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Truth and Consequences in Emergency Notification:Emergency Notification:Top 10 Questions to Ask Vendors

Geoff SchemelGeoff Schemel Director of Sales Engineering and Support, Everbridge

About Everbridge• Leader in incident notification systems

• Fast-growing global company with more than 1 000 clients in moremore than 1,000 clients in more than 100 countries

• Serve the Global 2000, healthcare systems state and local governmentsystems, state and local government, federal government, military, financial services firms, and universities

• 100% focused on incident notification100% focused on incident notification solutions that merge technology and expertise

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Agenda

Part 1: Presentation• Top 10 questions to ask vendors• Top 10 questions to ask vendors

Part 2: Q&A

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Note: slides are currently available to everyone on

Q&Aavailable to everyone on blog.everbridge.com

Use the Q&A function tofunction to submit your questionsquestions.

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Truth and Consequencesqin Emergency Notification:Top 10 Questions to Ask Vendors

Geoff SchemelDirector of Sales Engineering and Support

Truth: Vendors sell

Consequence:Consequence: Buying a solution not suited for your needs

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Insighti

• Great vendors focus on solving problems not sales

• Your vendor should demonstrate expertise and explain how their productexpertise and explain how their product will benefit you and resolve your needs

• Be wary of shiny baublesBe wary of shiny baubles

• Solve today’s needs; but keep an eye towards the futurey

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How will you help me solve my business problems?

1business problems?

• Has the vendor done a needs analysis and mapped their product to your needs?

• How will they help you get the most out of your investment post sale?your investment post-sale?

• Can the vendor provide best practices, how do they apply to your market segment?do they apply to your market segment?

• Does the vendor have pre-written message libraries, reports, and professional services , p , pfor crisis communications?

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Truth: Any product can be made to look easy

Consequence:Consequence: Buying a product that isn’t nearly as easy to use as you thought it would beto use as you t oug t t ou d be

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Insighti

• Since emergencies are infrequent and rarely h d l d th d t h ld b t l dscheduled the product should be easy to learn; and

more importantly easy to remember how to use • It should not require a specialistIt should not require a specialist• Keep in mind that employees move around so the

person you initially train may not be the person i th t f th fusing the system a few months from now

• Check for mobility. A strong product should provide secure anytime/anywhere accessprovide secure anytime/anywhere access

• Your vendor should have flexible support options to help you get your message out

h d t

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when seconds count

What makes the system easy to use?2

• How has your application been written to facilitate d i t t it ti ?use during acute stress situations?

• How does the UI facilitate my efforts for emergency communications?communications?

• Do you have a live operator service and are they contractors or employees?

• Does the vendor supply multiple levels of training materials?

• Does the vendor supply on-demand training?

• Is ongoing training free and unlimited?

C ?

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• Can I do a pilot?

Truth: A system that is “down for maintenance” can’t make the phones ring

Consequence: A system that isn’t there when you need it syste t at s t t e e e you eed t

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Insighti

• Understand the “9’s”.• 99.99% - 53 minutes of downtime a year• 99.9% - 9 hours of downtime a year• 99% 87 hours of downtime a year• 99% - 87 hours of downtime a year

• Statistics should include planned maintenance

• Fail-over systems should be fully capable• Fail-over systems should be fully capable

• Data replication and fail-over should be automatic and nearly instantaneousy

• The vendor should be willing to put this in writing

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How do you handle redundancy and uptime?

3and uptime?

• What is your guaranteed annual uptime statistic including planned maintenance?

• How frequently are you replicating my data b t th i d b k f ilit ?between the primary and backup facility?

• Does the backup facility have the same telephone and server capacity as the primary?telephone and server capacity as the primary?

• How long does it take to fail-over from one to the other?

• Will they put this in writing?

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Truth: The system needs accurate contact data

Consequence:Consequence: With bad data critical messages will be delivered to the wrong person, if they are delivered at allto t e o g pe so , t ey a e de e ed at a

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Insighti

• The vendor should help design a comprehensive t t i istrategy comprising:

• Manual Edits

• On the fly uploads• On the fly uploads

• Automated updates

• Multiple data sourcesp

• Uploads should not require vendor assistance

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How will you help me manage data?Questions to ask yourself:

4Questions to ask yourself:

• Where will the data come from?

• Do we collect it today or will we need to create processes to collect it?

• What is the quality of the data?

• Will HR release the data?

• What resources do I need to automate the data feeds and what is their availability?

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How will you help me manage data?Questions to ask your vendor:

4Questions to ask your vendor:

• What tools do you have to help me automate my data feeds?

• Can you provide references of clients using those tools?those tools?

• Do these tools require a developer to implement?• Can you provide suggestions and best practices Ca you p o de sugges o s a d bes p ac ces

on how to collect and use PII?• Do you limit the number of updates I can provide?• I don’t need to email your employees a

spreadsheet for them to upload do I?

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Truth: Delivery is more important than capacity

Consequence:Consequence: Many vendors quote the system’s theoretical maximum capacity. This provides no assurance a u capac ty s p o des o assu a ceof how it will work for you

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Insighti

• Focus on delivery not “pie in the sky” capacity numbers

• Service Level Agreements should be between the d d th li t t th d ’ dvendor and the client, not the vendor’s vendors

• VOIP and SS7 are code for leased 3rd party capacity3 party capacity

• Verify the number of ports before you buy

• Just say no to small capacity shared port systems• Just say no to small capacity shared port systems

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How is delivery guaranteed?5

• How fast will the system work for me?

• Can I get that in writing?

• If Dedicated:• How many ports are you quoting me?

• Are they shared or truly dedicated?

