1. May 2007 • Volume 4 • Issue 5
Building an
Archive
Successful backup strategies
N a t i o n a l N e w s • I n t e r n a t i o n a l N e w s • P r o d u c t s
Where business continuity, security and emergency management converge.
Also…
How to Become a
Trusted Strategic Advisor
Taking the Fear
Out of BC Exercises
CPM 2007 WEST Draws Near
Building an
Archive
Successful backup strategies
3. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 3
natives. Yes, I know the statement that yesterday’s lessons are
valueless is bothersome, but I believe it, live it and succeed by it.
In addition, criticizing those who did things yesterday, largely
when they’re unable to respond or defend themselves on the
spot, may lead to future points of confrontation where those crit-
icized will – because the boss repeated your words – want to
fight you a bit and defend themselves. “Forgetaboutit,” as they
say in New Jersey. It no longer matters: It was yesterday.
The same thought goes for the concept of criticism. Criticism,
by nature, is negative. Criticism can be painful, imprecise, con-
fusing and often damaging. Because criticism is all of these
things, it’s also spectacularly unhelpful. It sets up conflict
between various forces and purposes and creates mindless col-
lateral damage. There’s an even more important reason why crit-
icism is unhelpful – if it lands on the boss’ desk, criticism is just
one more thing the boss has to deal with. It’s another load
dumped in our boss’ direction that he or she does not deserve,
want or appreciate.
One of the most frequent complaints from senior manage-
ment is that staff are always bringing new ideas and new con-
cepts to the table. Let me repeat myself from an earlier discus-
How to Become
a Trusted
Strategic Advisor
The eight disciplines: Part II
By James E. Lukaszewski,
ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CCEP,
Keynote Speaker at CPM 2007 WEST
In Part II of “How to Become a Trusted Strategic Advisor,” James E.
Lukaszewski, keynote speaker at CPM 2007 WEST, introduces
four more disciplines: constructive approaches; pattern intuition; sur-
prise avoidance; and management perspective.
These disciplines have been identified through observation and sen-
ior management interaction and from thousands of hours of consulting
during real-time emergencies, crises and disasters. You may value other
disciplines; add them to your own list. These are the topics that those
who run organizations seem to focus on as helpful and essential to their
success.
DISCIPLINE FIVE: CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACHES
In talking with management, when there’s an option to describe
something in a positive or negative way, the negative route is too
often the road chosen. For example, rather than describing what
needs to be done and the steps needed to move ahead, the com-
ment begins, “Well, what we’ve done in the past hasn’t worked,
and we’ve made mistakes.” Being constructive is the personal dis-
cipline to first recognize that what happened yesterday has little
value for tomorrow, and second, to suggest doable, useful alter-
4. 4 | CPM-GA May 2007
sion – the boss still has last week’s goals and objectives, the pre-
vious month’s goals and objectives and, sometimes, the previous
year’s goals and objectives to complete. Generally, the last thing
bosses need is a new idea for anything.
What bosses truly need is help getting done what they were
hired to get done. The number one reason CEOs lose their jobs
is failure to deliver what they promised to accomplish when they
got the top job in the first place.
Being constructive means that whatever you put on the table
to get done will help the boss get his or her objectives accom-
plished first and then, perhaps, some of what you need to get
done as well. The reality of constructive action is that construc-
tive comments are difficult to think up, create or identify. One
reason is that very few staff members know enough about the
operating side of the business to make a large number of con-
structive suggestions. As you just read, the last thing bosses need
or want are lots of new ideas. Critics and criticisms are a dime a
dozen. Be constructive.
During an interview with Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, he
said in 20 years as GE’s chairman he probably had five truly piv-
otal, paradigm-shifting ideas. These five ideas consumed his 20
years as chairman while he built and rebuilt a great company.
Most CEOs are in the same boat. They have just a handful of
overriding goals to achieve. A large percentage of their time is
spent keeping everybody focused on where they’re supposed to
be going, rather than on unleashing everyone’s creative abilities
(or tendencies to create conflict), therefore, distracting everyone
from the identified destinations.
At a minimum, the price of criticism is a constructive alterna-
tive. My advice? Forget the criticism and go straight to the con-
structive alternative. Think about it this way: Criticism is almost
always negative and about yesterday. A constructive suggestion,
anytime, is about moving ahead … about tomorrow. As a trust-
ed strategic advisor, always ask yourself, “Am I a force for yester-
day and negativity, or a force for tomorrow through constructive
attitudes, behaviors and approaches?”
DISCIPLINE SIX: PATTERN INTUITION
Perhaps we know this intuitively, and this may be stating the
obvious, but few ideas, concepts, actions or behaviors in this
world are genuinely new. Most repeat things others have done
before. Whether it’s a creative idea, problem solution, process of
work and development or crime, it fits a pattern of some kind –
a sequence of events that can be identified, isolated, analyzed
and used in order to understand, plan and forecast.
In almost every imaginable situation, field of learning, area of
discipline, ritual, crisis, news story, you name it, looking for and
finding common features from previous experience, whether
personal or vicarious, is one of the first steps toward moving in
strategic new directions.
It’s working against patterns that generate new solutions,
approaches, closure, and resolution. The most challenging pat-
terns of all, of course, are those situations created by the human
experience.
Both from a management and a corporate contingency plan-
ning management perspective, patterns provide powerful indica-
tions that, if ignored or carelessly addressed, can cause even the
most strategic intentions to fail, come apart or simply appear not
to work. Even the most adverse of circumstances and worst of
surprises have recognizable elements and reasonably similar
event sequences.
There are three powerful lessons in applying the concept of
patterns to your everyday work.
Lesson 1: Patterns Are the Foundation of Strategy and Are What
Make the Strategist an Intelligent Forecaster
How do you master learning the patterns of events? “War story”
files are one helpful way practitioners can begin the transition to
strategists. These are essentially news clip files, organized by
topic, that contain significant print and video on issues of inter-
est. At present, The Lukaszewski Group maintains more than
300 “war story” files, and several new ones are developed almost
every week.
A “war-story” file contains the following:
• Articles and clips related to a given topic or issue, e.g., acquisi-
tions and takeovers, advocacy advertising, air crashes, animal
rights, anti-terrorist activity, asbestos, Astroturf and auto parts
scandals. We also maintain company-specific “war story” files.
Examples include Arthur Andersen, the Catholic Church,
Coca-Cola, Disney Companies, Enron, Firestone, General
Electric and Hershey Foods, to name a few.
• At a moment’s notice, these files can be put to use as a basis
for forecasting behaviors of key players, e.g., government,
employees, labor unions, activists, critics, neighbors and victims
– even senior executives. Patterns of media coverage in specif-
ic situations can also be determined.
Lesson 2: Patterns and Problems Can Be Translated Into Useful
Strategic Processes Before Problems Occur
Maximize the value of your “war stories” collection by selecting
the most damaging, dangerous or de-stabilizing situations. Then
translate them into hypothetical scenarios for your company or
organization.
For example: Your company has manufacturing and distribu-
tion operations in a variety of “back area” locations in various
towns and cities, large and small, all across the United States;
however, most of your chemical treatment activities and heavy
industry processes are located primarily in what are considered
lower income, even poor areas.
