The Continuity Forecast: Because Business Never Stops

Today's guest on the Continuity Forecast podcast is Franco Cordeiro who is the Director of Business and Technological Resiliency at KPMG. KPMG is a large consultancy practice which has thousands of employees with offices in nearly every major country in the world. He has been with the company for fifteen years and started as the Head of Resilience for their Australian branch, before moving to the US and spearheading those efforts. He also adds that there is more of an enterprise view of how resilience works.  This is often at the behest of government regulations or customer expectations  7 Key Characteristics to Enterprise-Wide Frameworks in Leading Organizations Top-Down Board is heavily invested Customer Centricity  End-to-End Measure dollar spend and effects Qualitative and Quantitative Everyone understands it at the organization, not just a single team Attributes around Resilience Culture Not binary like in the past Resilience is adopted Testing things that work well and ruining them to see how you can recover Crash-testing Differentiate the organization from continuity approach Embedding Communications and Testing Them Based on the numerous clients that KPMG works with the concept of resilience is a key focus for boards and executive committees. The concept of resilience cuts through the potential misalignment of expectations and continuity. 

“Crisis management” “disaster recovery” “organizational resilience.” Are these all just big words? What do they actually mean for organizations? And, how can managers actually use these concepts to protect their businesses? Great questions. Howard Mannella has answers on this episode. Howard is the Managing Principal at  Alternative Resiliency Services, a next-gen business recovery and resiliency consultancy. What we talked about: Business resiliency vs business recovery Clarity & definitions about business continuity What has (& has not) changed in modern business continuity What's on the horizon for business continuity RACER: R: rally A: assess C: communicate E: execute R: recover Business continuity Crisis management Disaster recovery Business never stops. To hear more from The Continuity Forecast, check us out on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website

You can't protect against every single threat, so you've really got to identify which things could impact your business from a physical standpoint or from a business interruption standpoint. I recently got to interview Dutch Geisinger, Executive Director at Safeguard Iowa Partnership, a private nonprofit that focuses on building disaster resilience in Iowa: What we talked about: Threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences 3 factors in risk assessment 3 steps to conducting a vulnerability assessment When to practice your disaster plans Checkout these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Free resources at Safeguard Iowa Partnership Business never stops. To hear more from The Continuity Forecast, check us out on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.

If BC is all about the "what-if" why should businesses spend time addressing what may never happen? Michele Turner came on a recent episode of The Continuity Forecast to answer this question and share her top tips for creating a strong business continuity plan. A subject matter expert, Michele has worked in the field of business continuity for over 20 years and is currently the head of Global Business Resiliency at Amazon.

Business continuity professionals: We often get left out when it comes to career advice!  So, on this episode, Cheyene Marling delivered several tips to advance your career.  Cheyene Marling is the Managing Director of BC Management — a talent, staffing, and data research provider that works exclusively within the BCM profession. She has an honorary MBCI and is also a lecturer at MIT.  What we talked about: The 2 credentials companies look for in BCM employees: leadership + soft skills How to develop leadership & soft skills (for BCM pros) Offering to give a presentation at an industry event Publishing a paper Serving on a board Soft skill development The impact of certifications on the BCM profession Recognizing the BCM industry is expanding Business never stops. To hear more from The Continuity Forecast, check us out on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.

If your businesses can't resume operations within 10 days after a disaster, you're not likely to survive.  That's according to FEMA. You know you need to develop your BC plan before disaster strikes to be successful in the aftermath. But that's not all you need to do. On this episode of The Continuity Forecast, Tim Coumbe, VP - National Account Executive at Interstate Restoration, shared the 2 other things you need to do to prepare your company to survive disaster.  What we talked about: How Interstate Restoration is helping clients with large loss mitigation Why it's so crucial to run BC plan drills And why you should develop a relationship with your restoration company before disaster strikes Resources we talked about: Tim's LinkedIn Interstate Restoration This blogpost was taken from The Continuity Forecast podcast. We know business never stops. Check us out, and leave us a review!

Why are we continually losing this battle in the cybersecurity war?  Is there anything we, as businesses, can do about it? On this episode of The Continuity Forecast, our guest, Brian Peters, answers those questions and more. Brian is Chief Information Security Officer at Blue Street Technologies, a cybersecurity firm with the mission of securing corporations of all sizes worldwide, one network at a time. What we talked about: Why it takes companies so long to detect a breach Cybersecurity is not difficult Where your BC team, ideally, should be housed How you can protect yourself and your data Resources we talked about: Blue Street Technologies Brian's LinkedIn

Thousands of companies are under siege by cybercriminals. Why are these problems getting worse? Why aren't authorities catching these people? What can you do to protect your business from these attacks? Brian Gill came on this episode of The Continuity Forecast to address these questions and more. He's a computer scientist and entrepreneur that has spent the last 16 years helping dig businesses out of data related disasters...and prevent them in the first place. Brian is the Chairman of Gillware, a firm that provides data recovery, incident response, and risk assessment services.

