As you may recall, BOLDplanning recently kicked off a series of blog posts on the use of the Reports Module within its online platform for Emergency Operations Planning (EOP) and Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning. Why? The company believes that the Reports Module is a very useful tool for monitoring plan activity and revealing critical gaps, especially as they relate to three key EOP and COOP elements—people, places and things. The last post addressed the potential problems associated with people, or Contacts; this one will examine places in regard to relocation, or the use of Alternate Facilities.

The Problem(s) with Places

Certain critical events, such as fires and floods, may force an organization to operate from a different location, or locations, for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months. That is, if it’s going to continue to perform Essential Functions and serve the needs of customers, or the community at large. For this reason, continuity planners know that they must not only determine possible Alternate Facilities in advance, but also flesh out potential problems so that the transition to and from such places goes as smoothly as