The recently introduced British standard for business continuity will take centre stage at the Business Continuity Expo, which kicks off next week.

According to Robin Rumbles, director of customer experience and compliance, Sungard, interest in the standard has been unprecedented.

"It's the first time in our industry that there has been agreement within the industry that there should be a standard that everybody works towards, and the British Standards Institute (BSI) will tell you that BS 25999 has generated the most interest they've ever had in any standard," he said.

A recent survey from the British Standards Institute showed that business continuity is gaining acceptance within FTSE 250 companies. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of those it questioned said they were very well prepared for serious IT failure.

The actual BS 25999 Standard was released by the BSI last November. A previous Code of Practice was released in 2006.