The Business Conference and IT Resilience Summit Abu Dhabi, UAE - Vijay - 4 Blind Spots on the journey to achieve business resilience

The 14th Middle East Business and IT Resilience Summit
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date: 7th & 8th May 2025 - Vijay - 4 Blind Spots on the journey to achieve business resilience

2. Vijay Velayutham,
Principal Information Security
Officer
task count
employee unique
number
main 3
operation
4 Blind Spots on the
Journey to Business
Resilience
(And how to eliminate
them)

3. Why be resilient?
Beyond
Business
Continuity &
Disaster
Recovery
Ability to
Adapt,
Respond,
Recover & Grow
Anticipating
disruptions,
thriving under
pressure
A holistic,
enterprise-
wide
capability
Strategic
imperative for
survival &
growth

4. Blind Spot
#1: Treating
Resilience
as an IT
issue.
"IT Department will
handle it.“
IT is crucial, but
not the sole pillar.
Resilience = People +
Processes + Technology
+ Facilities + Supply
Chain + ….
A narrow view leads
to incomplete
preparedness.

5. Impact
of the
IT-only
approach
Misaligned priorities
across business units.
Incomplete recovery
scenarios.
•Human capital (wellbeing etc.)
•Operational process breakdowns
•Reputational crises.
•Financial viability challenges.
Neglected non-IT risks:

6. Eliminating the IT-only
blind spot
Mandate
from the
Top:
Leadership
driven &
owned
01
Cross-
Functional
Teams.
02
Integrated
Planning:
Resilience
built into
business
strategy &
operations
03
Include
Resilience
in
performanc
e targets
for
various
dept.
04
Business
Impact
Analysis
(BIA):
Beyond IT
systems
05

7. Blind
Spot #2:
Static
Risk
Assessmen
t
The “Let’s do it
annually" approach
to risk.
Risk landscape is
constantly
shifting.
Outdated
assumptions 
flawed strategies.

8. Eliminating the static -risk blind
spot
Dynamic
Risk
Register
Key Risk
Indicators
(Kris) And
Continual
Monitoring.
Threat
Intelligen
ce.
Be On Top
Of
Emerging
Threats.
Agile
Reviews Of
BCP/DR.

9. Blind Spot
#3:
Underestima
ting Supply
Chain Risks
•Our vendors are
resilient, right?
•Organizations are
ecosystems, not
islands.
•A supplier's
vulnerability = Our
vulnerability.
•Lack of visibility
into Nth-tier
suppliers.

10. Eliminating the
Supply Chain
Blind Spot
Rigorous Due Diligence:
Security, Operational
Stability, their BCM.
Contractual Safeguards:
Resilience requirements
& audit rights.
Continuous Monitoring:
Real-time alerts on
supplier risk.
Supply Chain Mapping:
Identify critical
dependencies & single
points of failure.

11. Blind Spot
4:
Inadequate
testing of
resilience
"Our BCP is
documented, so we're
ready.".
Yearly Testing is no
longer sufficient.
Untested assumptions
can prove costly.
Co-ordination is
critical in a crisis.

12. Risks of
Inadequat
e Testing
Execution Failure: Plans
unravel under real
pressure.
Hidden Gaps: Critical
weaknesses remain
undiscovered.
Wasted Investment: Time &
resources on ineffective
plans.
Prolonged Downtime: Bigger
impact due to slower
recovery

13. Eliminating
the Blind
Spot of
Inadequate
Testing
Beyond Tabletops: Conduct
functional & full-scale
simulations.
Cover critical business
processes, not just IT.
Include leadership, key
staff & relevant third
parties.
Realistic Scenarios: Based
on current threat landscape.
"Break Things" (Safely):
Stress test systems &
processes.

14. Key
Takeaway –
Pursue
Resilience
by Design
1
Priorit
ize
busines
s
continu
ity
plannin
g
2
Include
all
critica
l
process
es
3
Move
from
securit
y
mindset
to
resilie
nce

15. 26
CONTINUITY&RESILIENCE
P.O.Box25722
AbuDhabi,UnitedArabEmirates
Mobile:[phone]
[email protected]