Electronic sensors that stop floods, fire retardant systems that put out fires before they spread, and haptic belts that teach workers how to do their jobs without getting hurt. This isn't science fiction. This is the state of the insurance industry in 2019. Ryan Deeds is the VP of Technology and Data at Assurex Global, a company that is the largest privately-held corporate insurance, risk management, and employee benefits brokerage group.  Assurex is a conglomerate of insurance agents that are the best of the breed. When companies buy in, they become share owners to help direct where they are headed. Ryan works with CEOs and CIOs to help them with strategy to collaborate more effectively to manage all of the quick moving parts of the emerging insurance industry. Agencies are hyperniching out to find their customers better solutions. Technology has completely changed the way that insurance works.  Using this technology is a great way to reduce the cost of your annual insurance premium. Typically, it can reduce your cost by 5-10%. Final tips: If your agent isn't bringing this stuff up, take a hard look at your insurance.  Then, ask questions.

Can you think of a more stressful job than responding to terrorism or natural disasters at the drop of a hat? Coming up with a plan, leading a team, and serving people who are shaken with fear and grief are just a few of the job descriptions Suzanne Bernier has held. As the President of SB Crisis Consulting and the author of Disaster Heroes: Invisible Champions of Help, Hope and Healing, today she's training others to do the same.  Suzanne started her company almost eight years ago to offer the kinds of services she felt businesses really needed. She wanted to make disaster preparedness more accessible for businesses that didn't have the personnel with the right knowledge in-house. Today, her company provides everything from table-top exercises, workshops and trainings on things like active shooters, crisis communication, using social media in emergencies, etc.  On today's episode, we talk about things she's learned from years in the trenches and how ordinary people can be heroes, too.

On this episode of The Continuity Forecast podcast, we hear from disaster preparedness expert Jeff Larson. Jeff is the Partnership Manager for the North Florida PGA, a role that sees him planning dozens of outdoor tournaments every year, in weather that is unpredictable at best. Jeff shared with us how he keeps partners, sponsors, players, and staff safe when disaster strikes.

“I did an analysis of a petrochemical company's emergency plan and contacts. Several people were no longer employed, and two of them had actually died.” So many companies are grossly under-prepared for a crisis. But the majority of companies will go through crises of some kind or another. It's not a matter of if, but when. Dr. Steve Goldman the Founder of Steve Goldman Associates, a business dedicated to providing expert consulting in crisis management and business continuity. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT and Harvard. On this episode of The Continuity Forecast, he breaks down the 4 different kinds of crises and what business need to focus on to plan for them.

You can expect a crisis to happen. Because it's not "if" a crisis happens...it's "when". So, you need to be prepared to overcome a crisis. And being prepared is about more than just business continuity — it's about each discipline working together to drive your organization toward resilience On a recent episode of The Continuity Forecast, I talked with Alice Kaltenmark about organization resilience — why it takes more than business continuity to overcome a crisis and how you can build resilience in your own organization. Alice is President of BCI USA Chapter, the premier global business continuity membership forum.

Over the last five years, 40% of businesses have experienced some sort of business interruption, costing on average, even for a small company, upward of $8,000 per hour of downtime. You need to have a plan because it's not a question of whether a disaster will happen or not. It's a question of when. The most crucial components to getting back up and running can include: New office space - Where is it, how you set it up and do so cost effectively? Restore lost power - A company like Agility can, within 12 to 24 hours, deploy enough power to run your building or your campus of buildings. Restore communications - You'll need to connect with satellite or local LTE communications to reestablish voice and internet connectivity. Accessing your data in the cloud - You'll need a computer to access that data, power to plug in that computer, and the internet for that computer to access to cloud.

On today's episode of The Continuity Forecast, we're talking about some of the common disruptions that business face. Our guest on the show is Frank Russo, Founder and Executive Vice President of Procor Solutions and Consulting. Procor is the premier provider of complex property damage and business interruption claims consulting services. They have served clients on 6 different continents and in 49 different states. Frank gave insight into some of disruptions companies can face, the impacts companies can expect from these disasters, and some practical steps companies can take when walking through loss. Here's what he had to say.

Are your teams collaborating with one another? More importantly, are your Business Continuity teams and your ERM teams collaborating? What happens when they don't? What happens when they do? Bill Hord dropped by the podcast recently and had a ton of great content to share, starting with the challenges that exist when these two crucial teams aren't in sync.