You could someday be the subject of litigation or government
action involving “environmental racism.” If you were to search
on the Web for the terms “environmental racism” or “environ-
mental justice,” you will very quickly come across the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site: www.epa.gov. A
search for “environmental justice” on the site will lead to the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Federal Register insert of
Friday, July 23, 1999, regarding severe penalties, compliance and
protection orders, “Draft Architecture for the Revised 2000
5. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 5
Strategic Plan,” and “The EPA’s Environmental Justice Strategy,”
a memorandum dated April 23, 1995. You may be referred to
www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/index.html for guidance
under the National Environmental Policy Act. You may also
come across references to the Center for the Study of American
Business in Washington, which has published a number of posi-
tion papers on this subject from a business perspective. Within
less than an hour, even before you seriously reviewed your clip-
pings, you can become extraordinarily educated on this subject
from very important sources and have one or two brief case
studies to back up your impressions, early information and initial
thoughts and recommendations.
Remember: The strategist’s job is to provide an adequate
explanation for the circumstance being discussed, described,
debated, or deliberated; to understand and relate the nature of
the threat or opportunity; and to provide several options for
management to consider and a recommendation for a particular
approach complete with a brief analysis of the negative unin-
tended consequences that could result from the various
approaches.
Lesson 3: Focus Most of Your Work on Non-Operating
Scenarios
Ninety-five percent of the adverse situations that affect most
organizations come directly from day-to-day operations. These
are the areas in which there is significant resident expertise and
a lower degree of reputation or operational risk. The strategist
looks at the other five percent, those non-operating circum-
stances (such as terrorism, kidnap/extortion, activist action,
threats, violent behavior and criminal activity) that present the
greatest threat to organizational stability, reputation and market
share and cause damage that is difficult to repair. Management
tends to be at its weakest when responding to non-operating
problems because generally, they are so emotionally charged. (If
you’d like a list of the more technical non-operating problems,
simply e-mail your request to me at crisisguru@e911.com.)
DISCIPLINE SEVEN: SURPRISE AVOIDANCE
There’s a wonderful book that goes into great detail on this
topic: Anticipating Surprise by Cynthia M. Grabo (Copyright
2004, University Press of America). Grabo mentions, among oth-
ers, a handful of powerful behaviors that can reduce surprise.
Here’s a combination of her ideas and mine.
Examine the Evidence – What are the facts? What do we know?
What happened when? What’s the timeline of events? A timeline
allows us to go back and forward in time and quickly ask pow-
erful and important questions. Timelines also provide a frame-
work for anticipating questions that will arise as we move for-
ward.
Understand the Evidence – Among all the corporate disciplines,
it’s the contingency planning management function that knows
how to deal with evidence, preserve evidence and most impor-
tantly, understand what the information data and fragmentary
information add up to. Management needs to know, wants to
know and has to know what we know, promptly, as events move
forward. The goal is to enlighten rather than frighten. The goal is
to alert rather than alarm. The goal is to inform rather than
inflame. If you’ve been on the job several years or more, you can
recognize what I’m talking about. Our job is to put a drag on
events and to think by helping people understand what’s really
going on.
Look Long Term – This is another way of saying understand the
patterns, understand what’s happening and make prudent, care-
ful forecasts.
Avoid Preconceptions – When bad or threatening things happen,
a lot of people do a lot of forecasting based on a lot of erro-
neous knowledge. This can include the contingency planning
management function. Stick to what is known and to what can
be accurately forecasted. Treat each situation as new and differ-
ent, but with common and related structures and possibilities.
Occum’s Razor – This is the sound philosophy that the simplest
explanation is more than likely going to be the most plausible
and reliable … and probably the most truthful.
Overcome Reluctance to Warn – It’s best to promptly alert,
inform, and overcome the reluctance to jump to quick conclu-
sions. Be a forecaster. Talk to your boss about any unusual pat-
terns you notice beginning to occur.
Be Ready to Be Wrong – Taken together, especially in the con-
cept of being a pattern reader and “noticer,” you can automati-
cally forecast that half of the information you are going to pro-
vide is going to be wrong. But the extraordinary power of what
you are doing is knowing that the information you are going to
provide is likely to be right half the time, because of your new
level of sensitivity and acuity. This makes you a predictor of
tomorrow. Anybody who can be even half right about tomorrow
is going to be invited to many meetings and will have an impor-
tant place near the boss.
DISCIPLINE EIGHT: MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
The one thought that ties these concepts together is the notion
that to be effective, trusted, noticed and sought after, you have
to develop a management perspective. Let me phrase it this way
– as you propose to do things, as you examine how you interact
with management and managers, as you seek to gain a better
understanding of how leaders think while they operate the busi-
ness every day, keep in mind their crucial concerns as they
examine ideas and concepts:
• Does it save money?
• Does it make money?
• Does it help us keep the money we already have?
• Does it help the boss achieve his or her objectives and goals?
• Does it help the organization achieve its goals?
• Is it truly necessary, even if attractive?
• What aspects of the business will fail or not progress, without
acting on your idea or advice?
In many respects, this is the ultimate in pragmatism. But we’ve
already talked about that discipline.
www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 5
6. 6 | CPM-GA May 2007
One other aspect to understanding where the management
perspective comes from is reading what the bosses read in addi-
tion to what you routinely follow. Read The Harvard Business
Review or other prominent business magazines. Reading publica-
tions like Fortune and Forbes will help your writing, speaking and
advice-giving. What is the boss currently reading? You should
probably read those, too.
You might subject yourself to the “Boss’s Shoes Test” . . . just a
series of questions to help you develop the frame of mind you’ll
need as a trusted strategic advisor.
Can you honestly agree . . .
• Service is why I’m here.
• It is top management’s vision and values that drive the organi-
zation day to day, as well as long term.
• The advising process begins by understanding what the boss’s
problems are.
• My job is to help management solve, control, contain and
counteract contingency planning problems
• Building “followership” is a key strategy and management goal.
• I am a loyal follower.
• Being at ease allows me to stand back from the detail and focus
on larger issues, and develop simple, sensible and positive
strategic suggestions.
• Expressing solutions in management language mentors and
motivates top executives.
• Making positive, constructive suggestions is a constant goal.
• The boss knows I am a professional. I need not justify it everyday.
My most powerful comment of all: Whenever you’re working
with management, first put yourself in their shoes — Look at
their world from their perspective . . . then open your mouth,
and say something that builds trust, is strategic, and will help
everyone move incrementally into the future.
About the Author
James E. Lukaszewski is a corporate crisis troubleshooter with a global
practice. He works at the highest levels of corporations and organiza-
tions, advising senior management and top managers preparing for
crises, responding to crises and recovering from crises. His Web Site
www.e911.com is a major resource for disaster managers. Questions
and comments may be directed to editorial@contingencyplanning.com.
Also, be sure to check out “Why Should Your Boss Listen to
You? How to Become a Trusted Strategic Advisor,” present-
ed by James E. Lukaszewski, keynote speaker at 2007 CPM
WEST, May 22-24 2007, at The Mirage in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Note: The first four disciplines appeared in last month’s issue of CPM-
Global Assurance. If you would like to obtain Part I of this series,
please contact Deven Kichline, editor in chief, at dkichline@contingen-
cyplanning.com.
