Apparently there wasn’t a ‘DR in the house’ when the NotPetya computer ransomware came calling at one of my former employers earlier this summer.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but what price having a Disaster Recovery (DR) plan in place, before your company starts counting a very heavy cost – reputedly £300m and still rising by the end of July?
Then of course, there’s the not insubstantial matter of the damage to, and loss of, reputation in the eyes of customers and stakeholders alike.
It’s always an interesting and stimulating communications challenge, trying to preserve customer confidence in your employer’s services, as faith in their ability to deliver evaporates and the odds stack up against you.
As my sage-like father used to say as the proverbial hit the fan and the adrenaline kicked in: “It’s what you joined for…”
Not quite the case, but I knew exactly what he meant.
Whilst you never want to see your employer or a client in trouble, it’s in times of crisis that communications professionals are most valued – but only if they produce the right advice and key messaging to steer the body corporate into calmer waters.