reporting, and internal governance by providing clear evidence of capability, not just paperwork.
How Crises Control Helps You Turn Maturity Assessment into Action
Crises Control is designed to do more than just measure your maturity. It helps you turn insights into real progress by:
Comprehensive Assessments
Offering easy-to-use tools to evaluate every BCM domain across your organisation, making complex data understandable.
Customisable Frameworks
Letting you select or tailor assessment templates aligned with standards like ISO 22301, so the process fits your needs exactly.
Real-Time Visualisation
Providing dashboards that show maturity scores clearly, enabling leadership to see where to focus attention and resources.
Action Planning and Tracking
Supporting you in assigning tasks, setting deadlines, and monitoring improvements until goals are achieved.
Audit-Ready Records
Automatically saving all assessments, updates, and test results, so you’re prepared for any review.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid with Maturity Models
To make the most of your maturity model, steer clear of these traps:
- Treating the assessment as a one-off project rather than an ongoing process
- Scoring areas generously to look good rather than to drive honest improvement
- Ignoring the impact of organisational culture and behaviour on maturity
- Failing to communicate findings in a way that motivates action and buy-in
- A maturity model only delivers value if it leads to meaningful change.
Conclusion: From Knowing to Leading Resilience
Understanding your business continuity maturity is the difference between guesswork and clear direction. It helps you move beyond plans on paper to a programme that actually works when disruptions strike.
Crises Control believes maturity is not a box to tick but a mission to build true resilience. Our platform supports you every step of the way, from assessment to improvement and reporting, giving you the confidence to lead with clarity.
The journey to resilience begins with knowing where you stand. Contact us today for a free demo and find out how Crises Control can help you build a business continuity programme that doesn’t just survive crises, but thrives through them.
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