Telesis. “As a result, we completed a key
power project in our network at Yokota
Air Base just days before the earth-
quake there. Had we not completed
the project before the earthquake, our
operations during the crisis would have
been much more difficult. A key lesson
from this is to not just be aware of what
has occurred elsewhere, but then to
overlay that event on your own systems
and operations and evaluate where you
can improve those systems.”
Another benefit of asking “What if?”
is that it may help you make (or influ-
ence) better decisions about where to
locate critical data or I T operations in the
first place. As a corporate CIO, Southard
says, “you should have some input to the
business as to the importance of a given
location and the risks there.”
Think Militarily
Ever notice that soldiers, police officers and emergency responders often
appear to remain calm in the middle
of a crisis? That’s because they know
they have a specific set of rules and
procedures to follow, which allows
them to stay focused and keeps them
from panicking while trying to figure
out what to do next. Take a page from
their playbook and create an equally
well-laid-out set of plans and procedures for your staff to follow
in a crisis situation.
With locations in 70 countries and crisis plans activated on a
monthly basis, International SOS takes this approach. Its IT team
has gotten adept at creating plans that are extremely detailed.
Most come not only with very specific tasks and responsibilities
that each employee must take on in a crisis, but even a diagram
of where each team member will sit in the crisis management
room. The information is reinforced with rehearsals. And there are
diagrams and posters at company locations, reminding employees
where to go during a crisis, or that they should notify a supervisor
if one of their special internal phone lines rings.
“You have to make it dummy-proof,” Shea explains. “In an inci-
dent like the Japanese earthquake, everyone is shocked. No one
is prepared for something like that, and they need to have very
clear guidance.”
That goes for people far from the crisis location as well. One
important but often forgotten task is to get word out to the rest
of your organization, and perhaps your customers as well, letting
them know that you have the crisis in hand, and whether and
how it may affect them. When rioting and the Internet suspen-
sion in Cairo caused Orange Business Services to temporarily
suspend operations at its support center there, the company set
up an internal Microsoft SharePoint site where its employees
could check for status updates and find answers to frequently
asked questions. “It got more than 3,000 hits a day,” Joyce notes.
“That was a lot more efficient than having to send out emails or
S. TIMACHEFF
set up conference calls.” Indeed, you might consider having a
template website set up so it’s ready to go when a crisis occurs.
When planning for a crisis, in addition to using posters and
diagrams, International SOS IT execs have frequent meetings
with employees in various locations to map out who will do what.
“We look at each individual department and break it down into
action plans,” says Jonathan Bar, general manager of global infra-
structure. “They’re like flowcharts for each department to follow
that the supervisor leading the charge can refer to. They lay out
particular steps, with information and contact numbers to call, so
they can activate the plan. It walks them through all the steps.”
Keep in mind that in an emergency, all employees can be called
on to help out, not just those with IT or support jobs. “We may have
someone who works in finance, on collections,” Bar says. “In the
middle of a crisis, we aren’t collecting from our customers, but that
person is still valuable because he or she can step in and take over a
role where someone else is exhausted, such as answering phones.”
Likewise, he says, it’s important to include all employees in
crisis planning meetings. “Crisis management isn’t just a func-
tion of senior or midlevel management. It needs to be known and
understood by everyone,” Bar says.
“The real key is to understand the value of your people,” he
adds. “They’re your most important asset, and they can keep you
moving forward.” u
Zetlin is a business technology writer and co-author of The Geek Gap:
Why Business and Technology Professionals Don’t Understand Each
Other and Why They Need Each Other to Survive.
