MWW Group, Paratus Announce Partnership
MWW Group, a public relations firm, recently announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Paratus, an end-to-end government/business continuity and crisis management consultancy founded by Timothy W. Patterson, a former Naval officer who completed his military service with the White House Military Office, serving with the President’s Emergency Operations Center.
Together MWW Group and Paratus have launched C3Ready, a suite of multi-disciplinary services designed to integrate organizations’ operational and communications responses to anticipated and unforeseen crisis situations. These integrated services will help to minimize operational downtime, mitigate revenue and branding losses, improve leadership continuity and as a result, strengthen the ability to effectively manage all crisis incidents and the requisite communications with internal and external audiences.
C3Ready focuses on the three critical elements of crisis management -- continuity, crisis response and communications. It approaches crisis management with a proactive enterprise-wide perspective, addressing the full breadth of business operations and communications imperatives, with services ranging from incident response analysis, crisis plan development and scenario-based training, to command center architecture, technology implementation and infrastructure stress testing.
“Far too many organizations impede their business continuity and incident response measures when they task offices, employees and disconnected executives with critically-interdependent operational and communication responsibilities without the proper planning and capabilities,” said Timothy W. Patterson, founder and president of Paratus. “We frequently see business operations crisis response directed by the COO or a command center, while the external communications response is directed by the public relations or marketing team with minimal coordination between the two. During an event, it is too late to break down those internal barriers, integrate response activities and deliver crisis communications when every second counts. Today’s business environment clearly demonstrates that internal and external crises directly affect an organization’s revenue, reputation, business prospects, and, at times, their very existence hangs in the balance.”
“Organizations of every shape and size -- whether public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit, B2B, B2C, digital or brick-and-mortar -- share a common vulnerability: the impact of time when crises strike,” said Michael Kempner, MWW Group president and CEO. “Operational disruption can lead to lost sales, lost leadership and declining confidence among key stakeholders. Likewise, delayed or ineffective communications in a crisis can cause you to lose control of your story, allowing others to run roughshod over your reputation.
“Effectively managing a crisis requires more than simple planning and practice within each department. It requires a holistic strategy for your organization, encompassing both the operational and communications perspectives. a re-evaluation and reorganization of critical resources to be leveraged in a crisis and a methodology that not only keeps the lights on and the Website up, but also efficiently manages the process of communicating your status and steps to recovery to internal and external audiences.”
MWW Group and Paratus each bring a wealth of crisis management tools and knowledge to the C3Ready offering. Counselors at MWW Group possess a substantial range and depth of crisis communications expertise -- from contingency planning, crisis response training and on-site support for clients in the midst of incidents, to managing the aftermath of crises and the restoration of trust and reputations. Additionally, the agency is a leader in digital crisis communications, including the creation and management of digital and social media tools to be leveraged when crises strike, as well as monitoring the online landscape during incidents and managing connections with critical constituencies through online channels.
On the operations front, Paratus supports the public and private sectors with consultants possessing extensive operational and planning experience at the highest levels of continuity of operations, continuity of government, business continuity and emergency preparedness programs. Many of Paratus’ consultants maintain security clearances which enable them to support companies and government agencies that work in highly sensitive arenas. The Paratus team regularly supports government organizations and large private industry corporations in the development and enhancement of their continuity and crisis programs and capabilities. Paratus integrates their strategic, technical and operational expertise with their deep industry relationships to leverage proven methodologies in order to provide client’s viable solutions that enhance their resilience and ability to continue essential services and operations.