“The most important part of managing an incident is communication. It’s also the biggest challenge recovery teams face,” said Ted Marquardt, Senior Product Manager at Sungard AS. “Unfortunately, when disaster strikes, it is not uncommon for incident responders to find themselves frustrated by plans in static, outdated PDFs or binders, or to be interrupted by conference calls with requests for updates. These barriers to recovery lead to gaps in communication during critical times. The Act with Assurance app provides recovery teams the ability to interact live through a new communication channel, which is absolutely essential to effective incident recovery.”
Act with Assurance real-time messaging capabilities are critical when time is of the essence. Incident coordinators can stage task assignments and monitor up-to-the minute task progress, streamlining communications during an event. Responders see their customized task lists at a glance, allowing them to stay focused and problem-solve, and they can provide updates with minimal interruptions by simply tapping their smart phone screen. Updates then feed back to the Command Center in Assurance, bringing teams together at just the right time by facilitating better communication while recovering.
“Apps for other business continuity software are merely portals to the existing sites with no additional functionality. Act with Assurance is a native app developed as a powerful extension of Assurance’s incident management solution, building on the business continuity data our customers are gathering with Assurance,” Marquardt continued. “Other business continuity software companies are focused on planning. We see a significant need in business continuity to evolve from plan building to plan execution. And we believe this app is a major step in getting there.”
Armed with Act with Assurance, recovery teams return the business back to normal operations using the following:
- Mobile push notifications – Responders will know the second a task is assigned by way of push notifications. They can tap the notification to view the task, then update progress using the app.
- Focused task list – Responders can act on tasks specifically assigned to them. Individualized playbooks are created and delivered, providing responders the right information at the right time.
- Recovery workflow – Align recovery efforts at the task level across the entire event with standardized workflow statuses that provide consistent visibility into the recovery status.
- Integrated platform – Act with Assurance works seamlessly with the Assurance platform that provides an integrated suite of assessment, planning, testing and reporting features.
