Award Ceremony: The Winners of the 2nd Asia Business Continuity Awards 2008 (ABCA)

Singapore, 10th November 2008. The 2nd Asia Business Continuity Awards (ABCA2008) Ceremony was successfully held on 5th Nov 2008, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel. This event was held in conjunction with the 8th Annual Business Continuity Management Conference -- "Unleash the Power of a GREEN BCM".

The ABCA 2008 aims to recognize excellence in the achievement of individuals and organizations that have been contributing to the business continuity industry significantly. ABCA grants the highest possible honor in the Asia Pacific to the recognition and acknowledgement of individuals and organizations in their efforts in business continuity.

In addition, ABCA 2008 seeks to facilitate networking amongst business continuity professionals and associated parties, to exchange ideas and updates in the growth and development in the industry. It also created an opportunity to increase the visibility, significance and necessity of having a Business Continuity Management System in the culture of every business.

The ABCA 2008 had attracted entries from Saudi Arabia, Korea, United States of America, India, Japan, United Kingdom and Singapore. Nominees came from both business continuity related industries to financial, BPOs and end users.

List of winners:

Individual Category

* Business Continuity Manager of the Year - Abdulrahman M. Alonaizon, Arab National Bank.

* Lifetime Achievement - Wong Tew Kiat, Singapore Computer Systems Ltd

Business Category

* Business Continuity Provider of the Year (BCM Services) - Singapore Computer Systems Ltd.

* Business Continuity Provider of the Year (BCM Software) - Office-Shadow Ltd

* Group Excellence in Business Continuity Management - Arab National bank

* Group Excellence in Business Continuity Management - Infosys BPO Ltd

* Product or Service Innovation of the Year - BSI Management Systems

ABCA 2008 is judged by an international panel of judges; all of whom are certified professionals in the industry with more than 10 years experience and are highly regarded in the field of business continuity. They are: Lyndon Bird, Technical Director of Business Continuity Institute (based in UK) , John Worthington, Board Member of Business Continuity Institute (based in New Zealand) Masamichi Synohara, BCI Japan Representative (based in Japan) and Kenny Seow, Lifetime achievement winner for ABCA 2007 (based in Australia).

"The Asia Business Continuity Awards is not only opened to local Singapore organizations but those in the region as well. This year, we
see a growing number of international entries for the awards and this is definitely a positive sign that interest in the award is growing." said Kenny Seow, the chairman for the ABCA 2008 awards presentation ceremony who is also one of the judges. "The entries received were of very high quality and the panel of judges had a very difficult time in the scoring and selection process. After several rounds of discussions and conference calls, the judges finally agreed on the winners. The scores of some of the nominees are very close indeed!"

"I congratulate BCP Asia for taking the initiative to organize this award and thank those who have contributed in one way or another to make this year's award a success. I would like to encourage more organizations and BCM practitioners to participate in the awards next year. It is only through your participation that we will be able to bring the business continuity industry to greater heights." Kenny continues.

Pankaj Rai, BSI Management Systems South East Asia Managing Director, Winner of Product or Service Innovation of the Year said, "On behalf of BSI, I am delighted that the ABCA has honoured BSI with this award for its work in business continuity management. BSI recognized the vital importance of BCM in protecting the resilience of organizations throughout the world and developed a number of 'value-add' solutions around the BS 25999 standard, including certification and training services. Through these services, organizations of any size, industry and geographic location can implement a proven business continuity of any size, industry and geographic location can implement a proven business continuity plan and clearly demonstrate to all their stakeholders that they meet industry best practices for BCM."

According to the winner of individual awards category, Lifetime Achievement - Wong Tew Kiat from Singapore Computer Systems Ltd (SCS): "I've been in the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) industry for 20 years and I am still enjoying each day, learning and enriching myself during the numerous discussions or sharing sessions with my team members, customers, industry partners and competitors. There are just so many incidents and life experiences we can learn from one another. I strongly believe that all organisations, and even nations, should be equipped with a sound BC/DR plan. The plan should incorporate the best practices in light of the natural catastrophes, terrorism and geopolitical tension and should be tested and retested to further refine and ensure that all areas are well-covered," SCS is also the winner for Business Provider of the Year (BCM Services).

The 2nd Asia Business Continuity Awards is organized by Business Continuity Planning Asia . The next ABCA will be held during October/November 2009; nomination will be open during June/July period.

About the Organizer

Business Continuity Planning Asia (BCP Asia) is founded in Y2000, with the aim to promote and increase awareness of Business Continuity to professionals in the Asian region. The company is specialised in consultancy, training and coaching services pertaining to Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery and Crisis Management. With a team of experienced trainers and consultants, BCP Asia develops trainings and events that are relevant and practical - which benefited thousands of professionals in Asia; many who returned for more training.

For the 8th year running, BCP Asia has been committed and successfully
held one of the leading BCM Conferences in Asia - the Annual Business
Continuity Conference. Backed by quality topics, the esteem panel of speakers and responsive team, BCP Asia aims to provide you with the latest trends; developments and ideas for your BCM program.

Event Partners http://www.bcmconference.com/overview/ourpartners.htm