Planning And Strategizing Disaster Management

Lynne Davis, CIO - Global Head of Wealth Management Information Technology, Jefferies

Today’s business continuity (BC) practitioners are dealing with exponentially more risk. There are more crises, more vulnerabilities, and more third and fourth-party disruptions due to globalization and outsourced service providers. Navigating this environment demands both business and personal resilience across multiple dimensions.

Sometimes we have a good sense of where threats may come from cyberattacks, technology application failures, weather incidents, or denial of access to a physical office. Other times, like the onset of the COVID pandemic, we don’t. That is why we must always prepare for the unexpected and remain focused on the life, care, and safety of our staff and firm.

At Jefferies, we often challenge ourselves and our business groups to see how we would respond to various adverse scenarios. Sometimes we will draw from examples of disruptive events that impacted other firms, while in other cases we will learn lessons from our near misses. These provide real-world scenarios to help us promote, train, and support the firm’s critical functions in a stressed environment and ensure we can meet the needs of our personnel and the overall business.

Here are a few business continuity lessons we’ve learned along the way on our continuously evolving resiliency journey:

Identifying Critical Resources and Business Processes.

What are the key activities that your business needs to continue to survive, not thrive? What are the key materials, equipment, and personnel that your business needs to continue operating?

You must discriminate and prioritize because your life raft will not float if you bring everything including the kitchen sink with you over turbulent waters.

Creating a Backup Plan

How will you continue operating if your primary location is damaged or destroyed? Answering this question will likely take some combination of work-from-home strategies, redundancy of equipment in multiple locations, cloud-based access to critical applications and data, as well as globally cross-trained teams.

Testing Your Plan

Make sure that your plan is realistic and that you can implement it in the event of a disaster.

Taking these steps can help ensure your business stays resilient, which can help your company avoid financial losses, minimize disruptions to your operations, and protect your reputation.

“Every person, every organization, and everyone in the financial services community should be prepared for the inevitable day when our personal and business resiliency is tested. Remember to be nimble, thoughtful, creative, and prepared to maintain a minimum ‘mission critical’ set of services while repairs are made”

But what about you? Can you personally stay calm and keep everyone connected amid a crisis? Your team’s capacity for key decision-making during times of stress will be significantly better if you have executed and practiced your BC plans and completed your business impact analysis (BIAs) in addition to having run incident tabletops with firm leadership.

As part of our Jefferies BC training strategy, we also provide life skills for the workforce as it relates to resiliency planning. For example, imagine you are working remotely, lose WiFi service and essential work tasks must be completed within two hours. What alternatives do you have? There is your company-provided MiFi hotspot, your cellular WiFi hotspot on your work-issued device or your device, or even WiFi at a nearby library or coffee shop or at the home of friends and family who live nearby

Of course, a WiFi outage is hardly the most serious test of your resiliency. More detailed personal continuity planning can help you stay safe, protect your family, and give you peace of mind amid more severe threats. Here are some time-tested tips.

• Make a disaster kit.It should include essential items such as food, water, first-aid supplies, and a flashlight, as well as items that are specific to your needs, such as medications or important documents.

• Evacuation plan. If you live in an area prone to natural disasters, you should have a plan for evacuation, including where to go, how to get there, and what to take with you.

 • Learn about the risks in your area. Every area has different risks, so it is important to learn about the specific risks you may face. This information can help you make informed decisions about how to prepare for a disaster.

• Stay informed about the latest threats.Access a wide variety of sources by following local and national media as well as official sources of information, such as your local government or the National Weather Service.

 • Talk to your family about contingency planning. You should have the conversation frequently and include what to do in an emergency, where to meet up if separated, and how to communicate with each other.

Every person, every organization, and everyone in the financial services community should be prepared for the inevitable day when our personal and business resiliency is tested. Remember to be nimble, thoughtful, creative, and prepared to maintain a minimum ‘mission critical’ set of services while repairs are made. Prepare for the worst and expect the best from your people who are armed with decisionmaking experience, alternative processes, and the survival skills needed to make it through rough times.

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