2007 05 global assurance magazine

May 2007 • Volume 4 • Issue 5

Building anArchiveSuccessful 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 anArchiveSuccessful backup strategies

2 | CPM-GA May 2007

GlobalAssurance

F E AT U R E S

3 How to Become a TrustedStrategic AdvisorThe eight disciplines: Part II

10 Taking the Fear Out of BCExercisesPart IV: Enhance, improve, succeed

14 Building an ArchiveSuccessful backup strategies to ensure business continuity

IN THIS ISSUE…3

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CPM-Global Assurance is a monthly subscription-based newsletter. It addresses the strategic integration of business continuity, security, emergency management, riskmanagement, compliance and auditing to ensure continuity of operations in business andgovernment — all within the context of good corporate governance. To subscribe to thisunique resource, please fill out and fax back the subscription coupon on the back page.

CPM-Global Assurance (ISSN #1547-8904) is published monthly by The CPM Group, 3141 Fairview ParkDr., Suite 777, Falls Church, VA 22042.

© Entire contents copyright 2007. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form with-out written permission of the editor. Views expressed by the bylined contributors and sources citedshould not be construed as reflecting the opinions and/or advice of this publication. Publication ofproduct/service information should not be deemed as a recommendation by the editor. Editorial con-tributions are accepted from the contingency planning community. Contact the editor for details.Product/service information should be submitted in accordance with guidelines available from the edi-tor. Editorial closing date is two months prior to the month of publication.

The CPM Group publishes CPM-Global Assurance and produces the CPM trade shows. Printed in the USA.

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National News . . . . . . . . . . . 7

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Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

CPM 2007 WEST. . . . . . . . 18

D E P A R T M E N T S

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natives. Yes, I know the statement that yesterday’s lessons arevalueless is bothersome, but I believe it, live it and succeed by it.

In addition, criticizing those who did things yesterday, largelywhen they’re unable to respond or defend themselves on thespot, may lead to future points of confrontation where those crit-icized will – because the boss repeated your words – want tofight you a bit and defend themselves. “Forgetaboutit,” as theysay 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 thesethings, it’s also spectacularly unhelpful. It sets up conflictbetween 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 justone more thing the boss has to deal with. It’s another loaddumped 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 Becomea Trusted

Strategic AdvisorThe eight disciplines: Part II

By James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CCEP,

Keynote Speaker at CPM 2007 WEST

I n 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 consultingduring real-time emergencies, crises and disasters. You may value otherdisciplines; add them to your own list. These are the topics that thosewho run organizations seem to focus on as helpful and essential to theirsuccess.

DISCIPLINE FIVE: CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACHESIn talking with management, when there’s an option to describesomething in a positive or negative way, the negative route is toooften the road chosen. For example, rather than describing whatneeds 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 littlevalue for tomorrow, and second, to suggest doable, useful alter-

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sion – the boss still has last week’s goals and objectives, the pre-vious month’s goals and objectives and, sometimes, the previousyear’s goals and objectives to complete. Generally, the last thingbosses need is a new idea for anything.

What bosses truly need is help getting done what they werehired to get done. The number one reason CEOs lose their jobsis failure to deliver what they promised to accomplish when theygot the top job in the first place.

Being constructive means that whatever you put on the tableto get done will help the boss get his or her objectives accom-plished first and then, perhaps, some of what you need to getdone as well. The reality of constructive action is that construc-tive comments are difficult to think up, create or identify. Onereason is that very few staff members know enough about theoperating side of the business to make a large number of con-structive suggestions. As you just read, the last thing bosses needor want are lots of new ideas. Critics and criticisms are a dime adozen. Be constructive.

During an interview with Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, hesaid in 20 years as GE’s chairman he probably had five truly piv-otal, paradigm-shifting ideas. These five ideas consumed his 20years as chairman while he built and rebuilt a great company.

