Essential Important Services for Business and Health

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In today's fast-paced world, businesses and individuals alike rely on essential services to keep their operations running smoothly. Accounting services are a must for any business, helping to manage finances, prepare taxes, and provide financial insights.

Having a reliable accounting service can save a business time and money in the long run. For example, according to the article, "outsourcing accounting tasks can reduce labor costs by up to 30%."

Health services are also crucial, especially for individuals and families. Medical billing and coding services are essential for accurate and timely payment of medical claims. This can help ensure that medical providers receive the compensation they deserve.

A well-organized medical billing and coding system can also help reduce errors and denials, saving medical providers time and resources.

Facility Management

Facility management is a vital service that encompasses a wide range of tasks, from managing real estate and property to ensuring safety and protection of employees and assets.

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Facility managers oversee real estate transactions, including sales, rentals, and purchases. They also manage property leases, ensuring that rental agreements are in place and that tenants are satisfied.

Maintenance and operations are a crucial part of facility management, including physical management and maintenance of the property, such as cleaning and equipment maintenance. This ensures that the facility is in good working condition and that any issues are addressed promptly.

Emergency management, security, and business continuity are also essential aspects of facility management. This includes the installation, evaluation, and maintenance of security systems, such as cameras and alarms, as well as risk assessments to identify potential security threats or weaknesses.

Facility management can be categorized into two main types: hard and soft facilities management. Hard facilities management is concerned with physical property, such as plumbing, electricity, and elevator systems, while soft facilities management is concerned with tasks performed by people who work in the facility, such as groundskeepers, security professionals, and caterers.

Here are some of the most common reasons why facility management services are important:

  • Safety and protection of employees
  • Safety and protection of assets
  • Cost-effectiveness
  • Efficiency
  • Continuity and coordination across a business

Facility management teams can help prevent costly long-term damage by addressing issues promptly and maintaining the facility in good working condition. This can also promote worker comfort, leading to increased satisfaction and productivity.

Services and Support

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Alsco can simplify your facility management today by offering a wide range of facility services products.

They provide strategic planning and operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak, which can be crucial in times of crisis.

Alsco's guidance is backed by operational planning guidelines to support country preparedness and response, making them a reliable partner for facility management needs.

Common Mistakes

Don't confuse employee payroll with an important business service just because it delivers an outcome to a stakeholder. Employee payroll is not externally focused, unless you provide payroll services to other organizations.

Identifying a process instead of a service can be a pitfall. An anti-money laundering check is a required step for many services in financial services, but it's not an outcome a customer requires.

Identifying a resource instead of a service is another common mistake. A gas pipeline, for example, is not an important business service, but rather the delivery of gas to the customer is.

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If you can't identify a customer, you're likely not looking at an important business service. This might happen when assessing the other categories, such as providing an online qualification tool for the public to use with little information on how it's being used.

Some business services may not result in intolerable harm even if they're disrupted permanently. This can happen when customers can easily switch to other providers or alternate solutions, or when there's always the opportunity to return the customer to the position they were in when disruption started.

Here are some common mistakes to watch out for:

  • Not externally focused
  • Identifying a process instead of a service
  • Identifying a resource instead of a service
  • No identifiable customer
  • Would not result in intolerable harm

Alsco Assistance

Alsco Assistance can simplify your facility management by offering a wide range of facility services products.

Alsco's expertise can be particularly helpful for business owners and facility managers who need to streamline their operations and reduce costs.

Alsco's facility management services umbrella includes a variety of products and solutions that can be tailored to meet specific needs.

Alsco can help you discover how to simplify your facility management today.

Alibaba Cloud

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Alibaba Cloud is a great example of a business that acknowledges the importance of secondary services in their operations. They understand that while not immediately critical, these services hold significant value in supporting their overall operations and customer experience.

In the financial services sector, the choice of terminology is subject to the central bank, but Alibaba Cloud's approach to resilience planning is comprehensive and vital for sustained operations. They safeguard their important business services to ensure a seamless customer experience.

Alibaba Cloud's focus on operational efficiency and customer retention is a testament to their understanding of the importance of secondary services. By acknowledging and safeguarding these services, they ensure a comprehensive continuity and risk management approach.