Don’t miss all the excitement…
Register today for CPM 2007 WEST.
Here are 10 reasons why you should attend.
1. Learn to Save Your Company
Interactive workshops, valuable case studies, and advanced-level
seminars will teach you lesons you can take back to work to
prepare for any disaster.
2. Learn from Industry Experts
The presenters at CPM 2007 WEST are distinguished practition-
ers, scholars, authors and specialists in their field.
3.Three Conferences in One
No other conference contains information on business continu-
ity/COOP, emergency management and security.You’d have to
attend three separate conferences to receive this complete risk
management education that this “total-industry” event provides.
4. Solutions Showcased
Additional industry experts are found at their booths in the
exhibit hall.With products and services developed to make your
job easier, talk to these experts to find your solution.
5. Keynote Speakers
Don’t miss our industry-renowned keynote speakers for CPM
2007 WEST: James E. Lukaszewski,ABC,APR,The Lukaszewski
Group Inc., and Jon Murphy, CHS-V, PMP, CISSP, CBCP, Expedia.
They will share their advanced knowledge to help you succeed.
6. Disaster Simulation Exercise
This three-hour simulation puts you in the throes of a real-life
disaster. Find out how you would perform in an actual crisis.
7. Avoid Costly Mistakes
CPM 2007 WEST offers more case studies and best practices.
Learn from the successes (and mistakes) of others.
8. Pre-Conference Certifications
Select from different industry-supported organizations for pre-
conference training and certifications.You have the convenience
of getting certified right here. No other conference offers this
many options all in one place.
9.A Professional Peer Network
CPM 2007 WEST provides many fun, effective events for you to
interact with your peers – a group of professionals who share
your mission.
10. Increased Professional Value
The complete educational experi-
ence, found at CPM 2007 WEST,
will help you become better at
your job, increasing your worth to
your organization… and the world.
7. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 7
NATIONAL NEWS
WVA UNIVERSITY TEACHES
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Last month’s shooting rampage at Virginia Tech
has made campus security more important
than ever. The shootings raised questions about
the way school administrators handled the sit-
uation, so West Virginia University Virtual
Medical Center Homeland Security is helping
schools across the country learn how to keep
the lines of communication open in case of an
emergency and teaching administrators how to
handle such a crisis.
Jodi Van Horne, one of the program’s train-
ers, says it’s designed to put campus authorities
on the same page – before a crisis happens. “It
allows them to interact with the Department of
Homeland Security and State of Emergency
management level. So if there is an incident we
are not trading business cards that day of the
incident. We already know everybody in
advance.”
Currently, West Virginia University VMC
Homeland Security is the only department in
the country to offer this specific training.
Experts say they hope to expand from college
campuses to high school facilities. Van Horne
says the program trains school administrators
from as far away as Hawaii. It has five trainers
now and will have five more very soon.
— Navy Newsstand
BUSINESS CONTINUITY, AVAILABILITY
SOLUTIONS A HIGH PRIORITY FOR
CORPORATE SPENDING IN 2007
More than 80 percent of IT decision-makers at
both large and medium-size businesses view
business continuity and availability as an
increased priority for 2007 and key to sharpen-
ing their competitive business edge worldwide,
according to recent survey results.
Approximately four out of five managers
and executives responsible for business conti-
nuity and availability, including chief informa-
tion officers, IT directors and IT managers, indi-
cate that the area will see an increase in spend-
ing this year as compared to 2006.
The survey, commissioned by HP and con-
ducted by GCR Custom Research, further
reveals that investments in disaster-tolerant
solutions, backup and recovery efforts, security
and improved IT service management offer-
ings will also increase in 2007, with nine out of
10 decision-makers reporting higher planned
spending.
In addition, the ability to meet competitive
pressures, maintain uptime, prepare for pan-
demic outbreaks and improve regulatory com-
pliance ranked as significantly higher priorities
in 2007 than in 2006.
Overall, the results mark a shift in strategy
for many companies, which have historically
taken a reactive approach to recovering from
unplanned downtime or disasters, to longer
term business continuity planning.
“In today’s global marketplace, any amount
of downtime can be devastating, if not termi-
nal, to a business,” says John Bennett, world-
wide director, business continuity and availabil-
ity solutions, HP. “Research shows that IT deci-
sion makers see a dramatic return on invest-
ment as a result of building a sound, long-term,
holistic business continuity plan, which will ulti-
mately reduce the impact of internal or exter-
nal threats.”
Nearly one in five enterprises surveyed (18
percent) and nearly one in three medium-size
businesses surveyed (31 percent) lack a business
continuity plan. The most common obstacles
for the implementation of business continuity
and availability solutions, based on survey
results, range from the conceptual – such as
securing financial support, overcoming lack of
manager support and low corporate priority –
to the tactical: critical problems that lie in the
nuts and bolts of planning and implementation.
While the survey shows an increased aware-
ness of and need for business continuity, avail-
ability and disaster-recovery solutions, IT organ-
izations worldwide face significant challenges
to implementing a sound plan.
According to survey participants, top obsta-
cles include a lack of an agreed technology
solution (55 percent), not enough time to
implement (49 percent) a lack of data to cre-
ate a true business case for implementation (34
percent) and inexperienced internal resources
(59 percent).
More than 564 IT decision makers world-
wide responded to survey questions assessing
their business continuity, availability and disas-
ter-recovery plans and the technologies being
used to implement those plans. Sixty-two per-
cent of the respondents represented compa-
nies with more than $100 million in annual
revenue from industries that include manufac-
turing, healthcare, education and financial serv-
ices. Forty-eight percent of respondents repre-
sented medium-size companies with 100 to
999 employees.
— HP
DISASTER OFFICIALS ASK, “ARE YOU
READY?”
The 2007 hurricane season is right around the
corner, and forecasters say this hurricane sea-
son could be nearly as destructive as 2005 –
the worst on record. The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas
Governor’s Division of Emergency
Management (GDEM) remind the country to
begin their emergency preparations now.
The FEMA publication “Are You Ready?”
offers free assistance in planning and preparing
for hurricane season, which runs from June 1
through Nov. 30.
“State and local emergency personnel will
respond quickly to the scene of a disaster,” says
Frank Cantu, state coordinator for response
and recovery at GDEM. “If individuals and
families do their part by planning ahead, they
will be better prepared before, during and after
a hurricane.”
The 200-page guide to disaster prepared-
ness can be used as a reference source or as a
step-by-step manual on how to get informed
about local emergency plans, how to identify
local hazards and how to develop an emer-
gency communication plan and build a disaster
supplies kit. Other topics include evacuation,
emergency public shelters and protecting peo-
ple with disabilities.
“As we continue the recovery from
Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, I urge everyone to
GlobalAssurance
8. 8 | CPM-GA May 2007
take the time to learn what you can do to pre-
pare for the next one,” says Sandy Coachman,
director for FEMA’s Texas Transitional
Recovery Office. “Now’s the time to take per-
sonal responsibility.”
To download “Are You Ready?” in English or
Spanish, log on to www.fema.gov/areyouready.
— FEMA
HOUSING ASSISTANCE EXTENDED 18
MONTHS FOR GULF COAST
HURRICANE VICTIMS
Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding
Donald E. Powell, U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary
Alphonso Jackson and FEMA Administrator R.