Most CEOs are in the same boat. They have just a handful ofoverriding goals to achieve. A large percentage of their time isspent keeping everybody focused on where they’re supposed tobe going, rather than on unleashing everyone’s creative abilities(or tendencies to create conflict), therefore, distracting everyonefrom 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 almostalways 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 constructiveattitudes, behaviors and approaches?”

DISCIPLINE SIX: PATTERN INTUITIONPerhaps we know this intuitively, and this may be stating theobvious, but few ideas, concepts, actions or behaviors in thisworld are genuinely new. Most repeat things others have donebefore. Whether it’s a creative idea, problem solution, process ofwork and development or crime, it fits a pattern of some kind –a sequence of events that can be identified, isolated, analyzedand used in order to understand, plan and forecast.

In almost every imaginable situation, field of learning, area ofdiscipline, ritual, crisis, news story, you name it, looking for andfinding common features from previous experience, whetherpersonal or vicarious, is one of the first steps toward moving instrategic 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 humanexperience.

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 themost strategic intentions to fail, come apart or simply appear notto work. Even the most adverse of circumstances and worst ofsurprises have recognizable elements and reasonably similarevent sequences.

There are three powerful lessons in applying the concept ofpatterns to your everyday work.

Lesson 1: Patterns Are the Foundation of Strategy and Are WhatMake the Strategist an Intelligent ForecasterHow do you master learning the patterns of events? “War story”files are one helpful way practitioners can begin the transition tostrategists. These are essentially news clip files, organized bytopic, that contain significant print and video on issues of inter-est. At present, The Lukaszewski Group maintains more than300 “war story” files, and several new ones are developed almostevery 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, animalrights, anti-terrorist activity, asbestos, Astroturf and auto partsscandals. We also maintain company-specific “war story” files.Examples include Arthur Andersen, the Catholic Church,Coca-Cola, Disney Companies, Enron, Firestone, GeneralElectric and Hershey Foods, to name a few.

• At a moment’s notice, these files can be put to use as a basisfor 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 UsefulStrategic Processes Before Problems OccurMaximize the value of your “war stories” collection by selectingthe most damaging, dangerous or de-stabilizing situations. Thentranslate them into hypothetical scenarios for your company ororganization.

For example: Your company has manufacturing and distribu-tion operations in a variety of “back area” locations in varioustowns and cities, large and small, all across the United States;however, most of your chemical treatment activities and heavyindustry processes are located primarily in what are consideredlower income, even poor areas.

You could someday be the subject of litigation or governmentaction involving “environmental racism.” If you were to searchon the Web for the terms “environmental racism” or “environ-mental justice,” you will very quickly come across theEnvironmental Protection Agency’s Web site: www.epa.gov. Asearch for “environmental justice” on the site will lead to theEnvironmental Protection Agency’s Federal Register insert ofFriday, July 23, 1999, regarding severe penalties, compliance andprotection orders, “Draft Architecture for the Revised 2000


Strategic Plan,” and “The EPA’s Environmental Justice Strategy,”a memorandum dated April 23, 1995. You may be referred towww.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/index.html for guidanceunder the National Environmental Policy Act. You may alsocome across references to the Center for the Study of AmericanBusiness in Washington, which has published a number of posi-tion papers on this subject from a business perspective. Withinless than an hour, even before you seriously reviewed your clip-pings, you can become extraordinarily educated on this subjectfrom very important sources and have one or two brief casestudies to back up your impressions, early information and initialthoughts and recommendations.

Remember: The strategist’s job is to provide an adequateexplanation for the circumstance being discussed, described,debated, or deliberated; to understand and relate the nature ofthe threat or opportunity; and to provide several options formanagement to consider and a recommendation for a particularapproach complete with a brief analysis of the negative unin-tended consequences that could result from the variousapproaches.

