What could go wrong? It’s this question that gets Ashley Martin, a senior consultant with Avalution Consulting, hungry for knowledge and opportunities. It’s also the one key question Martin says she and other young professionals should always be asking.
When creating exercise scenarios for organizations, it’s in thinking about what could go wrong that allows her to create successful projects and recovery plans for organizations. Working as a consultant enables Martin to work on a variety of projects for a wide range of companies, ensuring there is never a dull day or an end to her learning opportunities.
As she tells us, this flexibility is one of the aspects that gets her excited about her career, “I get excited about the different business continuity needs across industries. Every company is different, and I really enjoy creating a custom approach that fits their needs and protects and enables the continued delivery of their critical products and services. I also enjoy learning about a variety of different industries.”
This being said, Martin does see room for improvement and change within BC/DR. Specifically, Martin would like to see more collaboration among similar disciplines. “BC, IT DR, information security, incident response, physical security, and other related fields are all working toward the same goals. By working together, I think organizations would be more successful in protecting their assets, including their employees, and driving toward higher levels of organizational preparedness,” said Martin.
While Martin has not attended a DRJ conference, she does tell us that an ideal conference session for her would focus on lessons learned from organizations who have lived through major disruptions. “I’d love to hear/participate in a forum regarding how organizations’ crisis management activities were run and what issues they faced during recent events, such as the hurricanes. I think bringing organizations together to discuss these lessons learned would enhance communities’ preparedness as a whole.”
