Auckland, 14 May 2015 – Small New Zealand businesses generally don’t have plans to help them recover from earthquakes, cyclones, floods, fires or the loss of key staff[1]. They feel they don’t have the time or expertise – or the money. But that changes with the launch today of EmePoint, a cloud-based software tool that helps them to prepare better for disruptions, keep going afterwards and recover faster.

EmePoint is the world’s first emergency planning tool designed for small and medium businesses. Developed by New Zealand software company, Healthpoint, it allows businesses in any sector to develop their own customised plans for dealing with the disruptions their business may face – for less than $1 a day.

“In New Zealand 97 percent of enterprises are small businesses[2],” says Kate Rhind, Managing Director of Healthpoint. “Most are under-prepared, so they’re more susceptible to disruptions when disaster strikes. They know that ‘she'll be right’ won’t cut it in 2015, but until now they’ve had few realistic options.”

US data shows that around a quarter of small businesses do not reopen after a major disaster.[3]

EmePoint has been developed by experts in risk identification, emergency planning management and business continuity planning, working closely with many small businesses, from law offices and pharmacies to schools and design companies. The system helps them plan using a clever rules-based platform, guiding them through an intuitive process and streaming in relevant local emergency data. It helps them to identify risks specific to their business, to prepare for these and to produce their own individual plan. When their business is disrupted, they will be ready to respond and be able to recover more rapidly.

EmePoint also notes a business’ priorities and capabilities and allows them to easily update the plan across all scenarios when they restructure, move to the cloud or go mobile. Their plan is always relevant and up to date.

A subscription to EmePoint is $28 per month. There is no setup cost. The initial plan can usually be completed within a day. Companies can trial EmePoint free for 14 days by registering at www.emepoint.com/.

The emergency planning platform used in EmePoint was first developed to meet the needs of GPs in the northern region of New Zealand and is now also used by over 2,000 general practices throughout Australia – around 30 percent of the total – providing sector-wide resilience.

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For more information, visit www.emepoint.com or contact:

 

Andy Wisheart, Healthpoint Limited, (09) 630 0828, or email andy@emepoint.co.nz

John Stewart, Botica Butler Raudon Partners, (09) 303 3862, or email johns@botica.co.nz

 

About Healthpoint and EmePoint

Healthpoint is a Mt Eden-based organisation that has been developing and implementing cloud decision support tools in New Zealand since 2004.

EmePoint is a cloud-based emergency planning tool based on the Healthpoint platform, and is available to organisations worldwide.

[1] http://www.business.govt.nz/laws-and-regulations/health-safety/workplace-emergency-planning

[1] See The Small Business Sector Report (2014), http://www.mbie.govt.nz/what-we-do/business-growth-agenda/sectors-reports-series/the-small-business-sector-report-and-factsheet-2014

[1] See The US Small Business Administration website: https://www.sba.gov/content/disaster-planning