David Paulison have announced that the tem-
porary housing assistance programs for Gulf
Coast hurricane victims have been extended
by 18 months until March 1, 2009. The current
FEMA extension ends on Aug. 31, 2007.
HUD and FEMA are also working on a plan
whereby HUD would take over management
of the rental housing program on behalf of
FEMA beginning on Sept. 1, 2007. GCR, HUD
and FEMA are working on the mechanics of
the new arrangement and will consult with
Congress on the most appropriate structure for
transferring management responsibilities.
Beginning in March 2008, individuals in
both the rental housing and travel trailer and
mobile home programs will pay a portion of
the cost, which will begin at $50 per month
and incrementally increase each month there-
after until the program concludes on March 1,
2009. In addition, beginning immediately,
FEMA will allow residents of its mobile homes
and travel trailers to purchase their dwellings at
a fair and equitable price. Seniors and the dis-
abled whose primary source of income is sup-
plemental security income or other fixed
income that make them eligible to receive assis-
tance under existing HUD programs will be
protected. HUD will actively work to transition
these individuals into its properties or programs
for seniors and the disabled.
“We understand the importance of minimiz-
ing uncertainty for Gulf Coast residents who
have endured this unprecedented tragedy,”
Powell says. “This coordinated, 18-month
extension will provide stability to residents
while providing effective incentives and assis-
tance to help them transition into long-term
housing solutions.”
“The overwhelming scale of this human
tragedy has meant that families have been dis-
placed for an unprecedented period of time.
Such a reality calls for an unprecedented, com-
passionate response,” says Jackson. “As disaster
housing needs continue and move into a
longer-term program, HUD is working to
ensure the affected families will continue to get
the housing assistance they need as well as the
individual services that will help them rebuild
their lives.”
“This extension allows FEMA and our part-
ners to be responsive in developing innovative,
flexible and compassionate solutions to help
disaster victims get back on their feet,” says
Paulison. “While we are proud of the tremen-
dous progress we’ve made, we won’t be satis-
fied until every disaster victim has successfully
navigated the road to recovery.”
Under the proposed parameters of the
FEMA-HUD Disaster Housing Assistance
Program, local public housing agencies (PHAs)
would administer the program under Stafford
Act authority. FEMA would provide resources
to HUD to extend rental assistance to up to
40,000 hurricane-affected families who are
already living in rental units paid for by FEMA.
Families are expected to experience a seamless
transition under the new program.
DHAP would provide much-needed stabili-
ty to individuals and families affected by the
storms, and would lengthen the potential for
some to receive housing assistance for up to
three-and-a-half years following the 2005
storm season. In addition to housing assistance
being made available, under the proposed pro-
gram, PHAs would also work with individuals
and families under this new program to pro-
vide access to job training, housing counseling
and other forms of support that would better
enable disaster victims to regain independence
and self-sufficiency.
Between now and Sept. 1, 2007, FEMA
plans to provide HUD with a list of its current
renters so that HUD can assume their rental
assistance. Under the proposed program,
beginning on March 1, 2008, HUD would use
a transitional approach to help families contin-
ue along the path to self-sufficiency. For exam-
ple, starting on that date, the level of assistance
would be reduced by $50 per month succes-
sively, with the goal of leading the family clos-
er to complete housing independence at the
end of the 18-month extension. For example, if
a family has an $850 rental apartment, they
would be required to contribute $50 toward
their rent starting in March 2008, which would
rise to $100 in April 2008; $150 in May 2008,
etc. In addition, beginning on March 1, 2008,
families in FEMA travel trailers and mobile
homes would begin to pay a share of the
monthly costs, which will also incrementally
increase until the program reaches its conclu-
sion on March 1, 2009.
To the extent allowable by law, seniors and
the disabled who qualify would continue to
receive the full subsidy required to pay their
rent (either in an apartment or in travel trailers
and mobile homes) throughout the duration of
the extended 18-month program.
HUD plans to continue to work closely with
local PHAs nationwide to administer the new
DHAP vouchers. These PHAs also administer
HUD’s regular Housing Choice Voucher
Program (Section 8), which gives them the
business knowledge required to manage this
new program, and will allow for a smooth tran-
sition for families. PHAs also have the neces-
sary expertise in working directly with families
with sensitive needs, which puts them in a bet-
ter position to coordinate extensive case man-
agement to address each family’s specific goals
– be it job training, financial education and
other valuable services that help lead these
families to self-sufficiency.
FEMA will continue to manage its mobile
home and travel trailer operations throughout
the Gulf, and also will continue to engage
HUD, as well as state and local officials, on a
collaborative effort to identify alternative hous-
ing solutions for those in mobile home and
travel trailer residents. As with the HUD pro-
gram, beginning on March 1, 2008, individuals
in the trailers and mobile homes will pay a
small portion of the cost, beginning at $50 per
month; FEMA will increase the amount of rent
charged incrementally on the travel trailers and
mobile homes until the family reaches its abili-
ty to pay, according to a FEMA formula based
on income.
Beginning immediately, FEMA is setting up a
process to allow victims of Katrina and Rita
GlobalAssurance News
9. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 9
who have been living in travel trailers and
mobile homes to purchase those units at a
reduced cost. The adjusted fair market cost
will take into account FEMA’s monthly
expenses for maintaining the units and its stan-
dard cost for deactivating the units. This initia-
tive will allow those residents who have been
unable to move on to purchase their own
units, thus facilitating their return to self-suffi-
ciency.
— FEMA
MAJOR PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE
UNDERWAY
The Department of Defense in cooperation
with the Department of Homeland
Security, the Canadian Department of
National Defence (Canada Command) and
multiple state and local officials is conduct-
ing a major preparedness exercise from
April 30 to May 18.
Major events will take place in New
England, Indiana, Alaska and adjacent waters
and along the Western U.S.-Canadian border.
Ardent Sentry-Northern Edge 07 is a
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) direct-
ed, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTH-
COM)-sponsored Homeland Defense (HLD)
and Defense Support of Civil Authorities
(DSCA) exercise.
The Homeland Security Council has desig-
nated Ardent Sentry and associated exercises
(Northern Edge, Vigilant Guard, 2007 National
Hurricane Preparedness Exercise, Blue Flag,
Positive Response and Alaska Shield) as a
national level exercise for 2007. This exercise
will be the largest and most complex exercise
undertaken by USNORTHCOM.
The exercise will include a hurricane sce-
nario, the 2007 National Hurricane
Preparedness Exercise, in the northeastern
United States. Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Maine and New York, as well as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, will be
involved in the event. Most activity will be
centered in the Providence, R.I., area.
In Indiana, National Planning Scenario One,
a detonation of an improvised nuclear device,
will drive the deployment of more than 2,000
active duty military personnel and nearly
1,000 National Guard personnel to Camp
Atterbury and the Muscatatuck Urban
Training Center. U.S. Northern Command’s
Joint Task Force – Civil Support will deploy to
Indiana.
The state of Alaska, in coordination with
U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force –
Alaska, will respond to a series of simulated
terrorist related events throughout the state.
Maritime events will take place in the waters
adjacent to Alaska, and several events involv-
ing aircraft will unfold in the state.
