Flipkart gets Business Continuity Management certificate

21 Jan '21

3 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Flipkart has achieved the distinction of becoming India’s first e-commerce company to get a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) certification, after having met the requirements set by British Standard Institute (BSI), an accredited business standards company, for the highly regarded certification. Flipkart is India’s leading digital commerce firm.

The certification serves as a testament to Flipkart’s efforts towards ensuring the business continuity of its sites through effective programme management and mobilisation of its workforce for seamless operations, according to a press release by Flipkart.

As part of this exercise, 26 sites, including Flipkart’s corporate office in Bengaluru, and 25 other warehouses across the country received the ISO 22301:2012 certification in the first attempt. ISO 22301:2012, also known as ‘Societal security - Business continuity management systems - Requirements’ specifies requirements to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and continually improve a documented management system. This system aims to protect against, reduce the likelihood of occurrence, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptive incidents when they arise, according to Flipkart.

“Flipkart is committed to the creation of a robust business structure which serves the needs of the fast-evolving business environment and shields its operations and people from market and nature shocks. These initiatives helped us serve our customers better while maintaining the safety of our employees throughout the lockdown and unlock period. This recognition by the British Standard Institute stands as a testament to our efforts towards building a home-grown company with world-class operations. We continue to focus on making our business model and operations even more resilient, efficient, and productive than before and we will always seek to improve upon all aspects of our business and scale new heights of excellence,” Ratnakar Bade, senior director, security and BCP, Flipkart, said.

As part of the certification process, BSI conducted two-week-long audits which involved a rigorous process of documentation audits, site audits, and interactions with a cross-section of employees, including leadership, to assess BCM Systems maturity. Post this exercise, the audit body observed that Flipkart demonstrated an ‘Embedded’ level, or Level 4, of BCMS maturity with no deviations found during the entire course of the audit, the company said in a press release.

Among the many observations it made, BSI noted that Flipkart’s recovery plans are effective and completely aligned to the specific need of its business requirements; the precautionary and response controls around COVID-19 were found to be highly effective; and the Flipkart team demonstrated the organisational capability and resilience to manage crises.

“BSI has played a leading role in developing a new generation of standards to help organisations become more agile, sustainable and resilient. With India becoming one of the fastest-growing economies globally, understanding what it takes to ensure an organisation’s survival and prosperity can be more challenging than ever. The adoption and certification to ISO 22301 standard demonstrate Flipkart’s ongoing commitment to continual improvement. During our audit, we found that Flipkart was well prepared with robust and agile plans. On behalf of BSI, I would like to congratulate the entire Flipkart team for this fantastic achievement,” Theuns Kotzé, managing director at BSI IMETA Assurance said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)

More E-commerce News - India...