[OR] [BDCB] [E3] [C1] Starting Your OR Implementation for BDCB

eBook 3: Chapter 1

Beginning the Journey of Operational Resilience Implementation

Introduction

Operational resilience (OR) has emerged as a cornerstone of financial sector stability, ensuring that institutions can withstand disruptions and continue delivering critical services to the economy and society. 

For the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB), this commitment goes beyond regulatory compliance—it reflects the Bank’s role in safeguarding national financial stability, consumer trust, and economic continuity.

This eBook, Starting Your OR Implementation, is the fourth instalment in the series Operational Resilience in Practice: The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank Approach.

It serves as the first practical step toward implementing operational resilience by compiling the business units' actual submissions.

These submissions detail the BDCB’s five-stage implementation methodology, which constitutes the “Plan” phase of BCM Institute’s Operational Resilience Planning Methodology.

This eBook 3, “Starting Your OR Implementation,” marks the practical transition from understanding and design to execution. 

Linking to the Earlier eBooks

The content builds on the foundational insights shared in the first two eBooks, Understanding Your Organisation and Implementing Operational Resilience for Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.

These earlier works provided context, definitions, and strategic alignment, serving as pre-reading and guidance for professionals preparing toembark on implementation.

By contrast, this instalment moves decisively into action, focusing on the operationalisation of OR at the business unit level.

While the earlier eBooks establish the conceptual and governance foundations of operational resilience, this volume focuses on the hands-on implementation activities that translate intent into operational reality.

It is written as a compilation of actual organisational submissions produced during an operational resilience exercise, reflecting how OR concepts are applied, documented, 

From Planning to Execution

The five core stages of the “Plan” phase in the Operational Resilience Planning Methodology are central to this ebook. These stages form the backbone of OR implementation:

• Identify Critical Business Services [DP]
  Determining the business services that, if disrupted, could pose a significant risk to Metrobank’s customers, market integrity, or financial stability.
  
  
• Map Dependency and Connectivity [MD]
  Uncovering and documenting the relationships and interdependencies—both internal and external—that support the delivery of critical business services.
  
  
• Map Processes and Resources [MPR]
  Cataloguing the key operational elements—people, systems, data, and facilities—that underpin each critical business service's performance and continuity.
  
  
• Establish Impact Tolerances [ITo]
  Setting defined thresholds for disruption to determine how much stress a service can endure before unacceptable harm occurs.
  
  
• Identify Severe but Plausible Scenarios [SuPS]
  Identifying Severe but Plausible Scenarios that could critically impact each detailed process within the Critical Business Service
  
  
• Perform Scenario Testing [ST]
  Validating assumptions and capabilities by simulating disruptive scenarios to evaluate how well the bank can maintain or recover its critical business services.

Each stage is covered through submissions from the core business units. These units have translated the methodology into practice, providing real-world insights into the challenges and solutions of each phase.

Critical Business Services as the Anchor of Implementation

To bring clarity andfocus, this eBook presents submissions from BDCB’s respective business unitsfor seven identified critical business services:

• CBS-1: Payment & Settlement Systems (RTGS, ACH, CSD)
• CBS-2: Currency Management
• CBS-3: Monetary Policy / Currency Stability
• CBS-4: Regulation & Supervision
• CBS-5: AML / CFT & FIU Operations
• CBS-6: Market Infrastructure Connectivity (RPC)
• CBS-7: Financial Education & Consumer Protection

Each CBS submission reflects a comprehensive analysis of processes, dependencies, risks, and resilience measures. Collectively, they provide a real-world demonstration ofhow operational resilience is implemented within a central bank setting.

Nature of the Content: Evidence-Based and Practitioner-Led

Unlike purely theoretical guidance, this eBook is a compilation of organisational submissions developed during an operational resilience exercise. As such, the content reflects:

• Real-world constraints and trade-offs
• Common areas of ambiguity and debate
• Practical documentation approaches
• Incremental maturity rather than “perfect-state” models

This makes the eBook particularly valuable for practitioners who must balance regulatory expectations, operational realities, and organisational readiness.

Practical Value for Organisations and Practitioners

This eBook is more than an internal knowledge asset—it is part of the value-added resources offered to organisations implementing or enhancing their OR capabilities through BCM Institute’s training-led implementation approach.

As part of the Institute’s competency-based certification courses, this publication supports practical understanding and skill development, enabling professionals to interpret the methodology and apply it effectively.

Whether embarking on your first OR initiative or refining an existing framework, this guide provides the clarity, structure, and examples necessary to advance your resilience efforts.

It translates the abstract concept of operational resilience into concrete actions, enabling organisations to proactively safeguard their critical functions against expected and unforeseen disruptions.

What to Expect

In the following chapters, readers will find detailed documentation, observations, and best practices from across the operational ecosystem.

These insights showcase the collaboration among Group Risk, business units, and the OR program office to operationalise resilience.

As you begin your OR implementation journey with this guide, remember: resilience is not a one-time project but a dynamic capability. It is strengthened by continuous learning, iterative improvement, and shared commitment across all levels of the organisation.

Let this volume be your companion as you turn strategy into practice—and plans into resilience.

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