The geographical location of the Philippines makes it one of the regions most threatened by calamities and natural disasters. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), more tropical cyclones enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) than anywhere else in the world, with approximately 20 tropical cyclones entering the region per year and 8 to 9 crossing the Philippines.
Moreover, they emphasized that typhoons are not the only threat—there are also floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and drought. As the region is naturally vulnerable to hazards, it calls for comprehensive and strategic coping mechanisms.
In times of calamities, infrastructure, utilities, and even day-to-day functions are disrupted. The business sector may experience significant operational interruptions, while the people face heightened risk to their safety when going to work.
The risk of disruptions requires structured planning and effective protocol implementation. It is crucial to be intentional and strategic to mitigate its consequences to the business, as it could either allow business operations to continue or cause significant loss.
ISSI Corp took initiatives to ensure that its people are equipped with knowledge and proper training in times of disasters. On July 6 2026, Arvin Lazaro, Information Security Officer, and Lourdes Flores, Quality Systems Engineer, attended the conference “Beyond the Plan: BCP That Works When It Counts” in Clark, Pampanga. The event was organized by the Customer Experience Association of the Philippines (CXAP). Its main objective was to strengthen companies’ resilience in the face of natural disasters.
“The event focused on strengthening the organization’s resilience through business continuity planning and disaster management to ensure that business operations are maintained during disruptions.” Lourdes said.
As some natural disasters are unpredictable in nature, continuity planning and disaster management are even more pivotal. In this way, operations are safeguarded and rapid business recovery is ensured.
The Business Processing and Outsourcing (BPO) industry heavily relies on connectivity. The nature of the industry requires smooth and uninterrupted operations. However, due to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, disruptions become a challenge.
This highlights methodological and systematic execution of disaster management plans. According to Lourdes, in times of disasters, it is important for organizations to be proactive rather than reactive by preparing recovery plans, maintaining reliable systems, and conducting testing regularly.
Meanwhile, Arvin emphasized the role of information dissemination. According to him, they need to ensure that the people have awareness of and involvement in the planning. He also argued that planning is not enough—there should be execution. “Familiarity is the first thing. The second thing is it’s different when you are just planning vs. actually executing it. No matter how good or formal the document is, if you are not going to exercise it, the people will really have a hard time…”
Simulations are important in order to measure the strategies’ effectiveness. In that way, they could assess which areas need improvement.
Data centers store a company’s critical information. In modern times, they have become one of the critical parts of business operations. It is important to ensure that they are protected and secure when a calamity hits the area.
Arvin highlighted that ISSI Corp’s infrastructure is resilient since the company uses cloud-based storage. This type of technology provides higher security and data protection to secure the company’s data.
Furthermore, Lourdes underscored the importance of security.
“We all know that data is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Protecting it ensures business continuity and safeguards sensitive information from cyberthreats…”
Data is the backbone of modern businesses. This is why data resilience is important—every company must have the ability to withstand all the potential threats and incidents that may occur.
Furthermore, disaster recovery plans also play a big role. Organizations must have the ability to bounce back after calamities. These two must be aligned and coordinated to ensure that, in times of disasters, all data is protected and the business can bounce back quickly.
One of the key topics discussed during the conference was disaster management. Both Lourdes and Arvin shared their insights on how organizations can strengthen their resilience in the face of disruptions.
Lourdes explained that resilience is not just about the system; it is also about protecting the people.
“Organizations should regularly conduct the testing of their disaster recovery and business continuity plans and ensure that they are clearly communicated to each employee during disasters or incidents.”
Arvin added that knowing your employee's location is a very important thing companies need to do.
“One of the ideal approaches is we need to ensure that maybe on a quarterly or monthly basis, we can perform a pulse check to ensure that the employee’s address is still updated.”
Ensuring the safety of employees is every company’s responsibility. Strengthening resilience is not just about protecting the data centers—it is much more about protecting the people. While data centers are important, any business will not function without its people.
Proper disaster management requires everything to be centralized and coordinated. As Lourdes shared, "what matters now is not how quickly you respond but rather how quickly you recover. It means that resilience is measured by how an organization restores its business operations after a disaster or incident.”
The conference is just one of ISSI Corp’s initiatives to ensure that both its people and data centers are equipped in times of disasters. All in all, it provided valuable insights into a proper approach to potential disruptions. As natural disasters are a real risk, preparedness must be a top priority.
ISSI Corp is a business process solutions company that builds complex, high-value operations with precision, speed, and intelligence. Founded in 2010 and based in Manila, we bring 15 years of deep expertise in serving the insurance, SaaS, AI, and IT industries. Our core offerings include ModernCX™(Customer Experience), BackOffice+ (Back Office Support), and ContentGuard (Content Moderation).
Trusted by leading U.S. Life Insurers and managing over 1 million inbound calls annually, we blend seasoned human expertise with AI and digital technology to create revenue-generating customer experiences and operational excellence. ISSI Corp is your strategic partner for customer experience and growth enablement, delivering peace of mind built on trust.
