-- Maintain a close working relationship with vendors at the executive level. "You should know who to call to get a personal commitment from them to solve the problem," Fishback says.

-- Stay personally involved.

-- Show that you have confidence in your staff and third parties who pitch in. "You have people working around the clock for days on end. Make them feel like they are part of the solution, not part of the problem," Fishback says.

-- Provide regular status reports during a crisis to executives, department heads and others who may be affected.

-- Start now to manage your internal customers' expectations. "Keep them realistic. The systems aren't going to be up 100 percent of the time. They need to practice their manual work-arounds routinely," says Fishback.