Five trends for crisis and emergency managers
Crisis and emergency managers will face new challenges in 2020. Five developments.
The demands on corporate crisis management have always been high. As the boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds become increasingly blurred, companies as well as government agencies face additional challenges. They must use the right tools and plan proactively to protect employees and assets and ensure operational security during critical events.
Five complex developments, Everbridge said, are currently driving challenges in the connected world.
1. attack surfaces for IT attacks increase
Companies are increasingly relying on new technologies such as robotic process automation and artificial intelligence, and they are networking intelligent machines and systems to an ever greater extent. The attack surfaces for cyber attacks are growing significantly as a result. System failures can quickly bring entire production lines or even complete factories to a standstill - and thus cause crises that result in severe damage to sales and reputation.
2. more interconnected supply chains create vulnerability
Another growing challenge is the rapidly advancing globalization with its worldwide, ever more closely synchronized, complex supply chains. If a failure occurs in one's own company, this can very quickly have serious consequences for partners and customers. Conversely, a breakdown at a partner can have an immediate negative impact on the company's own operations and cause delivery and scheduling difficulties, which in turn have a direct impact on partners and customers.
3. probability of social unrest increases
Political upheavals are increasing worldwide. For companies with sites in crisis regions in particular, this means an increasing risk of social unrest and even terrorist attacks. They threaten not only business operations, but also the workforce of companies. They pose a threat to the life and limb of employees who are employed in such crisis regions or are there on business trips.
4. more and more extreme weather phenomena are threatening
However, climate change is also a growing risk factor. Globally, the probability of severe storms with snowstorms, floods or tornadoes is increasing. They can bring public life - and thus also business operations - to a standstill and, in extreme cases, also endanger the health and lives of employees.
5. emergency management becomes a differentiating factor
Aware of the increasing risks, more and more employees expect their employers to protect them accordingly. If a company has a comprehensive and effective emergency management system in place, which may even save employees' lives in case of doubt, they have an important differentiator - which can make all the difference in times of acute shortage of skilled workers.
"Any business can be impacted by critical events such as a cyber attack or fire," said Andreas Junck, Director of Sales DACH at Everbridge. "It is crucial that they react quickly in such cases to minimize damage, warn and protect their employees, and also inform their partners, customers and key stakeholders in real time. This requires detailed contingency plans and an integrated critical event management platform that provides crisis teams with a holistic view of what's happening and supports all operations end-to-end without media disruption."
Other articles: "Effective crisis management"
