World Continuity Congress conference on 26th April 2017 at Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel by BCM Institute

1. 1

2. Does your BCP need a BCP
- Outsourcing Business Continuity
Irene Lye
Enterprise Risk Management
A Real Estate Developer

3. 1
Organization
• jointly owned by Temasek and JTC Corporation (JTC)
• the asset and investment holding arm of the integrated urban solutions platform formed by
Temasek and JTC to capitalise on urbanisation trends in the region
• undertakes urbanisation projects spanning townships, mixed-use developments and
business/industrial parks. It has projects in 28 cities across 9 countries in Asia, including
Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.
• is a substantial interest in and also manages three Singapore-listed funds under its subsidiary.
• manages a series of private real estate funds, which hold commercial and industrial assets
across Asia.

4. 2
Outsourcing of Finance Processes to Tata Consulting
• Operations in 2 locations due to language challenges and process differences
Alternate site :
Ascendas site in Chennai
Alternate site :
Ascendas site in Beijing

5. 3
Due Diligence
• classified as being in seismic Zone III, indicating a moderate risk of damage from earthquakes
• In a geo tectonic zone and a considered a potential geothermal energy site. The crust has
granite rocks indicating volcanic activities in the past.
• The monthly rainfall is in Nov is about 17 cm *
• In recent times, the highest annual rainfall recorded was 60.8 cm in Nov 2005
earlier “highest-in-the-century” level in Nov was only 108.8 cm …….
ALMOST A CENTURY AGO (1918)
* https://www.skymetweather.com/content/weather-news-and-analysis/record-rainfall-in-cities-of-tamil-nadu-during-november/

6. 4
The “inevitable” happened
• Starting Oct 1, Chennai received 150.7 cm of rain, which is
in excess of the city’s annual average rainfall of 146.8 cm.
• In Nov 2015, the rainfall was 119.7 cm, which was more
than the earlier highest-in-the-century level of 108.8 cm
recorded in Nov 1918.
• Short respite after Nov but…
• In the 24 hours between Dec 1 and 2, the city
reportedly recorded 29.4 cm and 34.5 mm of rainfall
in two observatories, the highest since 1901 and
• The administration being forced to release water
that was overflowing the city’s storage reservoirs.

7. 5
What it meant for us?
• As most of Chennai including access to
alternate site was flooded, movement
of staff was impacted
• Working at home was not possible due
to the lack of hardware and/or
connectivity
• Disruption to business operations in the
last month of the year  Quarter
Closing

8. 6
Date Event / Actions
Tue, 1 Dec
2015
 Heavy rain led to floods in many areas of Chennai
 Our extended TCS team continued to operate
Wed, 2
Dec 2015
 Chennai was officiallydeclared a disaster area
 3 and 4 Dec were declared as public holiday by the Tamil Nadu
government
 Our extended TCS team continued to operate
Thu, 3 Dec
2015
 Floods in Chennai worsened,. As a safety measure, our extended
TCS team members were released early from office
 Subsequently, it was reported that the network connectivity
went down
Business Continuity Measures put in place:
 As per the current BCP, Ascendas Chennai office is designated as
an alternate BCP site. As most of Chennai including access to
alternate site was flooded, movement of staff was impacted
 To mitigate the operational impact, ASB retained
finance team in Singapore took over key outsourced
activities
 Additionally, a contingency plan was put in place to
move available TCS staff to Ascendas Bangalore
office to continue critical activities if the situation
should worsen
What we did…. Or how we “coped”
Date Event / Actions
Fri & Sat,
4 & 5 Dec
2015
 The rains subsided and the floodwaters gradually began to
recede
 However, the network connectivitywas still down
 ASB retained finance team in Singapore continued to
handle key outsourced activities
Sun, 6
Dec 2015
 Key TCS team members went back to the delivery center to
assess the situation and to restore the network connectivity
Mon, 7
Dec 2015
 Network connectivity was fully restored at Chennai delivery
center
 Most of the staff were back in office (~ 65% attendance)
 Our extended TCS team started processing the transactions
 ASB retained finance team in Singapore continued to
handle some of the outsourced function to support our
extended team
Tue, 8
Dec 2015
onwards
 The situation gradually returned to normal
 Our extended team resumed normal operations
 The situation in Chennai is currently under control

9. 7
Fortunate that….
• We still had the Retained Finance
Team to support the more critical
functions
• The rains ceased and the floods
subsided in the next 4 days
What if
• The rains had persisted
• Network connectivity could not be
restored
• …..

10. 8
What have we done since
• Required TCS to develop clear triggers and early notification in the event of adverse event
beyond the planning scenarios
• Implemented and tested 1st level contingency plan to move available TCS staff to the
organization’s Bangalore office to continue critical activities if the intra-city plan is not workable
• Explored 2nd level contingency plan to move available TCS staff to Singapore if the event is too
sudden or severe to allow the 1st level plan to work e.g. an earthquake
• Equip TCS work areas with sleeping kits, dry rations and essentials to ‘stay-over’ if necessary

11. 9
Other thoughts….
• Outsourcing and Outsourcing Business Continuity
• Non- core is not the same as Non- Critical
• Do we want to hand over responsibility for mission critical activities to 3rd parties?
• Completeness of the Out-sourcing contract
• Must deal with specifics, not generalities
• Awareness of the nature of the risks and their business impact; including what is not included
• Periodic risk assessments and BIAs must be conducted
• Who manages the review, Who implements and pays for new controls
• Who takes the decision to stand-down risk control measures that have become defunct and no
longer needed
• Audit the business continuity plans ! Do not accept “it is confidential”
• Cover your back!
• What if the provider is not able to manage the critical risks? Do you have a contingency plan?

12. Thank You
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