Challenge
Arrow Electronics is a global electronic distributor serving thousands of equipment manufacturers and commercial customers worldwide. Each Arrow location maintains emergency and continuity documentation that is periodically reviewed and updated to support operational resilience.
Maintaining these plans using a legacy platform proved difficult to scale for a broad, distributed user base. Even with training and vendor support, routine updates often required specialized expertise, which made even simple maintenance tasks overly time consuming.
This complexity made it especially difficult for frontline teams, many of whom use continuity tools infrequently. “Asking frontline teams to make updates through a highly technical interface was just not practical,” recalls Victoria Hiatt, director, global business continuity and resilience at Arrow.
License constraints also limited participation and created bottlenecks by restricting who was allowed in the system.
“At the time, most of the work was being done by a small team,” she says. “With hundreds of locations, we needed to enable site leaders to update plans directly – with the right structure and governance in place.”
Arrow saw an opportunity to improve plan consistency, timeliness, and reporting, while making guidance clearer and the process easier for teams to follow.
Says Hiatt: “We were looking for an approach that people across the organization could use.”
Solution
Arrow Electronics selected Riskonnect’s Business Continuity & Resilience software to support a more user-friendly, standardized approach to continuity planning. The solution is intuitive for users at all levels, including those on the frontlines who only interact with it a few times per year.
With Riskonnect, Arrow expanded access so more users can log in to the system and update the plans relevant to their roles. The software guides users through standardized workflows with built-in formatting that does not require technical skills.
Templates ensure every plan follows the same structure – which helps smooth transitions when employees move between locations. Plans include activation guidance and key contact information. “Being able to build a template and simply push it out to all locations was very helpful to my team,” says Hiatt.
Operation impact, incident response, and related forms are stored in one, centralized location with easy accessibility. “This is more than just a data repository,” she notes. “Using the same forms and having clear visibility reinforces that local plans connect to broader corporate initiatives.”
Automated reminders promote timely completion of annual or quarterly review cadences. The software also provides an audit trail that demonstrates governance and oversight. Hiatt also notes that the Riskonnect team is always ready to provide support when assistance is needed. “Their responsiveness has been great.”
Result
With Riskonnect, Arrow advanced its business continuity program toward a formalized, repeatable process with greater consistency and clearer ownership.
Designated plan owners across roles and regions have the tools to maintain location-level plans and document recovery procedures appropriate to their site.
“Frontline teams are comfortable using Riskonnect because it feels as familiar as working in a document,” notes Hiatt. “That usability has helped reinforce shared ownership. It’s not only the continuity team’s responsibility.”
Business continuity awareness is incorporated into onboarding in many areas. And periodic refresher training is offered to reinforce expectations. This approach has improved the consistency and timeliness of incident reporting. Increased transparency also supports a learning-oriented reporting culture.
Lower-severity disruptions – such as a power interruption – are logged into Riskonnect so teams can reference past actions and share lessons learned. “This has helped teams coordinate more efficiently and consider questions they might not have raised before,” says Hiatt.
“Because of our size, it’s challenging to directly connect with every group after each scenario. Now site leaders can reference relevant documents through the platform and incorporate good practices where appropriate. That visibility supports better planning aligned to business needs.”
Arrow also conducts tabletop exercises across the company to practice reporting and escalation expectations and to reinforce roles and coordination.
“People enjoy the exercises. Leaders from around the world have expressed interest in participating,” remarks Hiatt. “They are excited about the capabilities – and leadership engagement has helped reinforce continuity awareness across the organization.”
She adds: “Arrow is embedding continuity awareness into day-to-day operations.”
For more on continuity programs, download Getting Started with Business Resilience, and check out Riskonnect’s Business Continuity & Resilience software.
