Challenge.
The ‘gesture’ of Graber Pulver Architekten AG’s designs reflects a comprehensive understanding of the integration of buildings into their cultural and physical context. Graber Pulver’s buildings are characterised by their enormous creative strength. Behind this lies the ability to use sound disciplinary knowledge to create unexpected, sustainable solutions of high urban, spatial and functional quality as well as architectural conciseness. To complement this creative and operational excellence with robust emergency and risk management, Graber Pulver wanted to develop a systematic crisis management system that could be used in the event of a fire, power outage or ransomware attack. The aim was to create a manual containing a clearly defined, easy-to-understand and implementable emergency procedure. Graber Pulver wanted to ensure that business processes could be restored quickly in the event of an incident. It was also important to the architects that the emergency playbook was tailored to the specific organisational structure and particular risks of the architecture industry in order to ensure effective and efficient crisis management.
Solution.
Graber Pulver approached the desired customised emergency concept with Bechtle as a long-standing IT service provider and consultant in the areas of network, hardware and security. In joint workshops, Bechtle analysed the existing structures and processes at Graber Pulver in order to identify possible risk factors more precisely and to develop a well-founded concept for crisis management. It was important to record the existing documents on the topic and to identify the most important communication channels and addresses in the company. The question repeatedly asked during the analysis was: “How are crises currently handled?” It was also important to identify which company processes are critical and which areas need to be included in an emergency plan. This gradually resulted in a document that describes exactly what needs to be done in the event of a risk event such as a fire, water damage or even a cyber attack. Step by step, Bechtle describes who has to do what, who has to communicate with whom and which problems have to be solved internally and which externally. Perhaps the most important thing about the step-by-step guide, however, is the procedure for exactly which functions need to be restored. To this end, Bechtle defined all the necessary bridging measures and fallback processes. Finally, Bechtle defined how employees should behave in the event of an emergency. Summarised in an emergency playbook, which can also be printed out, all Graber Pulver employees have the exact procedure in the event of a crisis at their fingertips and the emergency organisation is clearly presented in it. This means they quickly know what steps to take and what emergency communication looks like. In a final simulation workshop, the three most important crisis situations - fire, power failure and cyberattack - were simulated in order to test the newly introduced processes and identify further potential for improvement.
The co-operation with Bechtle was excellent. We only wanted one key contact person and that worked very well. The two workshops with different people were very important for the emergency playbook and were carried out on site. This was the only way we could ensure that all the physical components of our premises were included in the emergency plan in the event of a fire. Thanks to Bechtle, we have clear instructions for action, a lifeboat that we hopefully will never have to launch. And we can be sure that we are optimally equipped.
Business Benefits.
The emergency manual developed jointly with Bechtle safeguards Graber Pulver Architekten AG for the future. It enables the renowned architectural firm to react quickly and efficiently to crisis situations by defining clear guidelines and procedures. This minimises potential damage and ensures that business processes can continue with minimal disruption even in an emergency. The emergency playbook created by Bechtle also strengthens employees’ awareness and ability to act in an emergency and contributes to the security and continuity of business operations. Ultimately, Graber Pulver was able to significantly strengthen its resilience to unforeseeable events with the new emergency plan and remains capable of acting even in times of crisis.