The Resilient Journey Podcast Welcomes Marie-Hélène Primeau on Episode 48 - BC Software

Premier Continuum Executive Vice-President Marie-Hélène Primeau was on Mark Hoffman’s podcast, The Resilient Journey. Our client and partner Senad Cehajic, Director of Business Continuity and Corporate Security at OMERS, was also invited to participate in the discussion to share his experience with client-side continuity software.

The Resilient Journey’s goal is to explore some of the biggest issues facing organizations today and chat with industry leaders about ways we can all be more resilient.

Listen now to Episode 48 - BC Software

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Topics Covered and Highlights

Marie-Helene and Senad share two perspectives of BCM software, one as the service provider and the other as the customer with Mark. Here are the discussed topics as well as some quote from the podcast.

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• The advantages of using software to manage your BC program

" The biggest piece that I think is beneficial is the amount of leverage it gives you in terms of spending time on what's really important." - Senad Cehajic, talking about what he appreciates the most about BCM software

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• Some misconceptions about using software

" Sometimes, [clients] think that if they do go with a software, then they do need to adopt the supplier's methodology. That's good because it does provide you some guidance as what's expected and what to follow. But on the other hand, some consultant or some people in the industry may be doing things differently, so I think it is important that the tool is there to assist in following best practices, but also takes in consideration your reality. [...] That was something that from the onset when we first started ParaSolution that was really important.[...] Embedding business continuity is already a challenge, so we ensure you are presented with an interface that makes sense, is easy to use and avoids double data entry." - Marie-Hélène Primeau

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• Must have features

"There is definitely a higher interest on dashboards, so that's a capacity we have further developed within the tool. [...] Now, people have quality information available." - Marie-Hélène Primeau  

"Definitely look for a system that is flexible, customizable to at least certain point and certainly, able to link with other systems, [...] for example, your HR system to make your contact data is updated." -  Senad Cehajic

" With ParaSolution mobile app, you have the ability to have a local copy that syncs with the copy in the cloud whenever you access it. So for crisis management team, some [members] would never had had access to the plans otherwise, but because of what we installed, because of the syncing functionality, they were able to access an up-to-date usable plan. And the usable part is huge. " - Senad Cehajic

As a real-life example, on July 8th, 2022, the Rogers network across Canada experienced an outage with both cellular and internet services being impacted. This situation further highlights our dependency on IT services and infrastructures, as well as the importance of having local accessible back ups, such as those accessible via the ParaSolution mobile application.

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• Ways to justify the expense to senior leaders

"The platform can be leveraged by multiple teams. [...] Yes, we are going bring it on for business continuity purposes, but we will be able to leverage this for IT Disaster Recovery, the Operational Risk Group, Cybersecurity, Response, Crisis Management Plans, Security..." - Senad Cehajic  

"By better understanding what your vulnerabilities are, you can actually better invest. And sometimes, you may even realize that you are over-investing in some areas. [Using a BC software] can also be a benefit so that you allocate the resources accordingly." - Marie-Hélène Primeau

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Want to know more about our BC software ParaSolution ? 

Visit ParaSolution's Web page.

Feel free to contact our experts.

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Connect with Marie-Helene Primeau on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-helene-primeau-345688/

For an interview with Marie-Helene, please contact us : info@premiercontinuum.com