Emergency Response Plan

[Bmcuk]

Hello

Been asked to submit a Emergency Response Plan for a service company tender.

Ok, yea I kind of get it. How would the company work in an emergency, minimizing impact on the service to its customers.


The problem.

Never done one and not really sure what is needed in it! :|

And problem two!! has to be submitted with a tender Tuesday morning !! whoops :F

Done the obvious good old Google, but all I find is templates with complexity and tons of pages!!


Anyone know what should be put in to a plan for a small facility service company? or anyone got a template ?


Thanks Guys

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I've been involved on the IT side for lots of these, so can only advise on that aspect.

Most of them have the following -

1) A desciption of the types of emergency, including severity to the business. This range from a minor issue right up to the entire building falling down

2) A definition of the systems in use and their importance to the business. Things like email, billing applications etc are high importance, the firms intranet is probably low.

3) A definition of the options available to minimise downtime in the event of each emergency defined in section 1, along with costs, the number of staff who can use the systems, how they will get access etc

For a full DR/BCP plan you would also need to include information about how you will notify staff, customers etc Where they will work from should the worst happen, can they all just go home and logon ? How will they get access to paper records ? Unless it's covered in the IT side of things, how will phone numbers work ? Can they be easily divered ? and if so where to ?

If this is for a tender then you need to avoid putting things in which aren't true as they may form part of the final contract.

 

[DavidAshdown]

Is the emergency response plan/tender just for IT issues ? What about moving staff to a new location ?

 

[Paul_Rosser]

If it's for a tender there should be some questions they want answering, if you could post someone should be able to advise.

 

[Bmcuk]

If it's for a tender there should be some questions they want answering, if you could post someone should be able to advise.

Would be lovely if they gave me the questions

Give me some headings lol


Basically been told we have been shortlisted, which was fantastic news, however in the letter it stated that it appears we have not provided the Emergency response plan, which they for one reason or another is requested!


Like I said, I do kind of get it! But some things I have read are bonkers for me to even consider and are more governmental issues! also most are pages and pages long, I have no time to even try and create a complex plan.

What I need is the basics,something that will get me by.


However you have given me some pointers which I appreciate

 

[DavidAshdown]

I'm glad you get it, because I don't !

How can you complete a tender that has no questions ? Am I missing something here ??

 

[Paul_Rosser]

No problem.

Just write something a few pages long about server replication, staff working from home in the event of a disaster etc and say it's not the "in depth" version as that is confidential due to it containing sensitive information about the firms internal workings.


Sounds like they will expect you to actually have a proper plan and measures in place should you be picked as the supplier though, so maybe something you need to address.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I'm glad you get it, because I don't !

How can you complete a tender that has no questions ? Am I missing something here ??

LOL I imagine it's the standard kind of thing where someone in sales/marketing bids for a tender and doesn't bother providing all the information requested. Then when they are asked for it then it becomes everyone elses problem very quickly and usually to tight deadlines.

 

[Bmcuk]

No problem.

Just write something a few pages long about server replication, staff working from home in the event of a disaster etc and say it's not the "in depth" version as that is confidential due to it containing sensitive information about the firms internal workings.


Sounds like they will expect you to actually have a proper plan and measures in place should you be picked as the supplier though, so maybe something you need to address.

Thanks for the advice

It is something I wont be bitten on again, actually one of the only policy/ plans we do not have!

 

[Paul_Rosser]

No problem, it's quite a common thing on most tenders now so having something written for future use is probably a good idea.

 

[Bmcuk]

I'm glad you get it, because I don't !

How can you complete a tender that has no questions ? Am I missing something here ??

Well all I get is that 80 pages of detailed response has been submitted without a thing called an Emergency response plan and no direction is given to what is included in such a plan, as I guess it is expected that a company knows what one is, however out of many tenders sucsessfully filled this is the first one that has requested an Emergency response plan, hence I bow down to the ukbusinessforums for HELP lol

I wonder if the company the work is tendered for themselves have one lol

 

[DavidAshdown]

Oh I see, it's actually a question itself within a document, thats fine, just think about what you would actually do if you got a call from them saying they had had an emergency. How could you get them back up and running promptly and with as little inconvenience as possible.