Business Talk – Resilient Innovations CEO Willem Olivier on building resilient business ecosystems in South Africa
In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Willem Olivier unpacks the importance of having a resilient business ecosystem.
Olivier is the CEO of Resilient Innovations and a respected business leader with nearly 25 years of experience in the BCM industry.
He has managed projects in over 15 countries and established BCM programmes in Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean region, as well as managing programmes for two multinational banks.
Olivier led the management buyout of the Dimension Continuity Practice in December 2023 – resulting in the formation of Resilient Innovations.
Olivier continues to play a key role in growing Resilient Innovations into a South African industry leader across a wide range of services.
These include recovery facilities, managed office spaces, co-location in data centres, and a cloud platform featuring Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS) – specifically tailored for South Africa.
Olivier is also a fellow of the Business Continuity Institute and an ISO 22301 Lead Implementer.
The interview
In this Business Talk interview, Olivier discusses the idea of a resilience ecosystem, as well as what this represents in practice.
He explains how operating within a network of partners, suppliers, and clients shapes the strength and reliability of the overall resilience ecosystem.
Olivier then discusses the role key technologies like the cloud, connectivity, and data recovery help organisations keep their ecosystem running smoothly – even when under pressure.
He also unpacks the weak points in South Africa’s resilience landscape, as well as how he would fix these weak points across industries.
Olivier expands upon the shifting mindset surrounding disaster recovery – while it used to be seen as a grudge purchase, it is now increasingly being viewed as a long-term investment.
Lastly, he explains how business ecosystems are likely to evolve as more businesses recognise the importance of resilience as a core part of their operational DNA.
Watch the full interview with Willem Olivier below.
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