Page 27 - GS221101

CoverStory

starting their real-time journeys and size-fits-all approach to disaster recovery and every organization has a differ-
offering customers direct access to ent set of needs. Agility Recovery experts help each customer identify potential
initiate an instant payment." gaps or pitfalls that would delay recovery, she noted, to make sure they only
receive the services they need without having to pay for things they don't need.
Ramsey further noted that imple-
mentation will cover a wide territory, Business continuity
from consumers paying friends, bills Canarini recommended implementing a continuity plan to cultivate agile
and ecommerce merchants to busi- responses to unforeseen events. The best place to start is to assemble a team of
nesses using instant payments to employees, each of whom represents a critical department in the organization,
better manage liquidity and re-use and perform regular testing, she stated.
of funds. And more financial institu-
tions will embark on real-time pay- Having a range of voices at the table will help identify all essential business
ment journeys to enable instant pay- continuity needs and ensure they are addressed within a continuity plan,
ments for customers, he added. Canarini stated, adding that testing each stakeholder can help identify gaps
and potential failure points. This pinpoints responsible individuals and action
The Fed stated it plans to notify the steps, and documents and formalizes their roles in the recovery process.
public and member bank networks of
fee structures and guidelines prior to "True agility is the ability to effectively respond or adjust to anything that
launching FedNow. Visit www.frbser- may come your way," Canarini said. "Having these perspectives, a formalized
vices.org/financial-services/fednow for chain of command and a regular testing schedule allows teams to plan for and
additional details and updates. respond to a wider range of incidents, as well as establish redundancies or

Agile disaster recovery pivot points, should there be any surprises along the way."
Fast response times are critical in a Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet and managing director at DSL Direct LLC, is
connected world, especially when
payment rails and connectivity are a payments industry journalist and content strategist. Connect via email dale@dsldirectllc.com,
threatened or disrupted. When the LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/dalelaszig/ and Twitter @DSLdirect.
global pandemic shuttered business-
es worldwide, service providers and
business owners pivoted from tradi-
tional in-person commerce to digital
payments and from brick-and-mortar
venues to ghost kitchens and work-
from-home models.

Emily Canarini, vice president, oper-
ations at Agility Recovery, observed a
permanent shift to remote and hybrid
work over the course of the pandem-
ic. This shift introduced a new set of
challenges, she stated, as businesses
looked for ways to keep critical em-
ployees connected and powered at
home and remotely, while protecting
vulnerable systems against cyberat-
tacks.

Agility is a core requirement for meet-
ing these challenges and for coping
with disasters in general, Canarini
noted, as no two disasters or their im-
pacts are ever the same. "It is impos-
sible to know exactly what to expect
in the face of an interruption," she
said. "However, by embracing agility,
companies will be able to pivot and
work quickly to both respond to and
recover from an interruption."
Canarini emphasized there is no one-

27