The Future of Crisis Management Solutions: Tailored to Unique Requirements and Built to Go Beyond Situational Awareness
Modern crisis management can’t be solved with generic dashboards or static plans — it demands solutions that are built around how your organization operates. This blog lays out why the future belongs to tailored, integrated technology environments that don’t just tell you what’s happening, but automatically trigger the right actions, assign the right people, and document the response in real time using the tools you already own.
In short: stop spending on new systems and start investing in execution.
In today’s operating environment, with evolving risks, financial pressures, and demanding expectations, crisis management is no longer just about having a plan and knowing what’s happening in real time. For organizations that operate mission-critical services, such as utilities, emergency management agencies, and transportation providers, crisis readiness means having solutions that are prescriptive, actionable, and tailored to how the organization actually functions.
Situational awareness is an essential starting point; it’s not the finish line. Crisis management must go well beyond dashboards and data. It must empower decision-makers and frontline personnel with the right information, at the right time, in the right way, and then guide them through clear, context-driven actions that support safety, resilience, and continuity.
This requires a fundamentally different approach: one that listens to and reflects an organization’s unique operational realities, integrates the technology they already use, and transforms static emergency plans into living, operational tools that drive real-time, informed decisions.
The Limitations of “One-Size-Fits-All” Crisis Solutions
Out-of-the-box crisis management platforms often promise quick deployments and broad functionality. But in reality, these generic tools rarely align with all the complex, nuanced needs of real-world operations centers.
Why? Because no two organizations are alike.
A public utility navigating cascading failures during a storm has different workflows, stakeholders, and data sources than a transportation department managing a multi-agency incident on a major highway. Likewise, an emergency management agency must coordinate across disciplines and jurisdictions and respond dynamically to public safety threats, often in ways that no template-based solution can accommodate.
Off-the-shelf systems tend to:
Overlook critical nuances in organizational structure and chain-of-command.
Fail to integrate seamlessly with existing technologies or data systems.
Force users to adapt their practices to the tool, rather than supporting their established operational workflows.
The result? Workarounds, manual processes, and gaps in response that delay action, efficiency, and create risk, particularly in fast-evolving scenarios.
A Tailored Approach: Listening to Operations and Building What’s Needed
Sophisticated crisis management begins by listening carefully to operators and decision-makers. These are the individuals who understand the frontline challenges, the chain of command, and what needs to happen when a crisis unfolds.
“Don’t make your team fit the tool. Make the tool fit how your team actually works.”
A successful solution design process includes:
Mapping real-world workflows, roles, and escalation protocols.
Identifying high-risk scenarios and key decision points.
Integrating with existing systems—from GIS and weather feeds to asset management and communication platforms.
Understanding pain points in current response processes (e.g., delays, silos, or lack of situational clarity).
This is more than customizing a user interface. This is co-designing a solution that becomes a natural extension of how the organization operates, enabling people to respond faster and more effectively with less stress and fewer errors.
Leveraging What Organizations Already Own
Many organizations already invest heavily in mainstream platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Esri ArcGIS, as well as enterprise systems such as SCADA, CAD, and asset management tools. The key is to connect these dots intelligently, rather than introducing a new, siloed tool.
Applications like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Power Automate, and Power BI can:
Automate workflows that initiate tasks when critical thresholds are crossed.
Enable interagency collaboration during incidents via structured Teams channels.
Provide leadership with real-time dashboards that aggregate data from various sources.
GIS technology is essential in industries where location is critical. ArcGIS can:
Overlay critical infrastructure with real-time data (e.g., flood models, power outages).
Identify and notify when specific assets or zones are impacted.
Inform field personnel and decision-makers through map-based visualizations and geofenced alerts.
Beyond Awareness: Operationalizing the Plan
Many operations centers still rely on static emergency plans housed in bulky binders or scattered digital documents. These plans, while thorough, are often difficult to access quickly and even harder to act upon during an evolving incident.
Modern crisis management systems bring these plans to life, making them dynamic, accessible, and executable.
These systems:
Monitor incoming data (e.g., weather, sensor feeds, incident reports) and automatically trigger alerts when thresholds are crossed.
Extract the appropriate procedures from emergency plans and deliver task-specific actions to the right personnel.
Include precise location context, checklists, and required documentation tailored to the event type and impacted area.
Notify all stakeholders in real-time and maintain a clear log of all actions taken.
