Bank of Hawaii

Ray Trombley and Scott Sugai, Bank of Hawaii

Ray Trombley and Scott Sugai may live in paradise, but that doesn't mean that they can be any less vigilant. Trombley and Sugai are responsible for execution and maintenance of the Bank of Hawaii's companywide business continuity program, which includes developing, implementing, and testing program strategies for all business units in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Saipan, and Palau and protecting the bank’s 2,500 employees. Ranked as the number-one performing bank in the U.S. in 2008 by the American Bankers Association Banking Journal, Bank of Hawaii uses the Everbridge Aware incident notification system on a regular basis for business continuity and day-to-day operations.

Justifying Incident Notification

With 2,500 employees in more than 140 offices throughout the Pacific, Trombley and Sugai recognized the need for automation in Bank of Hawaii’s critical communication plans. The team’s time was previously monopolized with a three-hour effort to get the word out during a crisis, putting the bank three hours into the recovery window without action. With Bank of Hawaii’s business continuity planning needs and significant day-to-day uses, Trombley and Sugai were able to justify the purchase of an incident notification system and get executive buy-in for the project. After closely evaluating seven vendors, the Bank of Hawaii committee selected Everbridge for value and ease of use. Today, numerous business units leverage the Everbridge Aware notification system. As a result, Bank of Hawaii has realized improved communication flow, significant time savings, more accurate and consistent messages, and much better visibility into who is getting and confirming messages and who is not.

Preparing for a Pandemic with the H1N1 Flu Outbreak

When cases of H1N1 flu (swine flu) infections started flooding in from around the world, Trombley and Sugai were quick to act, closely monitoring the event and proactively providing internal updates. The team used the Everbridge incident notification system daily to keep executive management current on the national and international H1N1 flu situation and to keep them apprised of the implementation of applicable sections of the Bank of Hawaii's corporate pandemic plan. Trombley and Sugai encapsulated reports from CNN, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to give executives a clear picture of what was happening and provide reassurance that the business continuity team was prepared for quick, informed action if needed. Trombley and Sugai also used email attachment capabilities extensively to include images of the situation unfolding.

“During the H1N1 flu outbreak, we used the Everbridge system daily to keep executive management current on the international situation and to keep them apprised of the implementation of applicable sections of our corporate pandemic plan.”
– Raymond Trombley, Corporate Business Continuity Manager, Bank of Hawaii

Battling Natural Disasters

Bank of Hawaii’s response to the H1N1 flu outbreak was not its first real use of the system. Trombley and Sugai had leveraged the Everbridge system on numerous occasions that required time-sensitive communications, such as flash flood warnings and watches. During 2008, the team tracked and reported the progress of five hurricanes to executive management and business unit leaders via Everbridge Aware. Although none of these storms made landfall where the bank operated, Trombley and Sugai used the Everbridge incident notification system extensively, sending numerous reports for each event, including twice-daily status updates and instructions to employees, executive management, the call center, and the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). Messages provided advice on preparing property and ensuring personal safety, status updates and graphics tracking the hurricanes’ progress, Bank of Hawaii’s preparations and proactive measures, and emergency response plan reminders. The team also put DART members on stand-by. In the winter, the Everbridge system was frequently used to warn employees and executives of flash flood watches and warnings, earthquake reports, and high wind warnings.

Message - SITREP #3 Tropical Storm Hilda

August 6, 2009 4:36 PM (HST)

Current Situation: Tropical Storm Hilda's track waivered overnight moving slightly north and then back south again. Hilda is now located approximately 510 miles southeast of Hilo moving west at 9 mph with sustained winds of 57 mph and gusts of 69 mph.

Next 24 hours and beyond: There is an 81% chance that Hilda will become a Category 1 Hurricane within the next 12 hours. Hilda is forecast to reach hurricane strength at 2:00 a.m. Friday when it is approx 450 miles south-southwest of South Point on the Big Island.

Action Required:
Crisis Management Team:...
Floor Wardens:...
Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART):...

Advising Investors and Other Daily Uses

Bank of Hawaii uses Everbridge Aware regularly across a number of business units. Using the Everbridge system, Bank of Hawaii’s investment manager publishes a weekly summary of trends from the previous week and a forecast for the upcoming week to his team. Investment group team members then leverage the system to communicate information summaries to their clients. In other parts of the organization, Bank of Hawaii’s helpdesk team is preparing to use the Everbridge system to alert technicians to come in when the bank experiences after-hours hardware, network, or other system failures. Trombley and Sugai also use Everbridge for non-emergency situations, such as communicating changes in the bank’s business continuity program and conducting centralized quarterly tests to ensure employees know what to do in a crisis, are familiar with receiving and confirming messages, and have up-to-date contact information.

Peer-to-Peer: Ray and Scott's Advice

• Be proactive in your communications. Keeping management and internal teams abreast of a potential situation with regular updates instills confidence in your preparation and ability to handle the situation as it develops.
• Graphic attachments are invaluable in relaying a message. Use relevant attachments to supplement your messages. Summarize them in the message. Attachments provide a solid visual representation of how a situation is unfolding. Many of Bank of Hawaii’s teams print out the attachments and post them in a shared space to track the incident as it progresses.
• Use a recognizable “from” address or caller ID on messages to encourage people to pay attention to the message.
• Make sure group leaders and organization leaders are properly trained so they will use the system effectively. Distribute responsibility to group leaders for keeping their groups current and complete.
• Leverage the Everbridge system across business units. Regular use improves communications across the organizations and familiarizes group leaders and message recipients with the system.