| Recent
Articles |
Crisis
Management: Your Website Can Help
A website can be a valuable source of information during a time of crisis. Using your website should become part of your crisis planning.
On-Demand
Storage At MCI
MCI launched a new service last week aimed at enterprise
customers in the form of storage on-demand. The new service,
called Utility Storage Service, is designed for enterprise
customers...
Frame
Relay Switch
One of the major topics on your CCNA and CCNP exams is Frame Relay. Additionally, Frame Relay is one of the most popular WAN technologies in today's networks.
Why
Web Managers are Leaders
The Web requires leadership if it is to achieve its full potential. That leadership will rarely be given by senior management. So that means it's up to you.
Not
All Project Management Software Is Created Equal
The purpose of Project Management Software is to provide
an environment in which a group of people can work together
on joint projects. Most projects involve the development
and implementation of new ideas...
Use
An MRD To Control Your Outsourcing
Is your software development process as unpredictable
as the weather? Is your software casting a shadow causing
six more weeks of programming?
Sun
To Introduce Galaxy Servers
Today, Sun Microsystems is expected to introduce its new
line of 64-bit network servers, which are code-named Galaxy,
and use dual-core Opteron processors from AMD.
|
 |
09.26.05
Crisis Management: Your Website Can Help
 By
Gerry
McGovern
A website can be a valuable source of information during a time of crisis. Using your website should become part of your crisis planning.
Hurricane Katrina has shown that when a crisis strikes the Web can play its part in keeping people informed and mobilizing support. Government websites supplied important information, while other websites facilitated donations from the wider public to help those affected.
Many affected commercial entities in the region were able to keep their websites running even though many of their physical offices were badly affected. I had an email recently that talked about how electrical utilities were using their websites to deliver important information to both staff and customers.
I'm just back from a trip to Denmark and Sweden. In Copenhagen, I was told a story about a factory explosion that caused a lot of disruption. When people walked up to the police who were cordoning off the area, they were often told to check a particular website to get the latest news on what was happening.
In Sweden there have been some major storms in the last couple
of years that severely impacted certain parts of the country.
Again, the Web was used to keep people informed. Of course,
the tsunami in January saw a huge range of web activity, from
websites to help locate missing persons to those seeking donations
and support.
When I was in Asia last year, I talked to an intranet manager for a large organization. He said that the intranet had "come of age" during the SARS crisis. It had become the single most important source of information for staff. For the first time, senior management had clearly recognized that the intranet could play a genuine strategic role.
I also know of a situation where during a national crisis, a series of government websites were overwhelmed. They weren't prepared for the quantity of people visiting, nor had they content to properly answer key questions being asked.
Of course, to use the Web you have to have computer access. However, in certain ways, it still has a reach that other media does not. In Sweden, even though electricity was cut off as a result of the storm, people could drive to a friend's house, or access the Web at work. There was practical information that was not always immediately accessible in print or on radio.
In a large organization it is not easy to consistently distribute detailed information to every member of staff on an evolving situation. The intranet is one of the few vehicles that can do this. It is, in fact, the one place that everyone has the potential to access every day.
It is still the case that many organizations see their public websites as little more than brochures, and their intranets as little more than archives. The Web has the potential to be strategic. It's important. It matters. If people turn to it in a time of crisis, then surely that also indicates that it has an important role to play in every-day activities.
The Web is only now being understood from a strategic perspective. Of course, you need a plan for how your website will operate during a crisis. But you also need a plan for how your website delivers value on a day-to-day basis.
|
