From Qualcomm to Toshiba America and beyond, enterprises in the southern California areas hit by Santa Ana wind-whipped fires took extraordinary action to protect and inform their employees. According to Security Magazine, in an article in its upcoming December issue, emerging crisis management systems played a significant role.

Only in times of emergency do disaster recovery and crisis management plans get “proven.”  For example, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., (TAEC) was fortunate to come out unscathed in the end, but during the firestorm had an opportunity to test and prove a “beta” version of an online crisis management system that is a new aspect of the firm’s disaster recovery/business continuity planning systems.     

The company’s new Internet-based crisis management system applies a systematic approach to data collection, authentication and decision-making that assists the security and management team in response to crisis situations through an interactive progression matrix. It is designed to mitigate risk and help the crisis team determine the best course of action for a wide range of potential crisis scenarios, both to maintain business continuity and to provide information or support for employees.