“Exercises like this provide an excellent
opportunity for federal, state, and local agen-
cies to review processes and techniques and
build relationships,” says Mike Perini, the
NORAD and U.S. Northern Command direc-
tor of Public Affairs. “This exercise is designed
to be challenging and complex. It allows partic-
ipants to challenge their people and resources
and look at new options and solutions.”
For this exercise, participants developed var-
ious training objectives. Exercise planners then
designed situations where the participants
would have an opportunity to meet those
objectives.
The exercise also provides the reserve com-
ponents with a unique opportunity to exercise
with USNORTHCOM, other federal agen-
cies, and representatives from state, local and
non-governmental organizations involved in
homeland security.
— United States Northern Command
IAEM CO-SPONSORS EIIP VIRTUAL
FORUM DISCUSSION ON
REORGANIZATION OF FEMA AND
DHS
As of April 1, changes to FEMA and the
Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS)
organizational structure, including the
realignment of several functions into FEMA,
became effective under the provisions of the
Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act of
2006. In order to present an overview of the
FEMA realignment and its implications for
state and local emergency management, the
Emergency Information Infrastructure
Partnership (EIIP) hosted a “live chat” pres-
entation and interactive Q&A session on
April 11, 2007.
IAEM will participate as a co-sponsor of
this special Virtual Forum. The guest presen-
ter was Marko Bourne, FEMA’s Director of
Policy and Program Analysis since October
2006. Bourne has more than 20 years’
experience in governmental and legislative
affairs, public affairs, marketing and the
emergency services and emergency manage-
ment fields. He previously served as Acting
Director of the NIMS Integration Center
and as an Executive Officer with the U.S.
Fire Administration. This educational service
is provided by the Emergency Information
Infrastructure Partnership.
— IAEM
CIDRAP, INTERNATIONAL SOS JOIN
FORCES TO PROVIDE PANDEMIC
PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION
As part of an ongoing relationship to sus-
tain awareness of the threat posed by a
global epidemic of avian influenza in
humans, and to help organizations plan for
business continuity during such an event,
the University of Minnesota’s Center for
Infectious Disease Research and Policy
(CIDRAP) has signed a contract with glob-
al assistance firm International SOS to pro-
vide organizations with access to the
CIDRAP Business Source Web-based sub-
scription information service. The service
will be supplied to International SOS
clients as part of the firm’s subscription-
based Pandemic Information Service (PIS).
As the number of people and animals
that have contracted avian influenza con-
tinues to rise, the threat of a global influen-
za pandemic remains very real.
Organizations are still at risk for large-scale
operations disruption. As evidenced by the
2003 SARS outbreak in Asia and Canada
that crippled the airline and tourism indus-
tries in those regions, a precipitous loss of
revenue can result when planning for infec-
tious disease emergencies is inadequate.
Together, the complementary CIDRAP
and PIS information services will provide a
comprehensive resource for practical infor-
mation available to business, nonprofit and
government leaders, to help prepare their
organizations for an influenza pandemic or
other widespread health emergency.
— Center for Infectious Disease Research &
Policy; International SOS
10. 10 | CPM-GA May 2007
During the past three months, through this series, we’ve discussed
organization, designing for results and exercising with confidence.
This last article in this series is intended to take what we’ve learned
during the exercise and enhance and improve the process for future
success.
Take a deep breath … the exercise is over. It’s time to analyze the
findings from the exercise for continual improvement in the overall
business continuity program. It’s also time to take stock and look at
how well things went from a planning and design perspective. What
were the things that didn’t go quite so well that can be tweaked before
your next exercise?
STEP 1: POST-EXERCISE
After the exercise has been completed, gather all information from
the recovery room (evaluations, notes and flipchart pages) to analyze
at a later time.
Send a “thank you” e-mail or note to those on the observation and
design/simulation teams and the exercise assistant to show your
appreciation. You may need their help in the future. Better yet, they
will be seasoned veterans at the next exercise. Maintain a list of will-
ing participants for future exercises.
Taking the Fear
Out of BC
Exercises: A
Blueprint for
Success
Part IV: Enhance, improve, succeed
By Telva Chase
STEP 2: READ AND ANALYZE THE EXERCISE EVALUATIONS
Go through the evaluation forms you collected at the end of the
exercise. Did the participants feel the exercise went well? If not, take
criticism as opportunities to improve. If you are new to the world of
orchestrating exercises, be glad that people shared their feedback
with you.
Start two lists (one external and one internal) of needed improve-
ments. The external list will be for the participants to take action
(update a plan, improve a process, write a procedure, create a poli-
cy, etc.) and will be included in the post-exercise document. The sec-
ond list is for you to use internally to make continued improvements
in planning and simulation exercises.
Respond to written feedback only if it’s warranted and if the par-
ticipant gave you their name. Sometimes a written comment is hard
to understand and often needs further explanation. Instead, contact
the participant by telephone, or speak to them in person if possible.
Look for consistent results in the evaluations, but do not dismiss
the one response that may differ from the others. Why one person
was willing to make this comment and others were not may be
something to explore. Analyze why responses were made and what
can be done to improve the results.
11. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 11
Revise your evaluation form for the next exercise to see if more
constructive information may be given in a different format. And don’t
forget to include all written comments in the post-exercise document.
STEP 3: REVIEW VERBAL FEEDBACK
Go through the notes made during the feedback session. What com-
ments came up multiple times? Analyze the comments and add them
to the appropriate list of needed improvements (external or internal).
Assign appropriate participants to action items and assign due dates for
the external list. You may have had time to have a discussion during
the feedback session and already agreed on action items and dates.
Throw out items on the internal list that are beyond your control or
not within your area of influence. Also, update the post-exercise doc-
ument with feedback and findings, recommended improvement and
action Items. Be sure to assign responsible parties and due dates for
action items.
STEP 4: EXERCISE FOLLOW-UP
Publish and distribute the post-exercise document to all participants.
And hold follow-up meetings with appropriate personnel where nec-
essary to check status on action items.
Upon completion of all action items, record completion dates in the
document and publish the final version as the final exercise document.
Then, distribute the document to all participants and senior and exec-
utive management.
STEP 5: INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
Using the list of needed improvements, determine where adjustments
can be made to the exercise documentation. Run through the exercise
planning cycle with the list.
Meet with the team and brainstorm for enhancements and
improvements to the exercise program. Adjust any internal notes to
include comments from the list so they won’t be forgotten.
The following points outline proper planning and follow-through
that define successful exercises:
• Provide guidelines, set expectations and answer questions before the
exercise takes place.
• Communicate clearly and often – before, during and following the
exercise.
• Provide a comfortable environment for all participants. Take care of
their needs: temperature, lighting, food and beverage and breaks.
This allows them to concentrate on the exercise without distractions.
• Know what you are expecting as a result of the exercise. If you are
taken by surprise by an outcome during a scenario, the plan was not
well-thought out.
• Think about the aftermath of a disaster: How will employees feel on
an anniversary of the event?
In the end, the facilitator is responsible for every detail of the exer-
cise, whether they delegate it to someone else or not. Eventually the
internal list will be negligible and the exercises will be run effectively
and efficiently.
SUMMARY
Continual improvement is the key for a successful exercise program.
Just as business continuity plans are dynamic and require continual
improvement as the organization changes, so, too, the exercise pro-
gram, process or procedures need to be self-adjusting over time to
meet the needs of the participants and overall organizational goals.
