Yes and no. Small programs may find it possible to manage a crisis management plan without software (by small, typically organizations with less than 10 or 15 functions/departments and less than 1,000 employees). However, software makes it significantly easier to manage a program and to automate elements of the analytic effort (and to drive program continual improvement with workflow functionality).
For larger organizations, software is almost essential as the automation alone can replace the costs associated with one or more FTEs. Additionally, software can be used to streamline the response and recovery by providing a “live” version of plans and a single-source repository to provide response updates. With the time savings, the program manager can focus on stakeholder engagement and improving the organization’s ability to respond and recover. Obviously, we’re partial to Castellan Business Continuity Software.