Predictions for 2022

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CIR magazine this month pick 12 key areas which they say will present new risk challenges in 2022. For each one, they have set out in detail the issues which could emerge.

Some, such as the prevalence of ‘deepfake’ fraud scams based on voice synthesis, are the result of accelerating technological change, in fields which some resilience professionals might not be aware of. Others, like Business Integrity, are factors which might not immediately be thought of as ‘risk issues’, but which have clear consequences for business continuity.

Several, among the 12 CIR predictions, are intuitive and, to a certain extent, expected. Yet this does not mean that every organisation has given them as much thought as they could. A good example is that of surging warehouse demand. This has come thanks to post-Brexit supply chain issues coupled with the growth in e-commerce during the pandemic.

The explosion in demand could significantly reduce the bandwidth of those running and using warehouses, CIR point out, creating a situation where the chance to make short-term gains pushes risk mitigation down the priority list.

There is also a worry that “in the rush to find space, organisations may inherit risk when using third-party warehouses without adequate protection and risk management practices.” This mirrors many of the problems that exist with supply chains, where organisations at capacity are reliant on others to guarantee risk across their wider infrastructure network.

CIR identify three risk dimensions to the issue of warehouse demand: fire, climate change and extreme weather, and data management. If these are threats which you are concerned about then do not hesitate to get in touch.

The warehouse issue is just one of a whole range of very specific issues picked out. The more your organisation is able to think about these issues before they emerge, the more resilient you will be in 2022.

John Benfield, Marketing Manager