 |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
|
The Client: Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), Arlington VA BNA is the largest independent publisher of information and analysis products for professionals in law, tax, business, and government. BNA publishes daily, weekly, monthly, and up-to-the-minute news covering the full range of legal, legislative, regulatory, and economic developments that impact the business environment. BNA employees, located in the nation's capital region and around the world, produce more than 350 news and information services. BNA’s workforce consists of over 1700 employees worldwide producing annual revenues of over $345 million. The Situation: BNA re-located 1,000+ employees from their corporate headquarters facilities in Washington DC to a newly acquired 11 story facility in Arlington VA in 2007. Simultaneously, BNA management engaged SPP to assess existing emergency preparedness and continuity of operations capabilities for the protection of their employees and essential operations at their new location. Among their primary goals was the establishment of emergency evacuation procedures and development of pandemic and continuity of operations strategies for their publishing operations in emergency situations. The Process: Emergency Preparedness: SPP assembled a robust internal organization to develop and execute new evacuation plans and procedures. The plan was designed to comply with State & local ordinances for high-rise buildings requiring an internal organization of over 60 people to orchestrate evacuation procedures and account for personnel. SPP conducted multiple training sessions to instruct evacuation team members on the overall plan and their individual responsibilities. Upon conclusion of the headquarters plan, SPP was contracted to develop emergency plans for BNA distribution facilities in Maryland. Continuity of Operations: In collaboration with senior management, SPP set out to prioritize BNA’s most essential core products around which to build a plan. The plan was based on a progression of events impacting up to 40% of the total workforce across the company. Personnel performing critical functions were identified and solutions developed to increase organizational depth and internal redundancy. Essential work-flows were analyzed within the publishing department including an assessment of resources required for reporters and editors to work remotely. Data center and IT capabilities were assessed and tested to ensure requisite access to IT platforms were provided for and verify that adequate bandwidth to support remote access for up to 500 employees working remotely. A strategy was developed to roll the plan out both internally and externally. Communication products were provided for distribution to BNA emergency team members and employees in general. A communications product was also developed to educate BNA customers as to provisions of the plan and provide an overview of product distribution procedures in emergency situations. The Strategy: The overall strategy was to construct a robust internal organization along with enhanced plans and procedures to protect employees and sustain business operations during local and regional emergencies. This was to originate from a focused analysis driven by management to identify essential products and operations and formulate strategies to minimize vulnerability and maximize preparedness. Resultant plans spelled out specific procedures to execute baseline actions and identify decision makers and decision points for emergency event. The Results: BNA received a series of plans within 4 months of contracting with SPP. As a result, BNA has:
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
