Impressions written by Uma Danday
Innovation Event – BRMA Summer camp series 2023
I can’t believe summer is over! BRMA’s Summer Camp Series officially concluded on August 23rd with another great event held in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. I’d like to thank Arvin Pasricha, Regional VP Strategic Partnerships at Salesforce, for inviting us to Salesforce West and Fusion Risk Management and the BRMA Board for making this happen.
From the moment I walked in, I noticed that this event was going to be dynamic and enthusiastic. After such a long period without seeing Bay Area resilience colleagues in person, this gathering was highly anticipated. At the registration desk, Fusion representatives and BRMA Board members warmly welcomed professionals from local organizations, Salesforce, Fusion Risk Management, and their partners.
After a delicious catered lunch and some friendly banter, the session began promptly at 1 p.m. Tracey Rice, Senior VP of Customer Engagement, and emcee extraordinaire, welcomed the large audience and voiced her excitement about the ongoing partnership between Fusion and BRMA.
The afternoon line-up was like a smooth discovery journey, focused on innovation, growth and collective learning. Tracey, as the experienced tour guide, led the group to new and exciting destinations through Fusion’s technology offerings.
“The Fusion Difference: Strategic Partnerships, Market Leadership and Community” Presented by Rich Cooper (Global Head of Financial Services Go-To-Market) and Tracey Rice was an absolute success.
Rich spoke about Fusion’s unwavering commitment to building a more resilient world, emphasizing strategic partnerships. With Fusion’s powerful platform, they have introduced Resilience Copilot, a new AI-powered assistant powered by generative AI.
Fusion’s dedication to engaging with its customer community can be seen through various channels, including user groups, advisory boards, and virtual communities. The presence of esteemed Fusion partners such as KPMG, BDO, Onsolve, Alertmedia, Everbridge, Salesforce, Ripcord, and others highlights the shared priority of fostering collaboration among vendors and customers.
Later in the afternoon, Arvin offered valuable insights into how Salesforce supports Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) like Fusion in becoming market leaders in using the Salesforce platform. The emphasis on scalability, security, and comprehensive services empowering ISV partners was eye-opening. Fusion’s exceptional performance and commitment to innovation has earned them the highest level of recognition as an ISV partner within the Salesforce ecosystem.
In summary, this session was an enlightening showcase of industry-leading collaboration, innovation, and resilience-building efforts that left me wanting to shape the future of organizational continuity.
Customer Spotlight: Pure Storage
Pure Storage’s Enterprise Business Continuity Program representatives Renuka Darbha and Shelly Munoz highlighted Fusion’s pivotal role in the growth of the program. The following are key takeaways for organizations considering Fusion:
- Improved Efficiency: Fusion increases efficiency through familiarity and leveraging its features.
- Seamless Integration: The solution integrates seamlessly with existing applications, enhancing reporting and dashboarding capabilities.
- Impact Analysis: Provides connectors for applications such as ServiceNow, NC4, and Alert Media to simplify the understanding of the impacts of various events.
- User-Friendly Tools: Fusion’s features, including the framework, expert BIA, guided workflow, and library procedure steps, facilitate business continuity planning with ease.
- Balancing Growth: Provides a clear roadmap for program development that helps strike a balance between current operations and growth.
- Considerations when implementing Fusion: Pricing, resources, long-term interoperability, and maintenance.
Those implementing Fusion found inspiration in its role as an indispensable asset that enhanced efficiency, promoted integration, and provided valuable insights for effective business continuity planning. They gained valuable ideas for enhancing their resilience programs.
Demos
Fusion’s demonstrations were impressive. In Part 1- Mapping your Journey to Resilience, the presentation showcased Fusion’s capability to streamline information and create a roadmap for bolstering resilience in a rapidly changing risk landscape. The emphasis on dynamic continuity, agile strategies, and features like third-party risk monitoring and real-time executive dashboards was particularly noteworthy.
In Part II – Enabling Proactive Resilience with Data, Fusion’s ability to enable proactive resilience through data was remarkable. Fusion simplifies access to valuable insights across various risk categories. Operational Resilience (OpRes) features, such as risk exposure analysis and data integration, service impact tolerance and visualizing data dependencies were impressive. Overall, Fusion’s capacity to anticipate and address potential issues, making it the number one resource for organizations navigating today’s unpredictable business environment.
Career resilience
In today’s challenging job market, one of the most crucial topics is how to enhance your personal career resilience. Tracey spoke of strategies to fortify your career during these challenging times. The following key points have reshaped my approach to my career and potential opportunities:
- Recognizing that your goals evolve through different life stages.
- Developing and implementing a tailored career plan and personal brand.
- Seeking guidance through coaching and mentoring.
- Investing in skill development and training.
- Breaking free from unproductive habits and acquiring new skills.
- Adapting to organizational and leadership changes.
- By improving your communication skills, focusing on soft skills, and crafting compelling and relatable stories, you will be able to establish connections. The most important aspect of this is to deliver concise messages that align with the expectations of leaders.
Additionally, I found it fascinating to explore various learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) as well as the concept of DISC communication styles. We can increase productivity by understanding how we learn and communicate with others.
An intriguing panel discussion concluded the event, entitled “Industry Leaders Panel: Redefining Resilience Programs – The Next Generation of Growth and Agility”. Becca Vlahos from Fusion Risk Management moderated the discussion. Paul Baguley of KPMG, Brandon Willitts of Salesforce, and Jim MacDonnell of BDO USA P.A. participated in the panel discussion.
During this stimulating panel discussion, participants discussed the challenges facing the industry, including elevated expectations, evolving regulations, and the ever-changing risk landscape. Among the key takeaways were:
- Team Synergy: Utilizing complementary strengths and weaknesses to build strong teams.
- Tech Embrace: Embracing an organization’s technology-centric nature.
- Data-Driven Decision-Making: Utilizing data to make well-informed decisions.
- Future Readiness: Developing a readiness strategy for upcoming trends such as automation, public cloud adoption, and reducing compliance costs at the same time.
In order to gain executive support, effective storytelling is essential. By creating a compelling narrative, emphasizing data-driven insights, and presenting a multi year plan, it is possible to instill confidence in the program. Leadership is synonymous with forward-looking thinking, which is why your program should be treated as a product and you should deliver a persuasive pitch.
I found the event and the day to be extremely energizing. As a community and an industry, we rely on forums and platforms such as this to find balance and support. As a result of sharing experiences, we acquire knowledge and strength, which enables us to enhance the resilience of our organizations. I look forward to attending more events of this nature in the future.
To be part of other exciting events become a BRMA member at: https://brma.com/join
Stay connected through LinkedIn: BRMA – Business Recovery Managers Association group.
Stay connected through LinkedIn: BRMA – Business Recovery Managers Association group
Become a BRMA member at: https://brma.com/join