About the Author
Telva Chase has more than 27 years of software engineering and seven years
of full-time BC/DR experience. In 2002, she created and currently is the
director of the business continuity program office for Thomson Scientific &
Healthcare (www.thomson.com). Questions and comments may be directed
to editorial@contingencyplanning.com.
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12. 12 | CPM-GA May 2007
SURVEY LOOKS AT EMEA DATA-
RELATED BUSINESS CONTINUITY,
DISASTER RECOVERY PRACTICES
An independent survey, commissioned by
Hitachi Data Systems and carried out by
Vanson Bourne, has looked at the data
storage practices of 950 companies across
various EMEA countries.
Respondents were asked to list the three
areas that caused them the greatest con-
cern with regards to data management.
“Managing the explosion of storage
growth” was the greatest concern at 61 per-
cent, followed by compliance regulations
(policy guidelines, legislative requirements)
(46 percent); data availability (45 percent);
reducing operational cost (45 percent);
outsourcing (41 percent); and backup and
disaster recovery (34 percent).
Respondents in Russia were the most
concerned about backup and disaster
recovery (50 percent), followed by respon-
dents in Switzerland (42 percent) and
Poland (42 percent). UK respondents were
the least worried about this issue, with only
19 percent stating that this was a current
concern.
The survey asked respondents, “When
was your disaster recovery/business conti-
nuity strategy last tested?” The UK came in
at the bottom of the league in this area.
Overall, 40 percent of respondents had
tested their business continuity and/or dis-
aster recovery strategy within the past
three months; however, only 7 percent of
UK respondents had done so. Norway and
the Benelux region both checked in at 30
percent. Austria and the Czech Republic
were the best performers, with 54 percent
of respondents saying that testing had been
carried out in the past three months.
Offsite tape backup remains the main
disaster recovery method, with 52 percent
of respondents focusing on this issue.
Utilization of a third-party disaster recovery
site was the second most popular method
(21 percent) followed by use of a compa-
ny-owned disaster recovery site (19 per-
cent). The UK was the only exception in
this area, with third-party disaster recovery
site usage being the top method (37 per-
cent) followed by offsite tape backup (24
percent). Israel is the greatest user of offsite
tape backup (86 percent) followed by UAE
(72 percent).
The top five countries in terms of third-
party disaster recovery site usage were:
1) UK: 37 percent
2) Czech Republic: 34 percent
3) Germany: 27 percent
4) Norway: 24 percent
5) Switzerland, Finland: 22 percent.
— Hitachi Data Systems
RAPID RESPONSE IS KEY TO
MANAGING REPUTATION CRISES
In the business world, it’s a fact of life that
companies sometimes let their customers
down. Regardless of the severity of the let-
down, all companies have a vested interest
in addressing such “performance failures”
in a way that encourages customers to
keep coming back.
How companies work to retain cus-
tomers after disappointing them and how
customers respond to such entreaties is the
subject of a new study co-authored by
Michael Brady, associate professor of mar-
keting at Florida State University. Brady and
a colleague, Michelle L. Roehm of Wake
Forest University, have written “Consumer
responses to performance failures by high-
equity brands,” which is published in the
current issue of the Journal of Consumer
Research.
“Consumers expect a lot from high-equi-
ty brands,” Brady says. “Because of this,
when brands fail us we may be especially
disappointed and become less enamored
of the brand. In fact, we may become so
disillusioned that our opinion of that brand
dips below even that of less prestigious
brands.”
Ironically, he says, the more severe the
performance failure, the less likely it is to
harm a company’s reputation, at least in
the short term.
“Imagine you’re a traveler dealing with a
sizable flight delay,” says Brady. “After
receiving an announcement, many ques-
tions may swirl in your mind: What caused
the delay? How will it be rectified? What is
the revised departure estimate? What
assurance is there that the new time will be
honored? How can I make the best of the
situation? You might begin making phone
calls to reschedule meetings at the destina-
tion. You might also weigh grabbing lunch
in the airport and buying a magazine to kill
time. You might even ponder rebooking on
another flight and/or searching for a hotel
reservation, if you suspect the initial flight
will ultimately be canceled.”
“Put simply, the rush of questions and
plans that is brought on by the flight delay
appears to occupy available mind space
that you otherwise might spend assigning
blame and re-evaluating the brand in ways
that may be detrimental to its equity. In
short, the need to grapple with a substan-
tial problem may provide a temporary
buffer that protects the company’s reputa-
tion,” he continues.
Such a buffer, however, appears to be
short-lived.
“Once the problem is understood and
coping begins, a consumer’s negative re-
evaluation may commence. The lesson for
managers is that, after serious lapses in per-
formance, there may be a brief window of
time in which a failed brand remains rela-
tively unharmed,” says Brady. “Strong mar-
keters will use this temporary reprieve
wisely, rectifying whatever has gone wrong
before the consumer permanently changes
his opinion of the brand.”
Failure to do so can come at a high cost
to the company’s bottom line. Brady points
to other studies indicating that an unhappy
customer will relate his experience with
eight to 10 other potential customers, caus-
ing exponential damage to the company’s
reputation.
Companies with high-equity brands
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
GlobalAssurance
13. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 13
must look for ways to “soften the blow”
when they have underperformed. Brady
says, “The worst possible thing a company
can do is give an unhappy customer time
to stew over the situation.”
— Continuity Central
SMALL PERCENTAGE OF FINANCIAL
SERVICES FIRMS ON TRACK WITH
MIFID PREPARATIONS
SunGard, a provider of software and pro-
cessing solutions for financial services, and
TradeTech, a research firm, say, according
to the firms’ joint MiFID readiness survey,
only 13 percent of financial services firms
are confident that they are on track to
meet new MiFID regulations. More than
60 percent of respondents indicated that
their preparations for the directive still
required some work, despite the rapidly
approaching November deadline.
The survey results, taken from the third
in a quarterly series of polls undertaken by
SunGard and TradeTech, reinforce those of
an earlier poll in which more than 65 per-
cent of respondents admitted that they
were yet to even identify or plan opera-
tional budgets to meet the demands of the
directive.
With only three European countries
meeting the Jan. 31 deadline for transposi-
tion of MiFID regulations to local law, 63
percent of those surveyed believed that,
even if other EU countries failed to meet
the November deadline, those countries
that were on track should not delay their
own implementations. This response
comes despite respondents’ concerns that
MiFID-ready countries may be placed at a
competitive disadvantage to those falling
behind. Forty-six percent of those surveyed
also stated that they remained concerned
that their own national regulators would
add further complexity to MiFID through
the imposition of national laws and addi-
tional guidance.
Carl James, head of Portfolio Services for
Henderson Global Investors Ltd, says,
”There is a feeling from some people with-
in the UK that there are some countries
that probably will not be ready by
November and maybe they are thinking to
themselves ‘it doesn’t apply to us’. I am
sure it will eventually but perhaps after the
November 2007 deadline.”
Recordkeeping is an area of concern
within MiFID. More than 65 percent of
respondents indicated that they would
either struggle to handle the new require-
ments proposed by the CESR (Committee
of European Securities Regulators), or that
they were unable as yet to ascertain the
impact of these proposals.
