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Pandemic Preparedness Concord Servicing Responds
If the bird flu virus that has killed millions of birds world-wide becomes easily transmissible between humans, as some scientists are predicting, up to 40% of the workforce could be affected, according to a recent report from the U.S. government. Employees or their family members could be sick or simply reluctant to leave home for fear of being contaminated. Banks, grocers, gas stations and post offices would struggle to maintain important services. Utilities that we all take for granted could be disrupted and telephone and email servers could become overloaded with traffic. Could you stay in business under these circumstances if they persisted for a week? Two weeks? A month, or longer?
Despite its idyllic desert location in Scottsdale, Arizona, far removed from threats of hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, Concord Servicing Corporation – the timeshare industry’s largest provider for installment loan receivables servicing and collections – has long maintained a rigorous disaster preparedness plan which takes into consideration security systems, hardware and software, as well as the retention of an off-site disaster recovery location. The 18-year-old company reviews its readiness annually and updates and documents its recovery plan. It would have been easy to suggest that there was nothing more that could be done, or that the likelihood of a pandemic was too remote. But the company’s senior strategists felt that an outbreak of pandemic proportions was a unique threat and called for additional preparedness.
Concord handles monthly billing, payment processing, reporting, customer service and collections services of consumer accounts for several hundred clients who are principally involved in the vacation ownership/timeshare industry. The company’s clients are located throughout the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. Any significant disruption in Concord’s day-to-day processes could have a detrimental impact, not only on the company’s revenues but on client revenues as well.
President and CEO Robert Bertrand and senior staff first began researching the problem in 2005. According to Bertrand, “We had to take a fresh look at structuring a plan to deal with a potentially more invasive threat. Formerly, our disaster preparation tended to focus on what would occur immediately during and after a one-time event. Our plan primarily addressed providing data backup and systems redundancy to prevent data loss and overcome employee down-time that might result from a natural disaster, such as a fire, or an act of terrorism. But in planning for a pandemic, we went through the exercise of visualizing how our company would continue to function if large numbers of employees, including those in key positions, were not coming to work. Some things would be out of our control, such as a breakdown in mail delivery, banking and communications services. But, we found that there are several steps companies can take right now to educate their employees and potentially mitigate as much of the negative fallout from such a disaster as possible.”
Concord’s first response was to form a team to study the problem and make recommendations. The team consisted of people drawn from legal, human resources, information technology, operations and collections/customer service, who listed every critical element of the company’s activities and then brain-stormed to determine possible solutions, including finding ways for employees to work from home and ways to overcome or at least lessen the negative impact of the possible failure of services or suppliers.
Much of the preparation and planning to ensure the viability of the plan takes time and resources. In Concord’s case, the company focused on making sure its primary functions could be properly executed by employees working from home, utilizing Web services to access the company’s software via the Internet. In the event of a catastrophe of this nature, home-bound employees would need to have computers in place that are equipped with access to high-speed Internet service and a backup telephone service, such as voice-over IP, in case conventional service is down. The company further reviewed the size and strength of its backup systems, such as redundant servers, disk space and the capacity of the generator in case of a prolonged electrical outage.
In addition, it is important for individuals to avoid both complacency and feeling that there is nothing that can be done in the face of a potential global disaster. “Right now, companies can and should immediately begin educating employees on how to prepare themselves and their families, personally,” Bertrand continues. “Concord has implemented a campaign to discuss emergency preparedness at regularly-held employee meetings. People should be warned of the possibility of a pandemic, without inducing anyone to panic. Employees can be encouraged to keep extra water, food and medical supplies, for instance. The government website www.pandemicflu.gov provides a helpful checklist that can assist families and individuals with their planning.”
Adds Bertrand, “It’s sobering to consider what could happen as a result of a massive outbreak of this virus. Expert opinions are mixed about its magnitude and inevitability, but responsible planning efforts are necessary to put our company in the best possible position to handle the worst possible scenario.”