Lesson 3: Focus Most of Your Work on Non-OperatingScenariosNinety-five percent of the adverse situations that affect mostorganizations come directly from day-to-day operations. Theseare the areas in which there is significant resident expertise anda lower degree of reputation or operational risk. The strategistlooks 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 thegreatest threat to organizational stability, reputation and marketshare and cause damage that is difficult to repair. Managementtends to be at its weakest when responding to non-operatingproblems because generally, they are so emotionally charged. (Ifyou’d like a list of the more technical non-operating problems,simply e-mail your request to me at [email protected].)

DISCIPLINE SEVEN: SURPRISE AVOIDANCEThere’s a wonderful book that goes into great detail on thistopic: Anticipating Surprise by Cynthia M. Grabo (Copyright2004, 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 timelineallows 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 knowshow to deal with evidence, preserve evidence and most impor-tantly, understand what the information data and fragmentaryinformation add up to. Management needs to know, wants to

know and has to know what we know, promptly, as events moveforward. The goal is to enlighten rather than frighten. The goal isto alert rather than alarm. The goal is to inform rather thaninflame. If you’ve been on the job several years or more, you canrecognize what I’m talking about. Our job is to put a drag onevents and to think by helping people understand what’s reallygoing on.

Look Long Term – This is another way of saying understand thepatterns, 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 planningmanagement function. Stick to what is known and to what canbe 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 simplestexplanation is more than likely going to be the most plausibleand 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 whatyou are doing is knowing that the information you are going toprovide is likely to be right half the time, because of your newlevel of sensitivity and acuity. This makes you a predictor oftomorrow. Anybody who can be even half right about tomorrowis going to be invited to many meetings and will have an impor-tant place near the boss.

DISCIPLINE EIGHT: MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVEThe one thought that ties these concepts together is the notionthat to be effective, trusted, noticed and sought after, you haveto develop a management perspective. Let me phrase it this way– as you propose to do things, as you examine how you interactwith management and managers, as you seek to gain a betterunderstanding of how leaders think while they operate the busi-ness every day, keep in mind their crucial concerns as theyexamine 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’vealready talked about that discipline.


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One other aspect to understanding where the managementperspective comes from is reading what the bosses read in addi-tion to what you routinely follow. Read The Harvard BusinessReview or other prominent business magazines. Reading publica-tions like Fortune and Forbes will help your writing, speaking andadvice-giving. What is the boss currently reading? You shouldprobably read those, too.

You might subject yourself to the “Boss’s Shoes Test” . . . just aseries of questions to help you develop the frame of mind you’llneed 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 positivestrategic suggestions.

• Expressing solutions in management language mentors andmotivates 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 workingwith management, first put yourself in their shoes — Look attheir world from their perspective . . . then open your mouth,and say something that builds trust, is strategic, and will helpeveryone move incrementally into the future.

About the AuthorJames E. Lukaszewski is a corporate crisis troubleshooter with a globalpractice. He works at the highest levels of corporations and organiza-tions, advising senior management and top managers preparing forcrises, responding to crises and recovering from crises. His Web Sitewww.e911.com is a major resource for disaster managers. Questionsand comments may be directed to [email protected].

Also, be sure to check out “Why Should Your Boss Listen toYou? How to Become a Trusted Strategic Advisor,” present-ed by James E. Lukaszewski, keynote speaker at 2007 CPMWEST, 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 [email protected].

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 CompanyInteractive workshops, valuable case studies, and advanced-levelseminars will teach you lesons you can take back to work toprepare for any disaster.

2. Learn from Industry ExpertsThe presenters at CPM 2007 WEST are distinguished practition-ers, scholars, authors and specialists in their field.

3.Three Conferences in OneNo other conference contains information on business continu-ity/COOP, emergency management and security.You’d have toattend three separate conferences to receive this complete riskmanagement education that this “total-industry” event provides.

4. Solutions ShowcasedAdditional industry experts are found at their booths in theexhibit hall.With products and services developed to make yourjob easier, talk to these experts to find your solution.

5. Keynote SpeakersDon’t miss our industry-renowned keynote speakers for CPM2007 WEST: James E. Lukaszewski,ABC,APR,The LukaszewskiGroup Inc., and Jon Murphy, CHS-V, PMP, CISSP, CBCP, Expedia.They will share their advanced knowledge to help you succeed.

