Continuity2

Meridian BCMS is Continuity2’s platform for business continuity, operational resilience and incident response. It is aimed at organizations that need one program spanning plans, risk registers, exercises, audits and communications across departments and locations. The broad scope is its principal strength, while the annual organization-size license makes it a substantial commitment for smaller or narrowly focused teams.

Overview

Founded in Glasgow in 2002, Continuity2 built Meridian to create, store, manage and distribute continuity plans through automation and structured data collection. The web-based system combines business impact analysis, plan authoring, risk management, operational-resilience analysis, exercise administration, audit work and disruption response. It therefore fits a formal continuity function better than a simple document repository.

Meridian is intended for sectors such as finance, logistics, public services, telecommunications, emergency services, utilities and communications. Continuity2 says it supports customers 365 days a year, and the service completed a migration to cloud hosting in 2021. Its privacy policy says personal data may be processed in the United Kingdom and acknowledges that no internet transmission or storage method is completely secure.

Key features

The business impact analysis module records products, services, activities, resources, dependencies and recovery requirements. That gives planners a connected view of what must be restored and why, supporting continuity plans and recovery priorities rather than isolated checklists.

Plan creation is handled by the Template Creator, which works with existing plans or new ones. Templates align with ISO 22301, BCI Good Practice Guidelines, DRI International and ITIL, making Meridian a sensible fit for teams whose governance already follows one or more of those frameworks. A theming engine lets customers apply their own imagery, useful when a branded portal is important.

Risk management supports customizable frameworks, assessments, aggregated risk registers and automated risk notifications. The operational-resilience module identifies important business services and analyzes their impact, including support for FCA requirements. These tools connect risk and resilience work to continuity planning, but they are more capability than a small team needs if its requirement is only plan storage.

Exercise and scenario testing can be scheduled with email invitations. Completion reports are generated for approval and audit readiness, while users can track corrective actions and conduct audits online. That workflow should reduce the administrative gap between running an exercise and proving that findings were addressed.

Incident management sends email, SMS and voice messages, with incident tools in native Android and iOS applications. The IT disaster-recovery module supports automated plans managed according to system recovery priorities. Together with dependency mapping, disruption response and RTO/RPO tracking, this gives technology and business teams a common operating model during a disruption.

Pricing

Meridian BCMS costs £20,000 a year on an annual license for organizations with 0–500 staff. The price is based on staff count rather than user count, and the license permits unlimited users within the organization. That structure can work well when many employees, contractors or stakeholders need access, but it is expensive for a small department with only a handful of active planners. No cheaper tier, free plan or trial is offered in the published plan.

Organizations above the stated staff band, or those requiring a different arrangement, need custom pricing. Prospective buyers should therefore confirm the applicable staff band and commercial terms before budgeting a rollout.

Platforms

Meridian is delivered on the web and through native applications for Android and iOS. The mobile apps support incident tools, allowing response work away from a desktop. Continuity2 says the native mobile applications were developed in 2013.

Who it's for

Meridian suits medium and large organizations running a coordinated continuity and resilience program, particularly where compliance frameworks, FCA-oriented resilience work, recurring exercises and multi-channel incident alerts must coexist. Unlimited organizational users are valuable when plans involve broad participation. It is a poor fit for a buyer wanting a low-cost starter tool, a short trial or only a basic plan library.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad program coverage: BIA, plan management, risk, resilience, exercises, audits, incident communications and IT disaster recovery share one platform.
• Standards-aware templates: Support for ISO 22301, BCI, DRI International and ITIL can shorten setup for teams using those practices.
• Unlimited users: Pricing by organization staff count avoids per-user charges when many participants need access.
• Mobile response: Native Android and iOS apps extend incident communications beyond the web interface.
• Audit-oriented workflows: Scheduled exercises, approval reports and corrective-action tracking support evidence collection.

Cons

• High published entry price: £20,000 a year is a major commitment for organizations under 500 staff.
• Limited price transparency: Custom pricing outside the 0–500 band makes comparison and budgeting harder.
• Potentially excessive scope: Smaller teams needing document storage alone may pay for capabilities they will not use.

Alternatives

Browse business continuity management software for a wider category comparison.

• Preparis is worth considering if you need Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows coverage and prefer to request a demonstration rather than commit to a public price.
• ContinueOps is a better fit when modular extras matter: five additional named-user logins cost £100 a month, while 600 DR test minutes cost 150.00 GBP once and never expire.
• Quantivate Business Continuity Software suits buyers seeking Android, iOS, web and API access with pricing handled through a demo request.
• Noggin Business Continuity Software is an option for organizations wanting a sales-led estimate and a 30-minute demonstration.
• PremierOne CAD is an alternative with Android, iOS, web and Windows support and sales-based pricing.
• i-doit fits teams wanting self-hosted or web deployment, a free trial and a small plan covering 1,000 objects.
• Riskonnect is suited to projects whose pricing depends on size, complexity and customization.
• eFront ERM BCP is an alternative for API and web deployments with pricing handled directly by eFront.

Verdict

Choose Meridian BCMS if you need a unified, standards-aware continuity and resilience program with unlimited organizational users, structured BIA, exercises, audits and multi-channel incident response on web and mobile. Look elsewhere if your organization needs a low-cost entry point, a free trial or a narrowly focused plan-management tool, because the 20000.00 GBP annual license and custom pricing model make Meridian a serious enterprise purchase.