This kind of digital transformation operationalizes your response and turns long-form plans into coordinated, guided actions with traceable outcomes.
PROVEN PAST PERFORMANCE
BES partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to fully digitize its hazard monitoring, staff notifications, and initial response action assignments for its Snow & Ice Plan by aligning its workflows with the inherent capabilities of its existing technologies.
Use Case Example: Dynamic Flood Response in a Transportation Department
Let’s take a real-world example. A state transportation department faces frequent flash floods that disrupt roadways and threaten public safety.
With modern, tailored solutions, the department can:
Monitor rainfall in real time using integrated weather feeds and hydrology data.
As thresholds approach, the system:
Identifies specific roads or culverts at risk using weather forecasts, predictive analytics, and GIS spatial analytics.
Triggers and coordinates task assignments to field crews, providing instructions to inspect or close specific segments via MS Teams or Slack, and augmenting outreach through emergency notification tools.
Notifies emergency services and updates digital signage and public channels automatically.
Logs actions and communications for after-action reporting, ensuring compliance and lessons learned.
Why “Tailored and Integrated” Is the Future
There’s a growing recognition across industries: static plans and siloed tools can’t keep up with modern risks. In contrast, organizations that invest in custom-fit, integrated crisis management systems realize:
Faster and more confident decision-making
Reduced risk of missing key steps and downtime during incidents
Stronger cross-team coordination and communication
Improved documentation, compliance, and after-action analysis
Higher ROI by leveraging existing technologies and data assets.
And most importantly, they gain the ability to respond to disruptions not just with awareness, but with purpose.
Conclusion: Don’t Just Know. Act.
This prescriptive, integrated approach isn’t just for government or public safety agencies. Any organization with an operations center will benefit from this model:
Utilities: Coordinate outage response, protect field crews, and communicate clearly with regulators and customers.
Transportation: Manage road closures, reroute traffic, and alert stakeholders in real time.
Emergency Management: Orchestrate multi-agency responses and maintain continuity in lifeline sectors.
Airports, Ports, and Transit Systems: Handle security threats, weather disruptions, or mechanical incidents with precision.
In every case, the solution is built around the organization’s actual mission, geography, assets, specific unique requirements, and team structure.
Modern crisis management is about much more than visibility. It’s about prescriptive, proactive, and intelligent response. Organizations with critical operations can no longer afford to rely on generic systems or static plans. They need solutions that are purpose-built for their unique challenges and that harness the full power of the tools they already have.
When operations personnel are empowered with tailored technology that reflects how they actually work, they move beyond awareness—and into decisive, informed action when it matters most.
Join BES in Kentucky for IAEM 2025
As a top-tier Driving Partner, we can’t wait to host the President’s Reception and hit the exhibition floor. Explore the power of Ting Insights, learn our unique approach to operationalizing plans, and meet our all-star team at Booth #236!
About the Authors
Craig Fugate – Senior Executive Advisor
Craig began his career as a firefighter and paramedic, served as a county emergency manager, and then as Director of Florida Emergency Management, leading the response during the two years that experienced the most hurricane impacts on record. In 201,7 Craig was confirmed as the FEMA Administrator, serving both terms of President Obama’s administration (2009 – 2017), and coordinating the federal response to a record number of disasters. Fugate led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the Federal Government’s response to major events, including the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew, and the 2016 Louisiana flooding.
Samantha Phillips – Executive Director of Mission Delivery
Sam served with the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, rising through the ranks from Planner to Director of Preparedness, culminating in her appointment as Director. Sam served as a key advisor to two mayors and led the city’s response to dozens of crises, including the Amtrak 188 disaster, and coordinated the city’s efforts for the 2015 Papal visit and the 2016 Democratic National Committee Convention. In 2019, she was appointed to serve as the Director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, where she oversaw the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19 and dozens of major emergencies.
Greg Brunelle – Director, Business Partnerships
Greg served as a firefighter and paramedic before working as a county emergency manager and fire coordinator. He was appointed to the New York State Office of Emergency Management in 2007 as Deputy Director of Preparedness, later serving as Executive Deputy & Deputy Director of Operations and culminating in his appointment as Director soon after Superstorm Sandy struck the state. Later, Greg served as Assistant Secretary for Security & Emergency Management for the Massachusetts DOT & MTBA. Greg has subsequently served in executive positions with private sector consulting firms, leading initiatives across the nation, as well as working with early-stage start-ups to bring
