Rembrandt's lessons INSIDE VIEW Although 9/11 pointed to the need for more defined Business Continuity Planning (BCP) measures, exactly half a year later, a hostage scenario in the Rembrandt Tower, Amsterdam, demonstrated that BCP must also be flexible. Perhaps more than any other type of crisis, a hostage situation demands quick, instinctive decision-making. At times, that can mean a departure from BCP procedures and, in the case of the Rembrandt Tower, it can even conflict with police orders Gutdecision Appointing leaders Niels Cornelisse - instinctual decisions When a man with a gun entered Rembrandt Tower at 9:15 a.m., it took several minutes for word to spread to each of the Rabo Securities offices, on the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 17th floors. 'Once it hecame clear that something was wrong, it was difficult for people to accept police orders to stay in the build ing. People were afraid and wanted to get away from the situation,' says Niels Cornelisse, Security Manager for Rabo Securities. Police also advised that no one was to move between floors and that all communication was to be han dled via fax and phone. 'We quickly designated a contact person on each floor who was responsible for commu- nicating police orders,' says Cornelisse. At one point, the gunman demanded that the hostages place signs with cryp- tic messages in the windows on each floor of the tower. As the communica tion link between police and staff, Cor nelisse told the police what the man was ordering. 'They told us not to put the signs in the windows. Of course, this put us in a difficult situation; on the one hand a man with a gun and on the other hand the police who have expertise in this kind of situation. The people inside the building were afraid, tension was rising and at a certain point I had to teil the people to obey the gunman.' 'Even after 9/1 1 most of our disaster recovery plans were focused on evacuat- ing the building,' says Cornelisse. 'No- body had ever contemplated a situation where you would be trapped at the cri sis scene for nine hours.' Since the Rem brandt Tower situation, BCP has been revised to support both instantaneous and prolonged crisis situations. 'Now people are prepared for the fact that in a crisis, order flows and responsibilities can change completely,' concludes Cornelisse. 'We've realized that it is of utmost importance to have designated contact people so that when crisis hits, those people are prepared to fulfill a leading role.' 26 I The Word I

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'RI The Word / The Word' (EN) | 2003 | | pagina 26