What’s amazing is not just the fact that a business continuity video is on YouTube. What’s really cool is that the four-minute clip absolutely backs up everything Gabe Esposito, director of business continuity/disaster recovery and corporate security for Verizon Wireless, tells you about the program: employees are empowered to make decisions and take action; public/private partnerships are strong and active; and doing the right thing for our customers and business is paramount.

Hear Him Now

“Our primary mission is to make sure that you can make and receive a call, and in that sense, we are focused on every customer,” Esposito says. “Reliability is our focus. It is part of what Verizon Wireless does every day. It is part of our culture, and it is built into everything everyone does on a daily basis from network operations to customer service to business continuity and disaster recovery.”

“That message comes from the top. It is internalized by every employee. It’s part of our DNA,” Esposito says.

Esposito is responsible for security and asset protection, including retail security for the company’s 2,300 communications stores and kiosks throughout the United States. He also leads the company’s business continuity and disaster recovery planning and testing, anti-fraud investigations and incident responses, and provides expertise in the areas of crisis management, risk assessment, and information security. But being “in charge” isn’t what’s important to Esposito. His focus, and that of his business continuity team, is building and maintaining a strong cross-functional program that puts responsibility in the hands of the team members who can best support the company’s business continuity mission.

“Employees are empowered to take action to support the reliability focus,” he says. “Whether it is the reliability of our network, of our business operations, reliability is one of our most important areas of focus, and employees are empowered to take action to support it.”

Sounds good, but how does he do it? A cross-functional approach is key, Esposito says. And he goes beyond the buzzword to explain what he means. “We’ve structured the program using a cross-functional approach, so that all of the things that are important to the business are woven into our program. Then we empower — whether it’s from a business continuity plan ownership or from a crisis response perspective — those who are closest to the issues and closest to our customers to take action.” And that action he says must be “in unison, so that all that we do from a business continuity perspective is consistent — from the person closest to the issue up the chain of command.”

Building Blocks

A bit more on how the program is structured…on BC/DR, Esposito reports to the COO and works directly with an executive team led by the COO “to ensure that everything that falls within business continuity and crisis management is moving in a direction that supports the goals and key priorities of the business.”

“I can’t stress enough the importance of senior management support for business continuity,” he says. “We have the full support of our senior staff. It is part of what they think of and part of their mission. They truly understand the value it adds to business operations and, ultimately, to supporting our customers.”

Esposito helps maintain that support by keeping senior management engaged. “We provide them with status reports. We keep them informed during response and planning activities. We refresh periodically a top-to-bottom business impact analysis, through which we identify any critical systems and functions that have evolved as time goes on. And we ensure that any risks generated are accounted for and planned for. They are very much a part of validating that our assumptions are correct and on target. And if we need to get things mobilized, they are hands on.”

Additionally, Esposito helms “a cross-functional business continuity leadership team comprised of representatives and experts from the various departments that make up our holistic approach to business continuity planning — folks from network, from information technology, obviously folks from the business continuity and recovery team, finance, facilities, and the human resources department to represent the employees and the human element. We also have customer service representation, marketing, and people from legal/external affairs and the public relations team.”

There are also 39 “cross-functional crisis management teams led by senior management and consisting of over 1200 experienced managers,” he says. The advantage of this decentralized approach is “quick, efficient response by people who know the location the best, who are closest to the disaster or the event, and who know best the needs of local customers as well as the emergency responders who are assisting with the response.”

“These teams are well versed on the company’s overall crisis management and business continuity structure. They are able and empowered to pull in management, if needed, to supplement the local resources. And many of these teams — whether it’s by a small wildfire, a big wildfire, a flood, a national security event, the Super Bowl, or [Hurricane] Katrina — have been battle tested. They’ve been there, they’ve mobilized, and they are experienced. Beyond that, they also conduct periodic exercises.

What You Want, What I Need

While his people are prepared, Esposito knows that no one can go it alone and says Verizon Wireless actively cultivates partnerships with key entities, including power companies, the military, as well as local, state, and federal authorities and law enforcement.

“Within our security organization, we have a program of outreach to the public safety and law enforcement community. We have established the liaison and the communications links with the law enforcement and public safety sector. When a crisis does occur, we are able to expedite our ability to provide critical services to these emergency responders and, from our perspective, to be able to gain their support and access to assess impacted areas.”

“Obviously, our disaster recovery teams did coordinate [with many entities] during Katrina. “We deployed a team as close as you could get to ground zero.” This team was made up of both network and security specialists. “Our security experts’ prior interactions and links to law enforcement and the public safety community were instrumental in facilitating access for our network personnel.”

“I think this prior link and our relationships and ongoing dialogue with them really facilitated for us very quick access into areas that we needed to assess, as well as additional security for the technicians and other network personnel who had to enter sometimes potentially dangerous locations. The military even provided us with the services of a Black Hawk [helicopter] that took some of our technicians on an aerial assessment of downtown New Orleans.”

Esposito says it is “critical to have credibility with the law enforcement and public safety community, and we continue to expand on these relationships.”

One way to form solid partnerships is by recognizing that you’ve got to bring something to the table, Esposito says.

“During Katrina and Rita and the aftermath, FEMA and other emergency responders were setting up command posts, and, in many instances, we were providing them with laptops and other wireless devices through which they could communicate and share and transmit data. After Katrina, we delivered more than 10,000 wireless phones and wireless data devices to emergency responders. It is part of what we do. We’re able to facilitate their needs, and they are able to facilitate ours. It’s the right thing to do to support public safety officials and the community, and in time of crisis, it pays dividends.”

But Verizon Wireless goes beyond supporting the public  sector. They also deliver free services to communities during emergencies. “We have WECCs, wireless emergency communications centers, that become an outreach post for the community,” Esposito says. “We roll in a trailer or other mobile unit with the ability to power up cell phone batteries and provide calling capabilities for those who have lost their phones or don’t have cell phones and who otherwise can’t communicate to rest of the world and let people know what their status is.”

Post-Katrina, “we had these set up in the Astrodome in Houston and throughout the Gulf Coast. It’s amazing. This place becomes a refuge for individuals who need support — a place where they might be able to get water or share their good stories or their sad moments. Although its primary focus is to support the community with its communications needs, from my personal experience, it goes way beyond that and provides people with a sense that there is still something that is normal amidst the chaos.

“One of the many wonderful things about this company is that within our culture we have empowerment and a sense of urgency, things I truly enjoy. We get things done.”

Holy COW!

“Our network is designed with resiliency in mind,” says Gabe Esposito. “Our wireless services are provided through a large and very sophisticated national network of mobile switching centers and cell sites that have redundant equipment, automatic backup systems, and other protection systems.”

“We also have the ability to mobilize COWs and COLTS to replace or enhance coverage.” COWs are cell sites on wheels. COLTs are cell sites on light trucks. “We also have portable generators that can be deployed, if necessary, and thousands of highly-trained technicians that can be deployed at a moments notice.”

Esposito says COWs and COLTs are often deployed “in advance of a significant event” like Hurricane Katrina, “so they can be rolled into an area of need very quickly.” The company also has stores in trailers to temporarily replace any retail locations that may be impacted. And store employees are trained in manual work-around procedures, he says.

Profile:

Verizon Wireless, headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, is the largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues and retail customers. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Verizon Wireless has 63.7 million customers, 68,000 employees, 170+ switching centers, and 2,300 company operated stores and kiosks. In 2006, the company’s annual revenue was $38 billion.