CHRISTOPHER S. ARMAS


CRISIS MANAGMENT babm.com/crisismanagment


24 | NOV/DEC 2011


Crisis Management is a complex, yet vital business process most commonly overlooked by businesses from small size to global corporate entities. In this issue, I will provide an introductory view of what crisis management really is, how it differs from business continuity, and why it is a crucial component needed for business and employee survival.


Business Continuity vs. Crisis Management Throughout my career, I have found business men and women looking at me with blank stares when the topic of crisis management is brought up. Most business professionals understand the core concepts of business continuity: the process of identifying and planning vital business functions and properly responding to identifiable natural or man-made incidents, needed for a business to combat, survive, and recover. Major subset components include: Information Technology, Work Area Recovery, Document Management, Change Management, and Disaster Recovery. Crisis management eludes the majority or is consistently confused with business continuity; however, they are very different and distinct disciplines.


Over the years when speaking about crisis management, I have learned to begin with how I define crisis management: The process of identifying a business’s weaknesses, threats, and strengths, with the development


Christopher S. Armas is CEO/co-founder of Verity Business Solutions, a managed services provider and crisis management consulting firm. Verity offers an array of programs in one simplified solution in the Southeastern United States. Verity is the only provider in Florida offering active shooter response planning and training. veritymsp.com info@veritymsp.com local 813.996.5400 or 877.9VERITY


combat, survive, and recover with crisis management


of a strategic response plan to prevent, effectively respond, and quickly recover from a critical incident involving human life that allows management and employees to swiftly implement their business continuity plan. Crisis management is planning for the unexpected critical incidents or making response plans to fill the voids in business continuity plans. A crisis can be any event that causes harm to your employees, facilities, finances, or reputation, from an active shooter impacting your business to the loss of electricity. Business continuity is the advanced planning and implementation of systems and procedures to sustain normal business operations.


Still Confused… This is a common problem stemming across the public and private sectors. The terms crisis management, disaster recovery, and business continuity are endlessly tossed around, resulting in a majority of business owners and executives having difficulty discerning one from the other. The biggest example of this is seen with IT companies advertising business continuity planning that solely addresses data redundancy. Data redundancy is not, as a stand-alone, a business continuity plan, rather a process within a continuity plan.


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