I am terrified about the number of business continuity managers in banking sector, who do not understand their business. I notice through the questions they ask me.
I have met excellent BC managers in the banking world. My comment sounds frustrated, I actually just want to point out, that the good BC manager, alongside his/her knowledge base and experience, is the one asking the right questions when implementing BC measures, and not following the strict BC rules, or "what has been done for 20 years in the BC business". He must be able to adapt to the most unexpected hazard affecting the organisation.
In my world of emergency communication and notification management, I have had to spend hours explaining our communication cost strategy (how much does an SMS cost, how much does a voice call cost,...), and very few actually would point out obvious things like, "If we have a power cut, will you be up and running?" which makes much more sense.
I see more value in working with someone who chose our company because our solution was matching their BC needs, than with someone who selected us because our text messages are 1 cent cheaper than the competition's !
Friday, 22 April 2011
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Population Alerts - It's not only about the Technology, it's about being prepared
When I talk about mass notification systems to members of local authorities, the reaction is often to ask questions about technical abilities of the solution. While performance, availability and reliability of the solution and telecom operators are key elements, one is often neglected, which is:
preparedness of the operators and system administrators, preparedness of the key players taking responsibility for manageing emergency procedures (emergency managers, politicians, first responders,...), and of course preparedness of the end-user, i.e. the citizen.
I am reading the excellent book "The Human Side of Disaster" by Thomas E. Drabek, who describes perfectly how we react to disasters. It reminds me of how we, at M-PLIFY, perceive the importance of message content: it's not only about technology. Here an example:
In 1862, when Victor Hugo released his famous "Les Miserables", he was worried about the success and sales around his book, so he wrote a letter to his editor with the following: " ? ".
The answer came days later: " ! ".
This example shows, that when actors in a community are prepared and know the context of a message (who has sent, when was it sent, what is it concerning?), you can stay very limited in words, yet be explicit on actions to take.
I'm not saying you should send a question mark to population, when problems hit the area, but if population has been properly informed on what risks threaten them, and what measures have been put in place to inform them, it makes life of emergency managers easier, and life saving more efficient.
At the end of the day, it's not about technology, but how to insert it intelligently in the alert procedures under human control, the day it is really needed.
preparedness of the operators and system administrators, preparedness of the key players taking responsibility for manageing emergency procedures (emergency managers, politicians, first responders,...), and of course preparedness of the end-user, i.e. the citizen.
I am reading the excellent book "The Human Side of Disaster" by Thomas E. Drabek, who describes perfectly how we react to disasters. It reminds me of how we, at M-PLIFY, perceive the importance of message content: it's not only about technology. Here an example:
In 1862, when Victor Hugo released his famous "Les Miserables", he was worried about the success and sales around his book, so he wrote a letter to his editor with the following: " ? ".
The answer came days later: " ! ".
This example shows, that when actors in a community are prepared and know the context of a message (who has sent, when was it sent, what is it concerning?), you can stay very limited in words, yet be explicit on actions to take.
I'm not saying you should send a question mark to population, when problems hit the area, but if population has been properly informed on what risks threaten them, and what measures have been put in place to inform them, it makes life of emergency managers easier, and life saving more efficient.
At the end of the day, it's not about technology, but how to insert it intelligently in the alert procedures under human control, the day it is really needed.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
INTERVIEW: Workshop BCP/DRP du 8 février 2011
Le 8 février 2011, le paperJam Business Club Luxembourg m'a invité à modérer le workshop "Comment améliorer votre BCP/DRP en utilisant des technologies de communication modernes".
Le workshop était limité à 30 personnes, avec plus de 50 personnes voulant s'inscrire, nous avons accepté 35 personnes. Cet engouement pour ce type de problématique m'a agréablement surpris.
La grande majorité de participants venait du secteur financier, avec une haute proportion de BCP managers. Des banques telles que HSBC, ING, State Street Bank, Société européenne de banques, Banque privée Edmond de Rothschild, etc étaient représentées.
Au tout début du workshop, j'ai demandé qui dans l'audience travaillait dans une société qui utilise un système automatisé de rappel des personnels en situation d'urgence, 2 mains se sont levées. Pour plus de 25 des participants, le fonctionnement est celui dit de call-tree manuel, ou système d'alerte en cascade.
En marge du workshop, les organisateurs m'ont interviewé sur l'état et l'intérêt à mettre en place un système de gestion des alertes en utilisant les technologies modernes.
Interview paperJam
Je vous souhaite une bonne journée.
Le workshop était limité à 30 personnes, avec plus de 50 personnes voulant s'inscrire, nous avons accepté 35 personnes. Cet engouement pour ce type de problématique m'a agréablement surpris.
La grande majorité de participants venait du secteur financier, avec une haute proportion de BCP managers. Des banques telles que HSBC, ING, State Street Bank, Société européenne de banques, Banque privée Edmond de Rothschild, etc étaient représentées.
Au tout début du workshop, j'ai demandé qui dans l'audience travaillait dans une société qui utilise un système automatisé de rappel des personnels en situation d'urgence, 2 mains se sont levées. Pour plus de 25 des participants, le fonctionnement est celui dit de call-tree manuel, ou système d'alerte en cascade.
En marge du workshop, les organisateurs m'ont interviewé sur l'état et l'intérêt à mettre en place un système de gestion des alertes en utilisant les technologies modernes.
Interview paperJam
Je vous souhaite une bonne journée.
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