Incident $($Crisis$)$ Management Case

Secure Access Ltd$.($SAL$)$ is a communications technology company located in Toronto,

Ontario. Most of their clients are large corporate entities such as financial institutions,

utility providers, and pharmaceutical firms. SAL provides their clients access to

dedicated communication systems for internal email, secure information storage, and

the internet.

Susan C$.$ is the third shift supervisor in SAL's Information Technology Division $($IT$).$

Susan reports to Bill F$.$ the Manager of Systems. Bill F$.$ reports to Amanda W$.$ SAL's

Chief Information Officer

Susan pulled into her usual parking place near the SAL IT office and wondered what

was going on$.$ Fire trucks and police cars were scattered all around the building, and

there was even an ambulance waiting nearby. Grabbing her briefcase and jacket, she

walked quickly over to the fire department command truck and asked, "What's going

on$?"$ The firefighter in charge asked, "Who might you be$?"$ "Susan C$.,$ I am the third$-$shift

IT supervisor here at SAL." "Not tonight," she said. "There was a major structural fire in

this building. We just about have it under control, but we need to make sure there are

no flare$-$ups. Everyone is out of the structure, and as far as we know, no one was

seriously injured. There were only a few of your employees inside. All of them are out

and accounted for by the second$-$shift supervisor. But no one is going into the structure

at this time. It'll be several hours before the inspectors are done and you can get started

with your recovery."

"Okay," Susan said. She walked over to the ambulance where the employees from the

second shift of the SAL data center were being looked over by the paramedics. She

saw the second$-$shift supervisor breathing from an oxygen mask. Now that she had

quickly appraised the situation, she walked back to her car and sat down. She pulled

out her company cell phone and hit the speed dial for Amanda W$.$ "Hello," said a voice,

clearly awakening from a deep sleep. "Amanda? Susan C$.$ here. I am just getting to

work, and there was a significant fire in the building. We have a disaster on our hands.

Everyone is out safely, and it seems we don't have any serious injuries, but the offices

are in a bad state." $"$Oh$,$ no$!"$ Amanda said. $"$I$\text{'}$m glad that everyone is okay. Do you think

the on$-$site backups are going to be usable?" "I wouldn't bet on it$,"$ Susan said. "Okay,"

Amanda said. She paused for a moment, then said to Susan, "Declare a disaster and

activate Continuity Plan A and Recovery Plan B immediately. I will be there in $30$

minutes."

Susan next called the SAL automated phone system, knowing it was based off$-$site at a

secure service provider's location. When the SAL greeting started, she entered her PIN

code to authenticate herself. She recorded a brief message outlining the situation and

the continuity plans that were to be followed. When she finished the message, she

confirmed that the alert roster was processed with the message she had just recorded.

Everyone who needed to know about the situation would be called in the next few

minutes. The system would keep trying every person at each of their possible phone

numbers until they were reached. Susan then pulled out her laptop and inserted the

USB stick with all of SAL's disaster recovery and continuity plans. She quickly pulled up

her master planning document, selected the continuity plan, clicked option A$,$ and began

to read. She then pondered her next action.