In fact, Alibaba Cloud's approach to resilience planning is a model for other businesses to follow, especially those in the financial services sector.

Process Catalogues

Process Catalogues can be a valuable resource for identifying business services. They often capture business services at the appropriate level, making it easier to identify them.

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Existing process catalogues, maps, or other documents can be used to identify business services. These documents may already be in place within an organization.

Business impact analysis is another tool that can be used in conjunction with process catalogues. It can help identify business services by capturing the impact of services on the organization.

Process catalogues can be a time-saving resource for organizations. They can help streamline the process of identifying business services and reduce the need for redundant documentation.

Public Health Emergencies

During public health emergencies, certain services are deemed essential to maintain the health and welfare of a population.

These essential services include healthcare, public health, and human services, which were crucial in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

In many jurisdictions, non-essential services were ordered to close for several weeks to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Healthcare workers, first responders, and law enforcement were classified as essential workers during the pandemic.

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The US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a nation-wide guidance document that defined activities deemed essential to controlling the pandemic.

Here are some examples of industries that had at least some workers classified as essential during the pandemic:

  • Health care, public health, and human services
  • Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders
  • Food and agriculture
  • Energy
  • Water and wastewater
  • Transportation and logistics
  • Public works
  • Communications and information technology
  • Other community-based essential functions and government operations
  • Critical manufacturing
  • Supply chains
  • Retail and wholesaling
  • Food services and accommodations
  • Institutional, residential, commercial, and industrial maintenance
  • Manufacturing and production
  • Construction
  • Financial activities
  • Resources
  • Environmental services
  • Utilities and community services
  • Communications industries
  • Research
  • Justice
  • Business regulators and inspectors

These essential services played a vital role in maintaining the health and welfare of the population during the pandemic.

Analysis and Planning

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a crucial part of your business continuity program, and it may already include a list of your business services if captured at the right level.

To identify business services, you need to look for services that provide an outcome to a customer, which means understanding who your stakeholders are and what they're using your services for.

A business service must have a clearly identifiable customer, and it should be described at a level that delivers an outcome to the customer, not just a supporting process.

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The system verifying an account balance is a process that supports the service of withdrawing money from an ATM, for example, so it's not an important business service in itself.

By identifying these different tiers of importance, organizations can focus their resources on ensuring the continuity and robustness of the most critical functions.

Identifying

Identifying business services is a crucial step in analysis and planning. A business service must have a clearly identifiable customer to be considered a service, which highlights the importance of understanding who the stakeholders are that are using your services.

To identify a business service, you need to describe it at a level that delivers an outcome to the customer. A rule of thumb is that if a process or service supports other services, it's probably not an important business service. For example, withdrawing money from an ATM is a service to the customer, but the system verifying that there is a sufficient account balance is a process that supports that service.

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There may already be a range of existing information sources in your organization that can help identify your business services. Understanding who the stakeholders are that are using your services can include vulnerable customer groups.

Here are some key factors to consider when identifying business services:

  • Clearly identifiable customer
  • Delivers an outcome to the customer
  • Not a process that supports other services

By considering these factors, you can identify the business services that are essential to your organization's survival and ongoing operation.

Strategic Planning for Essential Health Maintenance During an Outbreak

Strategic planning is crucial for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak. This involves identifying critical services that must continue to operate even in the face of a disaster.

The United States Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a nationwide guidance document that defined activities essential to controlling the pandemic and managing its effects.

Examples of industries where at least some workers were classified as "essential" during the pandemic include healthcare, public health, and human services. These services are vital to the health and welfare of a population and must be maintained even in a disaster.

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Healthcare, public health, and human services are examples of essential services that must continue to operate during an outbreak. This includes hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities.

Here are some examples of essential health services that must be maintained during an outbreak:

These services are critical to maintaining public health and safety during an outbreak.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the other essential services?

Other essential services include electricity, water, and sanitation, ensuring basic needs are met

Melba Kovacek

Writer

Melba Kovacek is a seasoned writer with a passion for shedding light on the complexities of modern technology. Her writing career spans a diverse range of topics, with a focus on exploring the intricacies of cloud services and their impact on users. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for simplifying complex concepts, Melba has established herself as a trusted voice in the tech journalism community.

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