You know that trying to maintain business continuity can be very stressful. Karina de Allicon, the manager of business continuity and enterprise risk at Edwards Lifesciences, the global leader in patient focused medical innovations, is an expert in bringing mindfulness to the workplace and calming the lizard brain inside all of us. Mindfulness is simply paying attention to the here and now, being aware of whether there are thoughts or emotions or sensations in our bodies and trying to be curious about them and accept whatever the moment brings.

You've heard all the promise about cloud computing, but is it right for your company? Are there some business that shouldn't do it? We answered your cloud computing questions in my conversation with Cary Jasgur, CBCP, MBCI, PMP who is the Consulting Manager for Organizational Resilience at Mazars USA. He helps organizations of all sizes migrate to the cloud.

Mike Tyson said everybody has a plan till they get hit in the face. What's true in boxing is true in business continuity: You never quite know what it'll be like. If you have the right people in place, you can get through it effectively. However, strategic planning is very important. Greg Holdburg is the Manager of Disaster Recovery Services at S1 Corporation. His role is to help businesses develop their continuity plans, or help companies create them from scratch. Greg joined me on The Continuity Forecast podcast to talk about how companies should proceed when they experience a crisis, how to notify employees, how to deal with one of the worst kinds of crises, a hurricane, and how to avoid a double disaster.

Think of everything that your company does on any given day. From finance to legal, from sales to HR, everything you do is done on computers. So what happens if there's an outage of the computers that are used to run your business? Not just in your office, but at your data centers or server farms? Can you get your data back? Find out as we chat with John Jackson Executive Advisor and Co-Founder at Fusion Risk Management.  

Do you know what to do if an earthquake suddenly strikes your city? Do your team members? Those questions ought to make you stop and think because lives are at stake. Michael Harding is the global program lead of the business continuity management team at ARI Fleet, the world's largest private, family-owned fleet management company. He ensures that there are internal plans in place to manage response and return to operations following an incident. Today we're going to focus on earthquakes. Earthquakes come without warning; they're unforeseen, so it's critical that your entire team understand exactly what to do if one strikes.

Whether it's a natural disaster like a flood or hurricane, political unrest, or terrorism, the reality is that most every company at some point is going to have to face down some sort of disruption. So why has business continuity failed most companies? And what solutions are out there to help? On a recent episode of The Continuity Forecast, we sat down with Mark Armour, Director of Global Business Continuity at Brink's, for a discussion around where business continuity is falling short, the solutions, and the future of business continuity.

When you meet Vicky McKim you start to second-guess your preparedness. She's the director of risk management and business resilience at Aureon. For many years, she's seen firsthand the wild, unthinkable happen to companies who'd thought they had their continuity plan under control (even her own). That's why she's an advocate for environmental risk assessments. It's more than just insurance, she says. Having insurance is one small component of it. While most businesses will take care to look at their financial and market risk, very few will consider operational risk. In other words, events that can put them temporarily, or permanently, out of business.

From natural disasters to cyberattacks, we're talking risk mitigation and operational optimization with UPS veteran, and current CEO of GlobalMesh, Robert Marsh. Robert brings 20+ years of experience to this week's episode of The Continuity Forecast as he shares with us how preparing for the worst can not only save your business during a crisis, but can save you in day to day operational costs.

If you've ever traveled anywhere, you know about weather. You know how it can dramatically shift your plans, and reshape your feelings of safety. Well next time you arrive at your destination safely, think of Kevin Crowley. He's the Sr. Analyst for Ground Safety Programs at JetBlue Airways. They serve over 100 cities in the Americas, and Kevin's a large part of ensuring safe travels for JetBlue's passengers. He came on The Continuity Forecast to share what strategies, tactics, and technologies he uses to keep the traveling public safe.

Often times, companies completely miss-prioritize their business continuity strategy. They focus on the wrong items first, which means they spend more money, suffer harsher media impact, and disillusion staff. Joining us today is Michael Herrera, CEO of MHA Consulting. His company has been consulting companies on business continuity and disaster recovery for almost 20 years. His clients include various Fortune 10 companies, as well as NASA, Square, American Express, and others. He came on the Continuity Forecast podcast and shared how to prioritize your business continuity strategy.

Disaster is an open-ended term. When disaster strikes at work, whether it affects 40 or 140,000 employees, you need to have a business plan. That's what we recently chatted about with Michael Garza, Business Continuity Consultant at Toyota, whose business resiliency experience is built on a graduate degree in Occupational Safety and a certification in Safety Management Systems. Michael is your go-to for what to do in a disaster.

The purpose of The Continuity Forecast podcast is to educate the Business Continuity community by bringing on leaders so they can share their best practices, experiences, and of course, how they are tackling some of the most hardcore issues and mitigating those threats. The mission is to provide educational and inspirational content to these ends, so that the listeners can avoid disruptions and continue providing their services in turn.  Listeners are invited to email their ideas to the show and the host, Steve Prinzivalli, at podcasts@earthnetwork.com.