[OR] [BI] [E3] [C1] Starting Your OR Implementation

eBook 3: Chapter 1

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Implementing Operational Resilience for Bank Islam: Aligning with BNM and Global Best Practices

Introduction

Following the foundational understanding established in eBook 1: Understanding Your Organisation and the design principles and frameworks articulated in eBook 2: Implementing Operational Resilience for Bank Islam, this third instalment marks the transition from planning to execution. 

It focuses on how Bank Islam and similar financial institutions operationalise operational resilience through structured analysis, documentation, and testing.

This eBook 3,  Starting Your OR Implementation, is designed to support organisations at the most critical juncture of their operational resilience journey: Phase 2 (P2) of the Operational Resilience Planning Methodology. 

At this stage, high-level intent, governance structures, and policy commitments are translated into detailed operational artefacts that regulators, senior management, and internal assurance functions expect to see. 

Consistent with the 2025 BNM Discussion Paper on Operational Resilience, this phase emphasises identifying Critical Business Services (CBS), mapping dependencies, establishing impact tolerances, and validating resilience through severe yet plausible scenario testing.

Unlike theoretical guides, this eBook is a compilation of real organisational submissions from an operational resilience exercise.

The content reflects real-world constraints, regulatory interpretation, and practical decision-making, making it especially relevant for institutions preparing for supervisory engagement, internal reviews, or maturity uplift initiatives. 

Examples and illustrations align with the expectations outlined in the BNM Discussion Paper, including end-to-end service mapping, tolerance setting based on customer harm and financial stability considerations, and scenario testing beyond traditional IT disaster recovery.

Purpose and Scope of This eBook

The primary objective of this eBook is to drill down into Phase 2 [P2] of the Operational Resilience Planning Methodology, focusing on the practical and evidence-based activities required to operationalise resilience within the organisation.

Unlike conceptual or policy-driven guidance, this volume is intentionally implementation-oriented. It translates methodology into structured deliverables, artefacts, and submissions that an organisation would realistically produce during an operational resilience exercise.

This eBook is therefore positioned as:

• A hands-on implementation guide for operational resilience practitioners, and
• A compilation of organisational submissions developed during an operational resilience exercise, reflecting how theory is applied in a real institutional context.

Focus on Phase 2 [P2]: Operational Resilience in Action

Phase 2 of the Operational Resilience Planning Methodology is the point at which resilience concepts are embedded in day-to-day operations.

This eBook addresses the six key requirements of Phase 2 as requested by regulators globally,  namely:

1. Outline Detailed Processes (Phase 2 – Stage 1) [DP]
   Translating high-level business services into detailed, end-to-end operational processes that enable service delivery.
2. Map Dependency (Phase 2 – Stage 2) [MD]
   Identifying internal and external dependencies, including people, technology, data, facilities, third parties, and suppliers.
3. Map Processes and Resources (Phase 2 – Stage 2) [MPR]
   Establishing clear linkages between processes and the resources required to support them under normal and disrupted conditions.
4. Establish Impact Tolerances (Phase 2 – Stage 2) [iTo]
   Defining the maximum tolerable level of disruption for each critical business service, aligned with client harm, market integrity, financial stability, and regulatory expectations.
5. Identify Severe but Plausible Scenarios (Phase 2 – Stage 4) [SuPS]
   Developing stress scenarios that meaningfully challenge the organisation’s ability to remain within its defined impact tolerances.
6. Perform Scenario Testing (Phase 2 – Stage 4) [ST]
   Testing the organisation’s capability to withstand disruption and identifying vulnerabilities, control gaps, and areas for resilience enhancement.

Each of these requirements is explored in the context of the organisation’s operating model and service landscape.

Application to Bank Islam’s Critical Business Services

To ensure relevance and practicality, the implementation activities in this eBook are anchored to Bank Islam’s Critical Business Services (CBS), including:

• CBS-1    Deposit, Savings and Current Account Services
• CBS-2    Payments and Funds Transfer Services
• CBS-3    Retail Financing Services
• CBS-4    SME and Corporate Financing Services
• CBS-5    Digital Banking Services
• CBS-6    ATM and Cash Withdrawal Services
• CBS-7    Treasury and Liquidity Management Services
• CBS-8    Regulatory, Shariah, and Financial Reporting Services
• CBS-9    Fraud Detection and Customer Protection Services

By aligning Phase 2 requirements to these services, this eBook demonstrates how operational resilience is applied where it matters most—protecting clients, maintaining market confidence, and ensuring compliance during periods of disruption.

Why This eBook Is Provided

This eBook forms part of the value-adding and complementary services offered to organisations intending to implement an Operational Resilience project or enhance an existing Operational Resilience programme.

It is specifically designed to support organisations adopting the BCM Institute’s training-led implementation approach, where learning is directly integrated with real organisational deliverables.

For participants attending BCM Institute’s certification or competency-based training courses, this eBook serves as:

• A practical reference for applying training concepts to live organisational exercises,
• A structured guide for developing implementation artefacts, and
• A bridge between professional development and real-world resilience outcomes.

Setting Expectations for the Reader

Readers should approach this eBook not as a theoretical manual, but as a working implementation companion.

The content reflects the realities, challenges, and decision points encountered when starting operational resilience implementation within your financial institution.

By the end of this eBook, readers should have a clear understanding of what needs to be produced, why it matters, and how it supports the organisation’s ability to remain resilient by design.

Blogs marked [x] are under construction.

For organisations looking to accelerate their journey, BCM Institute’s training and certification programs, including the OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course, provide in-depth insights and practical toolkits for effectively embedding this model.