The survey results are now beginning to
show an increased level of consistency in
the industry’s attitudes, implying that at
least understanding of MiFID and its
impact is solidifying. Once again,
exchanges were generally agreed by over
half the respondents as being most likely
to suffer from MiFID in the next 10 years.
Best execution for equities remains one
of the biggest challenges for firms: Only
23 percent of firms believe they will
know how to ensure best execution by
the end of April, with most (62 percent)
estimating an August/September time-
line. More than 70 percent of firms
expect to use “post-trade statistical analy-
sis” to ensure best execution, with more
than 45 percent expecting to do pre-
trade analysis and more than 40 percent
to use manual reviews.
Richard Thornton, head of MiFID con-
sulting at SunGard Consulting Services,
says, “Many buy-side firms are now
expecting to opt down to professional
status, with the impact that many will
become systematic internalizers. Of those
surveyed, 25 percent of buy-side firms
now believe they will become systematic
Internalizers within the next five years –
a significant increase from 6 months ago.”
Since its launch in September 2006,
more than 400 participants from global
investment banks, institutional and pri-
vate asset managers, consultancies and
exchanges from across Europe, the US
and Asia have responded to the
SunGard-TradeTech MiFID readiness sur-
vey.
— SunGard; TradeTech
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14. 14 | CPM-GA May 2007
Building an
Archive
Successful backup strategies to
ensure business continuity
By Marshall Shah
Natural disasters, power failures, computer viruses, terrorist risks –
and their devastating consequences – all solidify the critical
need for business continuity planning. Conducting business opera-
tions as usual without an effective business continuity strategy is like
walking a high-wire without a net. Corporate victims of disaster often
face a long road to recovery, requiring time and resources to rebuild
IT infrastructures, return critical business applications in operational
status and, most importantly, recover vital enterprise application data
and business information.
Today, every organization in every industry relies on enterprise
applications to collect, create and process increasing volumes of data
to support daily business activities. But as application databases con-
tinue to grow, the amount of data that must be recovered becomes
daunting. As a result, companies are placing increased emphasis on
improving the way enterprise data is stored and managed.
To achieve this objective, IT organizations are recognizing the value
of an enterprise data management strategy that includes database
archiving to safeguard historical data and speed recovery, all while
lowering costs and risks. As a recognized best practice, database
archiving enables companies to shorten the time to recovery to meet
business continuity objectives.
15. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 15
ARCHIVING FACILITATES FASTER RECOVERY
Unprecedented data growth continues to threaten business continuity
plans, expanding database backup and recovery windows and slowing
the recovery process by hours or even days. Although implementing
more efficient backup and recovery tools can support business continu-
ity initiatives, companies continue to manage large volumes of essential
(current) and non-essential (historical) application data in online produc-
tion databases, which can slow the recovery process.
Without an effective strategy that separates current from historical
data, both types of data are copied to a “recovery” storage medium,
which increases the amount of data to recover, expanding recovery
time. For example, even with the most sophisticated business continuity
plan, an insurance company will still need to recover 10 years of closed
claims to recover the open claims needed to resume operations. Clearly,
a more effective approach is required.
It is essential to develop a business continuity plan for recovering mis-
sion-critical data first. By implementing database archiving that separates
essential from non-essential data, many companies can safely reduce the
size of overloaded databases by up to 50 percent or more during the
initial archive. If four hours are needed to restore a 500 GB database,
archiving can shorten this time to two hours by reducing the size of the
production database to about 250 GB or less (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Database archiving removes historical data from production databas-
es and saves time in recovering current active data.
There are two key factors to consider when developing a business
continuity plan: the recovery point objective (RPO) and the recovery
time objective (RTO). Defining the level of data loss (RPO) and down-
time that can be tolerated for each application (RTO) helps determine
the appropriate business continuity and recovery alternatives.
Synchronous – or live – replication (duplication) of data should be con-
sidered if the RPO for an application is defined to within seconds after
a disaster. If the recovery point is within minutes, asynchronous – or off-
line – replication may be suitable. Tape backup is a suitable strategy if
recovery can be acceptably undertaken back to a period days or weeks
prior to the disaster.
With archiving, it is easier to manage database size and accommodate
desired disaster recovery windows and business continuity objectives
while still meeting daily business needs. In the event of a disaster, the
recovery process can be staged to recover essential data first and non-
essential data later, if needed. This staged approach significantly reduces
the amount of time and resources needed to rebuild an alternate data-
base, resulting in a shorter time to recovery and critical system operation.
BENEFITS OF ARCHIVING FOR BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Archiving allows companies to remove rarely accessed historical data
from production databases and effectively manage archived data while
providing easy access on demand. Business users set the functional poli-
cies for archiving historical data, such as the type of data, age and trans-
action status. In addition, data from complex relational databases can be
archived to preserve the business context of the data for audit and
reporting purposes, and these capabilities support your data retention
compliance requirements. Capabilities for compressing archived data
significantly reduce storage requirements. Capabilities for managing
archives on a variety of storage media provide a natural complement to
tiered storage strategies and enable full-lifecycle data management to
reduce costs.
A comprehensive database archiving solution must do several things:
It must preserve the business context of the data; it must safely remove
it from the production database environment; and it must allow for stor-
age on a variety of cost-effective and secure storage devices. The ideal
archiving solution should make archived data easily accessible no mat-
ter where it is stored, whether online on a file server or a tape or disk-
based WORM (write once, read many) device (see Figure 2). Business
users need capabilities to view and report on both current and histori-
cal data, whenever needed.
Typical alternatives for accessing archived data include native – or
application-based – access and application-independent access. For
example, native access allows the user to interact with archived data
through the original application interface. Business users can access the
information, using familiar formats and processes. Application-independ-
ent access provides the most flexible range of access alternatives over the
life of the archive, enabling authorized users to interact with archives
using industry standard methods, such as ODBC/JDBC, XML tools and
report writers. Most importantly for business continuity, application-
independent access allows the user to future-proof the data, which
makes it possible to access historical transaction records even if the appli-
cation is no longer operational.
Figure 2. Archiving segregates inactive application data from current activity
safely removes it to a secure archive and keeps it easily accessible.
16. 16 | CPM-GA May 2007
Combining archiving with tiered storage strategies can play a
significant role in a business continuity plan to offer additional
cost reductions over time. For example, when the cost to provide
optimal production-level access and performance outweighs the
business value of the data, it is beneficial to move data from
high-cost, high-speed storage to lower-cost, slower response sys-
tems to match its business value.
ARCHIVING BENEFITS FOR BACKUP AND RECOVERY
Database archiving optimizes reduces the size of backup and
recovery windows, and routine backup processing ensures the
most recent copy of operational data is available for recovery in
the event of a system failure, accidental file deletion or disaster.
Consistent backup processing ensures that operational data can
be recovered from the last backup point in the event of a disas-
ter or inadvertent data loss. Most companies use some combina-
tion of full and incremental backups, and most backup schedules
assign a rolling window or short-term retention period for saving
backup data. The backup is overwritten after each rotation so the
backup media can be reused.
