AmCham organized this program on business continuity with Ernst & Young on 9th February 2016 in Hyderabad. The focus for this session was on operations, management and crisis management – reaction, first steps when the crisis hits you rather than the traditional business continuity journey.

The key areas an organization should look at are business resilience, emergency response planning and entire management teams. Who is the first person you would call in your organization during a disaster? Has it been tested? Are roles and responsibilities defined?

It can be a virus attack, flooding (whether in Mumbai or Chennai), a tsunami, a terrorist attack etc. There can be a financial crisis – is the SWAT team ready to face the crisis?

Look at planning for these four critical areas with an electronic and physical surveillance system; (for two types of disasters – inflation of accounts, earthquake or Chennai flood, where the community at large is affected) Ensure you have alternate contact numbers of hotel reception, is there any other way for us to be reached, coordination with the neighbourhood organization or local authorities is necessary; proactive monitoring etc.