How has a company like GardaWorld, which specialises in security, dealt internally with the problems associated with this pandemic?
Grégoire Pinton - We stopped all our trips. I myself had to interrupt a trip to avoid the risk of contaminating anyone or myself. From the outset, we made sure that we could continue to serve our customers' needs in the event of a pandemic. We began the confinement of our teamsThis led us to review our continuation plans, particularly those relating to our global operations centres. This has led us to review our continuation plans, particularly those concerning our call centres, our global operations centres.
In practice, how have your continuation plans evolved?
G. P. - Typically, companies with call centres think about what they have to do if they have to change location in case something happens. For example, they prepare another room in a different location where they'll be able to get everything up and running again, with a connector and redundant equipment. But this is a completely new approach. Most business continuity plans didn't anticipate that 100 % people would be teleworking. This is a one of the first times where we no longer need a physical change, or a change of server, or technical capacity, but to enable everyone to work from home, while having access to the necessary tools. When you're talking about a 24/7 operations centre, it's a difficult thing to get off the ground. It was one of the first things we put in place. We went very quickly and it's working very well today.
Most business continuity plans did not anticipate that 100 % of people would be teleworking.
As far as your customers are concerned, how have you met their needs?
G. P. - There was a total change in the type of information alerts we sent out to our customers. While there was a slight increase in the total number of alerts, those related to health and transport difficulties rose to 80% of alerts, compared with 10% to 20% in normal times. The number of alerts relating to these two subjects was multiplied by 10 or 15. Between 1 January and 31 March, we created 1,374 alerts solely on the coronavirus, i.e. around fifteen a day, all of which were sent to tens of thousands of subscribers. We also set up additional maps in our systems to overlay information about the virus. At the same time, use of our application has increased by 250 % There are two reasons for this: firstly, because it provides access to all these alerts, and secondly, because it allows users to be geolocated. You might have thought that this feature would be less useful given that there are hardly any journeys being made any more. However, the use of geolocation has doubled. This shows a very strong desire on the part of employees to ensure that their companies know where they are, even at home, so that they can react in the event of a problem.
At the same time, has the type of alerts you send out also changed?
G. P. - Initially, the questions concerned the ability to get from point A to point B. Is my flight in place? Can I get to my destination by another means? Quickly, in the types of requests we received, the questions were directed towards passenger safety. What is the health situation in a given country? Is it reasonable to travel there? Will the borders be closed? We've really moved on from a material issue - transport - to a personal issue - the traveller's own safety. We are currently receiving the equivalent of a month's worth of requests for information in one week. That's more than four times as many as in normal times.
We have moved on from a material issue - transport - to a personal issue - the traveller's own safety.
Are your customers' demands continuing to evolve?
G. P. - Yes, the type of requests continues to evolve and that's interesting. Until recently, they were very much concerned with solutions for evacuating expatriates, with all the difficulties that exist, with borders and airports closed and airlines hardly flying at all. India, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria: all these countries have closed their borders and obtaining authorisations for aircraft is very complicated. Companies have analysed all the options available for evacuating their employees, and are turning to their assistance companies in particular to find this way. But whereas until a few days ago, requests were almost exclusively based on this evacuation capacity, they are now focusing on the security capacity. In some countries, problems of violence are now emerging, particularly targeting certain populations suspected of having brought the virus with them. European and North American companies with a presence in these countries, or with local subsidiaries, are looking for solutions to secure their offices and buildings, as well as expatriates and their homes. The approach is not so much to extract as to secure in situ. Quite simply because extracting employees from a country has now become extremely difficult.
How do you see the forthcoming deconfinements, particularly as regards business travel?
G. P. - We're currently thinking about what will be useful to our customers in this context, particularly in terms of transport information and all that goes with it. At the moment, we feel that the most complicated part will be understanding how and whether their employees will be able to get from point A to point B. Will special authorisation be required for international travel? Will medical certificates be required? in certain cases? Will it be possible to travel to a particular country with a particular passport, or on the basis of previous travel history? We're thinking about how to provide clear answers, probably using maps, so that companies can more easily manage the resumption of their activity and the travel of their employees.
The most complicated part will be understanding how and whether their employees will be able to get from A to B.
Is a good business recovery strategy crucial?
G. P. - Many companies have realised that their business continuity plans were not necessarily consistent with the impact that a pandemic can have. It's hard enough to live with the situation you're in, but for organisations, getting everything back up and running will be just as complicated, and will take time. Continuation plans should not only concern employees' teleworking, but also production, and factories in the case of industries. The continuation plan must include a section on the upturn in business. We don't always think about it. We think more about what to do when things break than about what to do once they're fixed, and that's one of the things that's not yet fully in place. But we have received requests and created offers that can be integrated into the continuation plans.
What lessons have you learned from this crisis?
G. P. - It demonstrates the importance of information and preparation. All companies now realise that they could be affected, and not just those whose activities take place in so-called dangerous countries. If you look at the centres of the epidemic, first it was China, then Europe and now the United States, all considered to be safe countries. Training and information are critical and should not be regarded as secondary. The current crisis highlights the duty of companies to ensure the safety of their employees and to do everything necessary to be able to react in times of crisis. Problems don't just happen to other people. Companies need to be better prepared, to ensure that their business continuity plans are up to date, so that they are ready should something as dramatic happen again. Preparation, anticipation vs. reaction. And that's GardaWorld's strength.
