ASIS Foundation Research: Operational Resilience

Organizations face an unprecedented convergence of threats—from sophisticated cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions to climate events and geopolitical instability. When critical services fail during these events, the consequences extend beyond immediate financial losses to include damaged reputation, regulatory scrutiny, and eroded customer trust. In response, operational resilience has emerged as an essential capability that enables organizations to deliver critical services even during significant disruptions.

Operational resilience is the part of overall organizational resilience that focuses on ensuring the continuity of essential services in the face of disruption. This report dives deeply into the emerging practice of operational resilience, why it is different than, but complementary to, business continuity management and emergency management; where it fits in a holistic organizational resilience process; and, importantly, the central role the security function can play in this mission critical practice.