For several years, Island Insurance
used a California-based recovery provider, but the arrangement ultimately
proved too costly. “The communications
cost from here to the mainland was getting too high because of the amount of
data we had to feed over. We also needed
to purchase more bandwidth to deal
with latency issues,” Fabry says.
In 2013, the company switched cloud
providers to Hawaii-based PACXA.
“We’re not just backing up data, we’re
backing up our whole virtual infra-
structure, so there are no configuration
issues,” Fabry says. “We don’t have to
worry about having our infrastructure
set up the same with the cloud provid-
Recovery tests have shown the insur-
er can restore its operations within one
to two hours. Having both production
and recovery systems in Hawaii does
present a risk, but it’s a risk Island Insur-
ance has assessed and is comfortable in
assuming.
“It came down to a cost-benefit analysis of the worst-case scenario,” Fabry
says. “In the event of a building fire or
other site disaster, we are well protected
due to our arrangement with PACXA
and our ability to share space with sister
companies [within parent group Island
Holdings]. The concern occurs with a
hurricane or tidal wave, but we felt the
risk of something destroying both locations was remote versus the ongoing cost
of having our recovery service located on
People and Process
Recovering from a disaster involves
more than bringing systems back online.
“Dealing with a disaster is not just
about equipment or technology. It’s the
fact that people may be having crises of
their own when disaster happens. Even if
it’s a crisis isolated to our headquarters,
Part of Crawford’s business continui-
ty plan involves proactively reaching out
to both employees and contracted work-
ers anywhere in the world to check on
their well being. In 2011, the company
automated its emergency contact process
with the cloud-based Send Word Now.
The system pushes out notifications and
instructions via text, email, and social
media; monitors employee responses to
notifications; and advises Crawford of
any employees who do not respond.
“Within minutes, we can complete a
quick check of where all our people are
and focus our staff resources on locating
people who don’t respond,” Flynn says.
Crawford has also leveraged the
experience gained from the push-noti-fication strategy used in its own disaster
recovery efforts to the claims management services it provides. Having an
automated resource allocation service is
important for Crawford in managing a
dispersed group of employees and contract workers who are constantly mobile.
“Whenever there is a catastrophe, not
only are we impacted, but our clients are
as well,” Flynn says. Previously, Crawford
relied on dozens of call center staff to
contact employees and contractors and
identify who was available to respond
to regional disasters. In 2013, Crawford
automated that process through a proprietary system called Cat Connection,
based on Appian’s BPM platform.
With Cat Connection, Crawford
pushes notifications to mobile devices
used by employees and contractors.
Responses allow Crawford to determine
personnel availability, pinpoint their
exact GPS-based location, and make
the best determination of who to deploy
to affected areas. After assignments are
made, Cat Connection incorporates
a Facebook-style interface that allows
staff to share information, photos, and
collaborate in helping individuals and
businesses recover from the catastrophes
they face.
Tried and Tested
Perhaps the most valuable lesson
Crawford has learned from dealing with
catastrophe is that it is impossible to
over-prepare for a disaster.
“Through our own claims management services, we have worked with
many companies that have had crises,
disasters, and system failures. One thing
that sticks out is that no matter how well
rounded a plan seems to be, sometimes
it’s one little part that can set everything
tumbling. You have to consistently test
your plan to try to uncover those things,”
Flynn says.
Preparation not only helps uncover
flaws in planning, but also benefits the
most important part of any disaster
recovery plan: people.
“Awareness is key, because the last
thing you want in a crisis is panic,”
Conklin says. “The more that people are
aware of our recovery plan and capabilities, and the more people we can pass
through a test, the more comfortable
they can feel in the event they do have to
react to a crisis.” ITA
“No matter how well rounded a plan
seems to be, sometimes it’s one little part
that can set everything tumbling. You
have to consistently test your plans .”
Brian Flynn, Crawford & Company
