A business continuity management maturity model for the UAE banking sector

Purpose - Organisations utilise Business Continuity Management (BCM) to support sustained performance of electronic systems on which their core activities are based. These organisations require a tool that can be used to assess the maturity of their existing BCM processes. Through the examination of the banking sector of the United Arab Emirates, the purpose of this paper is to address the need for a BCM maturity model. Design/methodology/approach - A tailored BCM maturity model was developed using a two-stage approach; the first stage was developing a model based on the analysis of five existing models; and the second stage was validation of the developed model against the formulated objectives through the use of focus groups with ten UAE banks, comprising of three BCM experts for each bank. Findings - The research found that the provision of a standard maturity model for BCM as a situational analysis tool for the banking sector is functional and can be the basis of a tool to address the gap in organisations in general to assess the maturity level of their BCM processes. Research limitations/implications - The developed model is limited to validation within a specific sector and geographically, with generic model validation being outside the scope of this research. Practical implications - The framework provides different areas to which maturity can be assigned, various levels across quality and scope and how an overall BCM maturity of an organisation can be determined. Originality/value - The development of a maturity model which could be used as a BCM self analysis tool is a significant addition to the BCM knowledge base.