Successful recovery depends on the frequency and the quality
of backup procedures. With ongoing archiving, there is less data
to backup and restore, which can significantly reduce backup
and recovery times. Additionally, some IT organizations back up
the archived data for recovery on an as-needed basis. Database
backup should not be considered as a replacement for database
archiving – or vice versa. Deployed in tandem, these two best
practices complement each other to improve business continuity
and IT processes.
ARCHIVING MITIGATES RISK AND REDUCES COST
Hot, cold and warm alternative disaster recovery sites may be
chosen, each with differences in cost, functionality and availabil-
ity. It is important to consider the risks before setting up an alter-
native recovery site.
Hot sites offer the fastest RTO, and because of the synchronic-
ity, RPO carries a low risk; however, associated costs can range
into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per GB of data.
Implementing a database archiving strategy with a hot site disas-
ter recovery plan allows management of database size in both
on-site and hot-site data centers to reduce costs. Managing
archived data backups at the hot site also provides the lowest
risk option and ensures that all current and historical data
remains accessible.
In contrast, a cold site is the most inexpensive alternative
because there is no hardware setup. Implementing database
archiving with a cold site disaster recovery plan reduces risk in
both on-site and cold-site data center because historical data is
saved to secure storage devices and remains accessible.
A warm site’s cost and risk lies between those of the hot- and
cold-site alternatives, allowing a business continuity plan to meet
specific business requirements. Again – implementing a database
archiving strategy can reduce costs and risks, based on the appli-
cations and the RTO and RPO data management policies.
INCLUDE ARCHIVING IN YOUR BUSINESS CONTINUITY
PLAN
Enterprise data management capabilities that include database
archiving can help protect application data to meet business con-
tinuity demands. The key metrics – RTO (downtime) and RPO
(data loss) – must be evaluated against every business applica-
tion in order to choose the appropriate backup and recovery
plan.
Consider the following guidelines for employing the most effi-
cient database archiving and business continuity procedures:
• Define your backup schedule (including full and incremental
backups) appropriately to provide the resources necessary for
recovery.
• Define the data to archive based on business policies. Schedule
routine archive processing as needed to keep databases man-
ageable.
• Select appropriate archive storage media based on the business
value and access requirements for each type of data.
• Update backup procedures to include archived data. • Select
the appropriate low-cost storage media for database backups to
ensure recovery and reuse.
Developing an effective business continuity plan involves cre-
ating a team representing IT and all business sectors of the
organization, including legal and risk teams, to identify critical
resources and functions and to determine which operations get
the highest priority. Including database archiving as an important
component in the business continuity plan ensures data recovery
within an acceptable time frame to resume business operations
as quickly as possible.
About the Author
Marshall Shah has spent the last 10 years in the enterprise software
industry. Before joining Princeton Softech, he served as product man-
ager of Raritan, an enterprise provider of centralized server manage-
ment solutions. Shah's prior experience includes product management,
business development, and sales engineering roles at Lucent
Technologies and Cabletron Systems. Questions and comments may
be directed to editorial@contingencyplanning.com.
NOTE: Stop by the Exhibit Hall during CPM 2007 WEST to
learn more about our partner, Princeton Softech. To regist
for CPM 2007 WEST log on to www.Contingency-
Planning.com.
17. www.ContingencyPlanning.com | 17
GlobalAssurance
APOGEE COMMUNICATIONS
GROUP RELEASES NEW
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DVD
Apogee Communications Group has
released its newest health and safety
DVD titled “Emergency Preparedness –
Awareness & Survival DVD.” The educa-
tional program gives important tips and
how-to instructions about planning for
most types of disruptions from power
outages, hurricanes, pandemics, dirty
bombs and other acts of terrorism. With
more than 20 years’ experience cover-
ing major news stories for network tele-
vision news, being a firefighter and
EMT, producer Arthur Levy has seen
the results of many disasters. The pro-
gram contains potentially life saving
information and tips, including how to
use a fire extinguisher, obtaining safe
drinking water and how to store food
for emergency use. The DVD is available
online, in public libraries, in prepared-
ness stores and through educational pro-
grams at public health, fire and emer-
gency management departments.
www.apogeevideo.com
SURVIVAL VEHICLE UNVEILED
Campa USA has been offering its
Campa All Terrain Trailers, such as the
Campa All Terrain Trailer and the
Campa Disaster Reconnaissance System,
to government organizations, disaster
management personnel and outdoor
enthusiasts. Now the Campa Expedition
Vehicle System is available for purchase
by the general public. A 2007 Toyota
Tacoma serves as the build platform. The
modular design easily transfers to other
truck makes and models. It is designed
for new vehicles and is a completely self-
contained survival system. Options
include a fridge/freezer, hot water show-
er, sleeping quarters for four, a17-gallon
water tank, water purification, fully fit-
ted oak kitchen unit, protective cases,
GPS, a mobile communication system
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optional mobile communication package
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fabricated of stainless steel and alu-
minum to handle harsh and extreme
conditions encountered in disasters and
remote expedition environments.
www.campausa.com
SMB STORAGE OFFERINGS
HP StorageWorks division has intro-
duced three new storage offerings to
provide affordable solutions for growing
SMBs. The new HP StorageWorks D2D
Backup system automates and central-
izes backup to provide reliable data pro-
tection for up to four servers in a single,
secure, self-managing device. It inte-
grates into existing network-based IT
environments and can be configured
and managed in three steps. Daily back-
ups become fully automatic, reducing
the risk of human error and hardware
problems. With browser-based remote
management, HP StorageWorks
MSL8096 Tape Library meets a range of
data storage needs, including unattend-
ed backup, archive and disaster recov-
ery. It offers up to 76TB of compressed
storage capacity in an 8U form factor
and is available in a variety of configura-
tions. HP AiO1200 helps store, share,
manage and protect growing pools of
application and file data. The high-per-
formance controller in a 12-drive array
allows storage to be allocated at a gran-
ular level depending on business
demands. It features mixed drive sup-
port, which lets customers leverage the
cost efficiencies of serial ATA with the
speed and reliability of serial-attached
SCSI.
www.hp.com
21st Century Software
All Road Communications
Association of Contingency Planners
Dialogic Communications
Corporation
Disaster Resource Guide
DRI International
eBRP Solutions Inc.
Globalstar Inc.
HeaterMeals
ICOR
KETCHConsulting
Lakeview Technology
MessageOne
MIR3 Inc.
Mission Mode Solutions
Office Furniture Rental Alliance
Optimus Solutions
Paradigm Solutions International
Princeton Softech
Rentsys Recovery Services
RSM McGladrey
SDN Global LLC
ServiceMaster Clean
Simpler Life Emergency Provisions Inc.
Strohl Systems
TAMP Systems Inc.
Varolii Corporation, formerly
EnvoyWorldWide
Virtual Corporation
Vision Solutions
Y12 National Security Complex
STOP BY THE EXHIBIT HALL DURING CPM 2007 WEST
TO SEE ALL THE LATEST PRODUCT AND
SERVICE OFFERINGS FROM OUR PARTNERS:
PRODUCTS
18. CPM delivers a training experience unlike any other.
Learn to defuse any disaster that rears its ugly head.
Sessions include:
• Pandemic Influenza:The State of the Threat
• Establishing Mission-Critical Employee Programs
• Data Security in a Distributed World
• Disaster Simulation Exercise
And many more!
Register Now!
www.ContingencyPlanningExpo.com
