WWT Business Resiliency

WWT's Business Resiliency Program consists of:  

1. Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plans that detail the actions necessary to quickly restore the Information Technology Department, including, but not limited to, the transmission and processing of all data and telecommunications required for the operation of WWT.
2. Comprehensive Business Resumption Plans which address the actions needed to restore WWT's other essential business functions in a timely manner, including, but not limited to, client services, facilities, and staffing requirements.  

As part of a best practices approach, WWT does not plan for specific scenarios. WWT takes an "All Hazards" approach to resiliency, addressing disruptions based on impacts to Information Technology, Facilities, Workforce and Supply Chain. Using this approach, WWT plans cover recovery strategies for impacts that are effective regardless of scenario. 

Yes, WWT maintains a set of business continuity plans to help prepare and react appropriately in the event of a disaster that could disrupt business. WWT's crisis management program is designed to assess and deal with potential disruptions globally. The program guides decision points for the activation and execution of recovery plans for processes and functions. 

Yes, WWT's business continuity plans are designed to recover critical business processes and functions and identify critical applications. WWT maintains separate Disaster Recovery plans for all IT infrastructure and applications. 

WWT maintains a specific pandemic plan that addresses all aspects, including communications, legal, workplace resources, environmental health and safety, global operations, and educational information. WWT regularly monitors pandemic-related information and alerts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

WWT's business continuity plans are reviewed and approved by the sponsors of each of the business functions for which plans have been implemented. The plans are also reviewed by WWT's internal audit teams and as part of select external audits. 

It is the responsibility of each business plan owner to complete an annual review and update appropriately. If a material change occurs in the business operations, the plans are to be updated sooner. 

Because of the confidential nature of the material they contain, WWT does not share its business continuity plans with individuals outside the organization. Under certain circumstances, and with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in place, WWT is willing to provide summary information or meet with parties interested in discussing specific parts of the plans. 

Business Continuity plans are tested when the plans are first created, and as part of annual update and maintenance cycles. Exceptions can be made when a team has responded to an actual event during the course of the year which invoked its business continuity plan. Once tests are complete, there are corrective actions for any observed deficiencies. Business continuity plans are approved by management following each update.  

Yes, internal and external auditors may review business continuity plan and SRP test results as a part of annual audit activities.

WWT's test results are proprietary and are not shared with external parties. WWT does not generally engage in joint testing, except as it relates to our suppliers, vendors, and critical partners. 

Your WWT account team will be your primary point of contact and will be responsible for communications about any WWT business impairment that could impact customers directly. Communications are initiated within the Crisis Management Team and managed as part of the Crisis Management Team communications plans. 

WWT has multiple locations across the globe which provide flexibility in relocation strategies. Additionally, WWT understands the need to have a flexible and mobile workforce to ensure business continuity in the event of a disruption. To support this approach, each employee has access to a range of mobility and virtual-office devices to ensure that a disruption does not compromise internal operations, or the level of service provided to customers, enabling those departments to be functioning within hours of any disaster. 

The ability of WWT to recover its critical functions quickly and efficiently is enhanced by a mirrored back-up recovery site. High availability and disaster recovery are elements of WWT production implementations. All critical production systems run an active hot or passive warm standby at the secondary data center and enable the Information Technology Department to recover critical WWT applications quickly if a catastrophic event affects the WWT's main data center. 

WWT has developed disaster recovery plans for critical applications and services supporting business processes. Additionally, system redundancy is built into the infrastructure of the data systems.  Many of WWT's processes rely on cloud based solutions, which require only an internet connection an credentials to access. Manual processes for business processes are maintained and utilized in the event of any disruption of any length. These are considered standard operating procedures. Critical Warehouses like the ITC in Edwardsville, Illinois, are supported by a multitiered internet service provider configuration ensuring ISP redundancy. Warehouse facilities are supported by on-site generators with sustainable, tertiary diesel fuel vendors, 7 days/ 24 hours for unlimited number of days. 

WWT has multiple teams focused on supply chain within each geographical region that can be leveraged if other regions are impacted. An important aspect of a successful supply chain is close working relationships with the key OEMs and leveraging 2-tier distribution where it makes sense. The ability to order in-country/region will also be important, and WWT has that ability with many of our major OEMs. Major OEMs that WWT works with regularly include: Cisco, Juniper, Arista, HP, EMC, Dell, F5, Citrix, Finisar, IBM, Hitachi, Panduit, Palo Alto, Riverbed, ServerTech, SuperMicro, Mellanox, Oracle, Fortinet, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Checkpoint, AppDynamics, APC, Intel, NetApp, Nutanix, Pure, Rubrik, Splunk, Tanium, VMware, and multiple smaller vendors.