The Lines Between Continuity and Recovery Are Blurry
During a disaster, emergency responders tend to “put out the fires” and move on. The other responsibilities, such as continuity — or keeping it all together during and after the response — and recovery — putting it back the way it was or creating resiliency in order to survive the next event — fall to someone else.
And unfortunately in most agencies, jurisdictions or companies, that responsibility depends on a group of people — an emergency manager, business continuity manager, risk manager, IT disaster recovery manager or others depending on the circumstances. In this situation, we often see the “Lone Ranger analogy,” according to Mike Martinet, principal of the Martinet Group, which trains government agencies on disaster finance issues. “Think of a dozen Lone Rangers, determined to uphold justice and rescue the damsel in distress, who all ride in and surround the bad guy,” he said. “And then they start shooting.”
Although the bottom line is the same for everyone — restoring the community — the lines between continuity and recovery and who is responsible for what are blurry. All of this is compounded by confusing vernacular, jealously guarded silos and just plain stubbornness.
See The Lines Between Continuity and Recovery Are Blurry, by Valerie Lucus-McEwen for Emergency Management.
