The true test of any personal relationship is when you’re in trouble and you need help. Who will you call if you have to be driven to the hospital at 4:00 am? And who will come through for you and hold your hand until everything is all right again. When emergency strikes, you want to know who will be at your side. The same goes for business: true partners are those who will support you and see you through any emergency.
Consider the increasing threat of natural disasters globally including earthquakes, tornados, typhoons, cyclones, flooding and bush fires. Nowadays, business continuity planning (BCP) is a critical part of a firm’s overall risk management strategy. As anyone who lived through Hurricane Sandy in the U.S. knows, while the devastation is localized, people much farther afield are affected in the aftermath. It takes a special emergency team to rally around the victims and support the recovery process.
Just recently, the local IPC team in Sydney was asked to assist after a customer in New Zealand lost their trading floor when an earthquake hit Wellington. The building was damaged, all of the turrets took a bath from the sprinkler system, and the communications room, although still operational, was inaccessible. The customer was left rushing around looking for alternate premises.
Fortunately, all the new MAX turrets IPC had just delivered for upgrade were in a safe location. Eleven business days after the quake hit, they were trading from their new location. The customer provided the network connectivity to their backroom, so the Sydney engineers could remotely upgrade the system and our service partners in New Zealand could assist with the turret roll out.
This event just goes to show how an outstanding result can be achieved when small teams pull together. When everything was over, the customer said: “In the last couple of weeks, IPC has gone above and beyond. Thanks to their great communication and diligence, we had a smooth transition to our alternate premises. We are grateful to IPC for making a difficult situation a great deal easier.”
Incidentally, the same customer had a different trading floor knocked out a few years ago when an earthquake hit Christchurch. Everyone did a great job working together to get the floor operational in new premises that time, too. It took two weeks to get up and running, including getting customs clearance to ship the turrets.
IPC takes the words “strategic partner” seriously. Actions speak louder than words. When put to the test, we’ll be there for you in an emergency.
