How ITSM Can Support an Emergency Response Plan

As federal, state, and local government agencies scramble to create emergency response processes and procedures, be advised that IT service management (ITSM) can play a critical role in supporting emergency response plans and associated processes.  

Government and commercial business emergency response plans define how agencies and commercial organizations respond to catastrophic events in the environment. Currently, emergency response teams are mobilizing so they can respond to everyone who needs help in the near future.

Intake processes will require responders to document information about each patient, including the severity of their symptoms. Patients will then be categorized so that high risk patients are identified, prioritized, and assigned to appropriate response processes.  

ITSM Solutions Provide Incident Response

ITSM solutions have incident response features that are typically associated with computer or security related incident response processes. However, some ITSM solutions transcend traditional IT boundaries by providing support to non-IT business objectives.

ITSM solutions can be easily customized to support both IT and non-IT processes associated with current emergency response objectives. Processes can be configured to handle a wide variety of incident types. This allows each incident to be properly categorized and assigned to a relevant response process.

ITSM Can Provide Self-Service Portals

Self-service portals provide users with the tools they need to make requests without involving a human analyst. Self-service capabilities alleviate workloads for analysts that take front line calls. ITSM self-service portals can be setup to provide support for technical issues or to make IT asset requests, however; they can be customized to support non-IT objectives related to response processes.

Self-Service portals could deliver patient intake forms to people who believe they might be sick. Businesses and government agencies that are using ITSM solutions could use self-service portals for employees to provide their health status along with self-quarantine information and updates.

ITSM Self-Service Can Be Accessed on Mobile Devices

ITSM solutions can provide self-service portals through apps installed on smart phones and tablets. Apps can deliver customized forms or questionnaires to its users. Forms and questionnaires can be used to help medical workers, government entities, or businesses organizations identify people that might need to be tested for the virus. 

ITSM Can Broadcast Alerts and Set Up Bulletin Boards

ITSM solutions can broadcast alerts with up-to-date information. They can also provide bulletin boards with relevant information through self-service portals.  

ITSM Can Automate HR On/Off-boarding Processes

ITSM solutions with automation capabilities could play a vital role for employers, or for mobilized response teams fighting the Coronavirus outbreak. On-boarding processes that require signatures or authorizations can be automated to deliver authorization requests to a mobile device or self-service portal.  Temporary or full-time employee on-boarding/off-boarding processes can be automated so that recourses are not consumed with documentation requirements.

ITSM Provides Up-to-Date Knowledge Articles and FAQs

Knowledge and communication are important components for IT incident response. They help organizations provide consistent and relevant information to the end users.

Knowledge databases can also be used to provide up-to-date verified information about the current health crisis. Knowledge articles and FAQs can be offered with search capabilities so that front line telephone analysts are not inundated with calls from people that are seeking general information.

ITSM Solutions Can Facilitate Process Changes Without Disrupting Services

ITSM incident management solutions provide data that is used to report metrics and statistics. This gives administrators information that will help them identify areas for improvement.  

Software solutions that can facilitate modifications to processes will be crucial for emergency response teams on the front line. Some ITSM solutions can be modified and tested in a short period of time without impact to the entire solution. This gives administrators the ability to make changes and improvements to backend processes without disrupting services.  

ITSM Can Track Inventories with IT Asset Management

Many organizations track IT asset inventories with IT asset management software solutions. When organizations know what they have or don’t have, they are able to make informed acquisition decisions. Some ITSM solutions integrate asset management features into their products. This provides an integrated link between services and asset inventories, asset locations, and asset availability.  

Asset management features could be used to support emergency response teams that require equipment to support incoming patients. For example, if a response analyst determines that someone needs to be tested, it will be important for the analyst to know if there are sufficient assets, such as test kits, at the testing facility where the patient will be sent.  

Furthermore, asset management provides request capabilities so that when inventories are low, administrators can make asset requests through self-service portals. Automated asset management processes can be configured to fulfill asset requests with minimal human intervention.

ITSM Can Provide Facility Management

ITSM solutions that offer facility management capabilities give organizations the ability to manage facility space and infrastructure. In the war on the Coronavirus, facility management tools could help mobilized response centers with planning, design, construction, lease, occupancy, maintenance, and furniture requirements. These requirements might also include help with catering, cleaning, and hospitality.

ITSM Can Provide Project Management Tools

ITSM solutions with project management capabilities can help organizations manage their project schedules, including milestones, progress, and associated risks. Project management also provides tools and methods for allocating and tracking costs.

Project management features could help emergency response organizations by providing tools that help them initiate, plan, and execute project objectives. 

ITSM Cloud Solutions Do Not Require Mobile Data Centers

ITSM solutions offered in the cloud do not require on-premise data centers. Organizations that use cloud solutions can reduce overhead costs associated with hardware and maintenance.

ITSM can provide support for today's health crisis by providing tools that support emergency response objectives. ITSM cloud solutions can deploy incident management, knowledge management, asset management, project management, and facility management features to organizations located anywhere at any time.

Government and non-government response teams that implement cloud solutions will not have to mobilize servers or data centers to meet emergency response requirements. They will simply connect through existing internet infrastructure to service management solutions in the cloud that are customized to support emergency response objectives.