Responsibilities Shift In Wake Of Attacks

Ken Nowack's title of VP and New York-area director for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young doesn't mean what it did 10 days ago. Nowack says that before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, his duties were fairly broad--just taking care of his people and facilities. But that, he says, was "in the old days."

The old days came to a halt when the 110-story World Trade Center towers came toppling down, and Nowack's duties suddenly became sharply defined in the aftermath of the tragedy. At least one colleague said he made her feel safer and that she was in good hands in the days following the attack.

Nowack has found that he has newfound--but clearly not desired--authority over Cap Gemini's New York facilities. He says the company normally defers to a very centralized decision-making process, but given the perceived vulnerability of Manhattan, "they've let the New York office tell them what we need and make our own decisions."

In the hours after the attacks, Nowack's duties centered on verifying--and ensuring--the safety of Cap Gemini's people. The company's staff in the World Trade Center all escaped. "At one point, they were evacuated and we couldn't reach some of our people by phone," Nowack says. "So I dialed in over the PA, and they responded. They'd moved to a different floor."

For the next 48 hours, most of the staff had been tracked down via phone calls, E-mail, pagers, instant messaging, and even knocking on apartment doors. Once the last of the stragglers was accounted for, Nowack and his team turned to helping their current and prospective clients.

Clients were contacted by phone, by E-mail, and with letters co-signed by CEO Terry Ozan and their account reps. The offer: space, computer power, and use of the firm's accelerated development environment. One of the main facilities is at 55 Broad St., in the so-called ground-zero area.

That location offers an array of capabilities. Its Web-design center is effective for getting a small IT team up and running. The accelerated solutions environment that's normally used to solve major business problems has been turned into a command center from which up to 80 people can work on restoration efforts. And in the 200-seat advanced development center, which was vacated by other accounts to make room for clients with more pressing IT needs, the firm can set up an environment with server, operating system, databases, and applications within 24 hours. "We can mimic their environment, but we're not replacing it," Nowack says. "It's for spot needs."

Not surprisingly, at least one company wanted no part of space in the devastated area. So Nowack offered space in the 49th Street office instead; members of the firm are clearing out one floor and doubling up on another, and phone lines and infrastructure are being customized to meet the needs of a financial services firm that will reside there for three to six months.

In the past, Nowack would have worried about company policy, but he says the scope of the disaster necessitated that he borrow from leadership tactics he'd seen and absorbed from his mentors. "All you have to do is do what's right," he says. "Do it now, and you'll get support."

But Nowack is quick to point out that he's not unusual; thousands of other New Yorkers are making similar decisions. Nonetheless, he acknowledges that the crisis has brought out the best in Cap Gemini and its employees. "We're probably stronger now as a business than we have ever been."