What are some practical ways to build resilience in Information Systems?

Information systems (IS) are essential for any organization that relies on data, communication, and technology to achieve its goals. However, IS also face various challenges and risks, such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, human errors, and changes in user needs. Therefore, it is important to build resilience in IS, which means the ability to withstand, recover, and adapt to disruptions and changes. In this article, we will explore some practical ways to build resilience in IS, based on four dimensions: technical, organizational, social, and personal.

1 Technical resilience

Technical resilience is the design and implementation of IS that can prevent, detect, and respond to threats and incidents. To build technical resilience, you should consider using backup and recovery systems to ensure data availability and integrity. Additionally, security measures such as encryption, authentication, and firewalls can protect data and systems from unauthorized access and tampering. Patches and updates should be applied to fix vulnerabilities and bugs in software and hardware. Cloud computing and distributed architectures can also increase scalability and flexibility. Finally, it is important to test and monitor the performance and functionality of IS regularly and proactively.

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Neal I.

Making a difference with wise risk taking
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Few of us have the opportunity to start from a nothing, and the challenge is identifying what resilience exists currently and building upon it. Technical resilience is best approached as a value exercise to be able to identify how the cost will provide benefits. The benefits can then be resourced to meet your operational and strategic needs. Tools often employed are Architectural reviews, Capacity/Disaster Recovery Planning, Business Impact and Continuity Analysis. Security testing and scenario analysis also test your resilience and are very important activities to consider in today's connected environment.

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2 Organizational resilience

Organizational resilience is the set of policies and processes that allow an organization to manage and coordinate its IS effectively and efficiently. To build organizational resilience, you should develop a business continuity plan with clear roles, responsibilities, and actions. Additionally, a crisis management team should be established to communicate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders during a disruption or change. Moreover, you should create a learning culture that encourages feedback and evaluation, as well as align the IS strategy with the organization's vision and mission. Finally, fostering innovation and creativity in IS development and use can help build organizational resilience.

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Neal I.

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Organizational resilience starts by ensuring you have done a scenario analysis of top scenarios that impact your resilience and compare it to your risk appetite. Sharing this for feedback across your executive audience will help you gain awareness and align priorities. Taking this a step further, implementing a form of regular testing and simulation to develop and mature your design principles as well as your Incident response plan.

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3 Social resilience

Social resilience refers to the relationships and interactions among the users and stakeholders of IS, such as employees, customers, suppliers, and partners. Practical ways to build social resilience include building trust and rapport through transparency, honesty, and respect; providing training and support to enhance skills and confidence; engaging users and stakeholders in the design and implementation of IS to meet their needs; promoting collaboration and cooperation to share knowledge and resources; and encouraging diversity and inclusion in IS teams and communities to leverage different perspectives and experiences.

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4 Personal resilience

Personal resilience refers to the attitudes and behaviors of individuals who use or work with IS, such as their motivation, commitment, and adaptability. To build personal resilience, it is beneficial to set realistic and achievable goals for IS use or work, seek feedback from mentors, peers, and experts, celebrate successes and learn from failures in IS use or work, manage stress and emotions in IS use or work, and develop a growth mindset that embraces challenges and opportunities in IS use or work. These steps can help individuals become more resilient when using or working with IS.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Neal I.

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Resilience planning is very important to the strategy of the business as it needs to consider how to deliver your key services in the face of various challenges the business will encounter. Leading your organization through exercises such as scenario planning, Recovery exercises and capacity planning help raise awareness of operational continuity and your current boundaries. No one has unlimited resources so understanding this as a continuum, gaining support for resources and timing for change helps ensure visibility to these key items and align expectations.

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What are some practical ways to build resilience in Information Systems?

1

2

3

4

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1 Technical resilience

2 Organizational resilience

3 Social resilience

4 Personal resilience

5 Here’s what else to consider

Information Systems

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What are some practical ways to build resilience in Information Systems?

1

2

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1 Technical resilience

2 Organizational resilience

3 Social resilience

4 Personal resilience

5 Here’s what else to consider

Information Systems

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