Forget the Downturn in the Economy, these Winter Storms are Fierce!

Forget the Economy (for now) – Got Snow and Ice?
At time of event it’s going to be all about people and resources!

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, or other parts of the country for that matter, you have been subjected to some pretty nasty weather this last week; Spokane Valley even declared a State of Emergency due to the record snowfall. Spokane discusses what officially declaring a state of emergency would mean in this clip, and Spokane’s Mayor Mary Verner addresses the city’s issues in this news clip.  If you are in business, you more than likely had to make some decisions regarding keeping things going on the work front.  Issues dealing with people, resources and your ability to deliver your products and services were no doubt at the top of the list.

Those of you that have worked with IT-Lifeline in the development of your business continuity plans probably get tired of me preaching “right people, right place, at the right time.’  The recent snow event in Spokane, Seattle and Portland proved that little sermon to hold true.

We know in plan development you have to have the right folks in place to evaluate risk and impact to your business from a major business disruption – including a snow event.  When it comes to responding to the event and resuming your business definitely requires the right people.  If you based your response and resumption planning around your organizational chart you may have experienced some difficulties over the last week.  I encourage you to dig deeper (no pun intended) into your planning efforts to ensure you will have the resources – people and things in place when the time comes.

Many of our clients experienced a shortage of “key” staff members – they couldn’t get to work due to impassable roads, impaired local transportation, or issues on the home front. At Spokane International Airport we experienced numerous cancellations and delays after the worst of our storms.  They couldn’t get the job done with those that were able to get to work.  This raised the issue of cross training or the lack there of.  I even heard of one local business that couldn’t even get the door open – the person with the key was stuck.  Others were looking for employees with 4 wheel drive vehicles, but then what do you do when the local law enforcement agencies are saying “stay off the roads”? Do we close?  Do we remain open?  Is there someplace else we can go to get things done – even if it’s only to answer the phones? What about our suppliers? How do we get the word out to our customers and clients?  The list of issues and questions goes on and on.  You probably have your own list.

The bottom line is this – you need to think about the issues pre-event, not during the event.  Snow and ice are not new to us here.  The length and strength of the storm was unprecedented, even in our neck of the woods.  It may be obvious to some, but as a business continuity planner, and speaking on behalf of the remainder of the staff at IT-Lifeline, I can tell you that advance planning makes all the difference in the world when it comes to responding to an event and resuming your business following a major business disruption – even a prolonged snow event.

God forbid — what if there had been a secondary event?  A broken water pipe?  Loss of power? A fire?  Could you have gotten the right people, to the right place, in the right amount of time to respond to the above events and resume your critical business operations?

We ensured we were open to our clients, but that is our business – we had the right people, in the right place, at the right time – did you?  Tell me about your success stories.  Share your list / solutions with others!