SunGard offers Pandemic Response Planning system
Three-part program includes assessment and a simulated pandemic exercise; threat of disease outbreak often mistakenly overlooked by business continuity planners
The threat of disease pandemics is one of the most overlooked areas in business continuity planning. Perceived unlikelihood is the main reason, yet the consequences of an avian flu or smallpox outbreak could be so severe that only the largest, most-diversified companies would survive. Unlike flooding and urban terrorist attacks, a disease pandemic would shut down entire cities far from the original locus of the threat. Offices and roads would be closed in an attempt to isolate the disease; law and order efforts would suffer; and employees would likely be too busy protecting their families to work, even remotely. SunGard Availability Services now offers a Pandemic Response Planning system to help companies navigate these troubled waters.
The Pandemic Response Planning system does more than just provide useful information; it also helps companies test the procedures they decide to implement. Set-up begins with a ‘response roadmap’ that examines pandemic risks, business impacts, business strategies and recommended actions, as well as incident management plans for senior management. SunGard then performs a comprehensive evaluation of the company’s entire business continuity planning, offering suggestions for improvement and helping to eliminate redundancies. Finally, SunGard consultants conduct a simulated pandemic scenario, providing a controlled environment for companies to determine how well they are prepared and whether enterprise plans are understood throughout the employee base.
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