I was recently very fortunate to be invited, along with past Chair Niall Kinloch, to the 2011 Business Continuity Awards to present the BC Consultant of the Year award which was sponsored by Scottish Continuity. The event took place at the impressive Hilton Park Lane Hotel in London and is unquestionably THE premier awards for the Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery industries.
I was struck not only by the glitz and glamour of a pukka awards ceremony (as a laddie fae Falkirk I haven't been to too many) and by the obvious professionalism and attention to detail behind the organisation of the event, but also by the enthusiasm and passion displayed by all the participating organisations and nominees. Public sector, private sector, large resellers, small software companies, global IT and comms players - all were well represented and extremely motivated to achieve recognition by a panel of their peers. I hadn't fully realised how highly regarded and truly prestigious these accolades are, the competition had clearly been dedicated and fierce and all of the winners were justifiably proud of their achievements.
For me personally it was a wonderful opportunity to fly the Scottish Continuity flag, to catch up with friends and colleagues I hadn't seen for years, to meet up with people I have dealt with regularly over the last 10 or 11 years but hadn't actually ever met face to face and to make some useful new industry acquaintances . It was also a revelation how many different and varied players there are connected to our industry, and the massive investment in time, technology and good old blood, sweat and tears that has gone into facilitating the best possible corporate governance and resilience solutions into their organisations and clients.
A truly excellent event and an inspiring evening - I look forward to the Business Continuity Awards 2012!
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