• How much will it cost me to upgrade in the future?

• If “Overflow” is being discussed:• What do I have to do differently to activate it?

• What type of delivery SLA will you provide me?

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How is delivery guaranteed?5

• If VOIP/SS7:• Who is/are your provider(s)?

• Can I see your contract to verify your capacity claims?

• What other ENS providers are using the same vendor?

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Truth: Reports are something you will learn to depend on

Consequence: Inadequate reporting will delay critical decision adequate epo t g de ay c t ca dec s omaking and can severely limit your ability to improve over time

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Insighti

• Reports need to be easy to use and understand

• They should provide a range of information:• Summary

• Detail

• Consider all of the stakeholders that will be involved such as BC/DR, HR, Finance, Senior Management

Th h ld b t t d• There should be a way to create and customize your own reports

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Are your reporting solutions robust and easy to use?

6and easy to use?

• Is reporting real time?

• How does the service summarize information?

• What level of detail can it provide?p

• Can I create my own reports?

• Can I get help creating my own reports?Can I get help creating my own reports?

• How much will it cost me to have you create them for me?

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Truth: Data security must be a priority

Consequence:Consequence: Lack of data security puts your employees and business information at riska d bus ess o at o at s

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Insighti

• Security is a serious matter, with many different standards such as SAS 70, ISO, NIST, etc. that may or may not apply to younot apply to you

• Every vendor should be able to provide copies of their security plans and operations

• Vendors should conduct monthly internal penetration tests as well as annual 3rd

t it ditparty security audits

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How secure is my data?7

• Can I get copies of the following?• System Security Plan (SSP)

• BC/DR Plan

• Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

• Continuous Monitoring Plan (CMP)

• Configuration Management (CM)

• Plan of Action & Milestone (POA&M)

?• Your last monthly scan?

• Your last annual audit?

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Truth:Truth: Successful notification is not only about making phones ring Its about knowing which phones tophones ring. Its about knowing which phones to ring, when to ring them, and what to say

Consequence: M tifi ti i l t ti f il bMany notification implementations fail because a vendor is only able to do one thing – provide a messaging toolmessaging tool

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Insighti

• Vendors often focus on selling a product, and leave critical details such as deployment andleave critical details such as deployment and growth to the client

• Good vendors should help you evaluate yourGood vendors should help you evaluate your current notification needs, and then identify a growth path for you as your needs grow.

• A good vendor should be able to support you at every stage.

If d ti f tifi ti t t• If adoption of your notification program stagnates, its value will as well. The value of your notification system is directly correlated to the number of

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y ypeople included in the system (network theory).

Aside from the technology, how can you help me build a successful notification program?

8build a successful notification program?

• What type of growth path will I have working with i ti ? H ll d fi d i it?your organization? How well defined is it?

• How will you help me understand the best practices to employ to drive the adoption of mypractices to employ to drive the adoption of my notification program?

• What expertise can you deliver for creating idi lib i dmessages, providing message libraries, and

helping me evaluate the quality of my messaging?• What type of professional services do you provide?What type of professional services do you provide?• What types of best practices do you provide that I

can use to increase my success using the service?

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Truth: Processes need to be established and set in place before the crisis

Consequence:Consequence: A lack of process will result in a lack of efficient communication when it’s most needed

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Insighti

• Processes need to be established• Who can activate the system?

• When can it be activated?

• What needs to be said?

• How should messages be delivered?

• A good vendor will supply advice, assistance, and best practices including:

M M• Message Maps

• Participation in table top exercises

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• Test Reviews and Analysis

How can you help me communicate better?9

• What type of training do you provide in i ti ?emergency communications?

• What does this training consist of?Wh t b t ti d d h• What best practices do you recommend when crafting messages?

• Can you supply pre-written message templates?Can you supply pre written message templates?• Do you offer any professional services around

message creation?

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Truth: Not all services have the capability to provide the functional scalability you need

Consequence: You can quickly outgrow your system, limiting ou ca qu c y outg o you syste , t gyour options and wasting your investment

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Insighti

• Organizations often have multiple levels of communication needs

• Organizations with multiple business it hi di i i ft dunits or geographic divisions often need

their service

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Can I deploy globally, but implement locally?

10but implement locally?

• Can my different divisions or locations have complete control over their systems while I have overall administrator access across the corporation?corporation?

• How can I have segmented security so that one division can’t see what another is doing?

• Can each location have their own greetings and message templates?

• How can each division or location have full control over their data and only their data?

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Top 10 Questions to Ask Vendors• How will you help me solve my business problems?

• What makes the system easy to use?

• How do you handle redundancy and uptime?

• How will you help me manage data?

H i d li t d?• How is delivery guaranteed?

• Are your reporting solutions robust and easy to use?

• How secure is my data?How secure is my data?

• Aside from the technology, how can you help me build a successful notification program?

• How can you help me communicate better?

• Can I deploy globally, but implement locally?

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Incident Notification

Marc LadinChief Marketing Officer, Everbridge

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Where to go for more information

http://everbridge.com/resources

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Missed anything?Slides are currently available on

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Use the Q&A function tofunction to submit your questionsquestions.

42

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Item Number (Schedule II): 26.1Activity Group: A1 Point for each webinar

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1 Point for each webinar

Contact informationCommunication resourcesWhite papers, literature, case studieswww.everbridge.com/resources

Upcoming webinars:System Demo (January 20)

b id / biGeoff Schemelgeoff.schemel@everbridge.com1-818-230-9700

www.everbridge.com/webinars

Follow us:

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Marc Ladin

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marc.ladin@everbridge.com1-818-230-9700