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A Solution for Small Business
Small business constitutes over 80% of Canada's economy. Events such
as the 2011 Great Slave Lake fire, the tornado destruction of the
Goderich Ontario business district and the recent collapse of the Algo
Mall in Elliott Lake have clearly illustrated the reliance of the
community on the resilience of their small businesses. However, small
business owners continue to be poorly prepared for business disruptions
or emergencies and freely admit their lack of preparedness.
Given the opportunity and information, it has been thought small
business owners would welcome the opportunity to decrease the level of
risk of failure to their livelihood. However, despite attempts to
develop such products, make them easy to use, and offer them at a range
of prices, including free, there appears to have been little effect.
Thus, there is a great need for a Business Continuity product that has a
clear, understandable and quantifiable business value relevant to the
small and medium sized business community.
Mark W. Baker, a Toronto based consultant, in concert with Centennial
College and supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for
Southern Ontario’s Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative,
has launched a project to develop a Business Continuity Planning
solution that will fill this need. We will develop and test a solution
that will be affordable, easy-to-use and deliver recognized business
value to the small and medium sized business community.
In addition, the research team will be piloting the Inno-360 open
collaboration platform to accelerate the landscaping of the opportunity
space, locating existing intellectual property and patents and the
identification of critical talent and communication cluster. The team is
also working with the Ontario Business Improvement Area
Association (OBIAA) and Toronto Area Business Improvement Area (TABIA)
and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to determine the current
state of its membership's disaster recovery preparedness. These
organizations are collaborating with the project team in a number of
areas including survey design, deployment and analysis. They will also
be involved in a market test for the resulting Business Continuity for
Small Business solution which will be developed based on survey feedback
and requirements input from other external sources. Results of this
effort are expected to be presented to delegates at an upcoming Business
Improvement Area provincial conference scheduled for April 2013.
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