IT tools such as supply chain management play an important role in incident escalation and response, especially in global enterprises like Intel, said Steve Lund, Intel's CERT director and a participant in the simulation.

Companies need to plan out what they will do before a crisis erupts, even if they don't know exactly what the crisis will be, Lund said.

"You have to take a proactive approach. Be paranoid and assume the worst can happen," Lund added. Even companies that lack Intel's global reach should consider what the impact of disruptions such as computer outages, avian flu, or unexpected plant closures could be, he said.

Disaster preparedness and business continuity planning can be a tough sell at companies, especially when no overt threat is staring them in the face, Sheffi said.

"One of the main problems with disaster preparedness is that people don't feel it in their gut. After all, if there's no disaster then there's no return. There's the "I" (investment) but the "R" (return) is not there," Sheffi said.'