White Paper

Systemic Enablers: The Hidden Backbone That Will Define Your Next Crisis

A practical framework for managing shared, enterprise-wide and external dependencies 

This white paper addresses the gap between regulatory compliance and true operational resilience within UK financial services firms following the March 2025 FCA and PRA operational resilience milestone. While most organisations successfully identified Important Business Services (IBS), defined impact tolerances, and mapped dependencies, these efforts often remained superficial - focused on lists, time-based tolerances, and direct dependencies rather than enabling practical resilience management.

The white paper introduces the concept of systemic enablers - the shared, enterprise-wide and external dependencies that underpin multiple services simultaneously. Examples include infrastructure and utilities such as Active Directory, AWS, CHAPS, and the national grid. When these enablers fail, their impact cascades across the enterprise, revealing weaknesses in resilience and governance.

 

Who should read this white paper:

 
✓  Operational resilience & business continuity leaders
✓  Board members & executives focused on protecting brand reputation
✓  Risk, compliance & transformation teams seeking alignment and action
✓  Technology & change leaders navigating complexity

Download our white paper

In this white paper, you'll discover:

Asset 1-4 Why compliance alone isn't enough to ensure resilience
Asset 1-4 The hidden dependencies that can disrupt multiple services at once
Asset 1-4 A step-by-step framework to manage and govern critical enablers
Asset 1-4 How to plan for disruptions with impact tolerances and degraded modes
Asset 1-4 Ways to turn suppliers, governance and risk into resilience enablers
Email Signature Banner - Systemic Enablers WP (3)

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