Project Summary

Client: Provincial Crown Corporation

Project: Contingency Planning

Situation

In spring 2007, the province of British Columbia was faced with the potential for significant flooding in areas adjacent to several of its major river systems. This flooding potentially could have created the need to evacuate populated areas and close major transportation infrastructure. A major provincial Crown Corporation quickly recognized that its ability to continue offering critical services to the public was very dependent upon the support services offered by its outsourcing provider and that the continuity of the provider’s services was therefore critical.

Goal

To ensure that the outsourcing provider had a comprehensive plan in place to ensure the continuity of critical services during a significant flood event.

Activities

The first step in the process was to identify and prioritize the key services that the outsourcing provider would be expected to provide in a flood emergency. We worked with responsible managers from Customer Care, Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance, Purchasing and Building & Office Services to do this. Once we identified the priorities areas, the outsourcing provider was responsible for developing a plan that ensured that its people could carry out these priorities. We worked with the outsourcing provider in the development of the plan, providing constant review and feedback to ensure that the provider’s plan met the client’s expectations. We then provided regular information updates and direction during the period that the provider was on standby as the potential flood emergency evolved. We concluded by working with the outsourcing provider on a lessons learned exercise to ensure that the plans were incorporated into planning for other potential contingencies and that future efforts could be conducted as efficiently as possible.

Results

While localized flooding did occur, the province was spared a large-scale flooding event. However, the outsourcing provider was completely prepared for the flood contingency and the plans developed during this process are now available to be adapted to other contingencies. The planning effort was recognized by the client and the service provider as a significant joint accomplishment.