6. Disaster Simulation ExerciseThis three-hour simulation puts you in the throes of a real-lifedisaster. Find out how you would perform in an actual crisis.

7. Avoid Costly MistakesCPM 2007 WEST offers more case studies and best practices.Learn from the successes (and mistakes) of others.

8. Pre-Conference CertificationsSelect from different industry-supported organizations for pre-conference training and certifications.You have the convenienceof getting certified right here. No other conference offers thismany options all in one place.

9.A Professional Peer NetworkCPM 2007 WEST provides many fun, effective events for you tointeract with your peers – a group of professionals who shareyour mission.

10. Increased Professional ValueThe complete educational experi-ence, found at CPM 2007 WEST,will help you become better atyour job, increasing your worth toyour organization… and the world.


NATIONAL NEWSWVA UNIVERSITY TEACHESEMERGENCY RESPONSELast month’s shooting rampage at Virginia Techhas made campus security more importantthan ever. The shootings raised questions aboutthe way school administrators handled the sit-uation, so West Virginia University VirtualMedical Center Homeland Security is helpingschools across the country learn how to keepthe lines of communication open in case of anemergency and teaching administrators how tohandle such a crisis.

Jodi Van Horne, one of the program’s train-ers, says it’s designed to put campus authoritieson the same page – before a crisis happens. “Itallows them to interact with the Department ofHomeland Security and State of Emergencymanagement level. So if there is an incident weare not trading business cards that day of theincident. We already know everybody inadvance.”

Currently, West Virginia University VMCHomeland Security is the only department inthe country to offer this specific training.Experts say they hope to expand from collegecampuses to high school facilities. Van Hornesays the program trains school administratorsfrom as far away as Hawaii. It has five trainersnow and will have five more very soon.

— Navy Newsstand

BUSINESS CONTINUITY, AVAILABILITYSOLUTIONS A HIGH PRIORITY FORCORPORATE SPENDING IN 2007More than 80 percent of IT decision-makers atboth large and medium-size businesses viewbusiness continuity and availability as anincreased priority for 2007 and key to sharpen-ing their competitive business edge worldwide,according to recent survey results.

Approximately four out of five managersand 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-tolerantsolutions, backup and recovery efforts, securityand improved IT service management offer-ings will also increase in 2007, with nine out of10 decision-makers reporting higher plannedspending.

In addition, the ability to meet competitivepressures, maintain uptime, prepare for pan-demic outbreaks and improve regulatory com-pliance ranked as significantly higher prioritiesin 2007 than in 2006.

Overall, the results mark a shift in strategyfor many companies, which have historicallytaken a reactive approach to recovering fromunplanned downtime or disasters, to longerterm business continuity planning.

“In today’s global marketplace, any amountof 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 (18percent) and nearly one in three medium-sizebusinesses surveyed (31 percent) lack a businesscontinuity plan. The most common obstaclesfor the implementation of business continuityand availability solutions, based on surveyresults, range from the conceptual – such assecuring financial support, overcoming lack ofmanager support and low corporate priority –to the tactical: critical problems that lie in thenuts 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 challengesto implementing a sound plan.

According to survey participants, top obsta-cles include a lack of an agreed technologysolution (55 percent), not enough time toimplement (49 percent) a lack of data to cre-ate a true business case for implementation (34percent) and inexperienced internal resources

(59 percent). More than 564 IT decision makers world-

wide responded to survey questions assessingtheir business continuity, availability and disas-ter-recovery plans and the technologies beingused to implement those plans. Sixty-two per-cent of the respondents represented compa-nies with more than $100 million in annualrevenue from industries that include manufac-turing, healthcare, education and financial serv-ices. Forty-eight percent of respondents repre-sented medium-size companies with 100 to999 employees.

— HP

DISASTER OFFICIALS ASK, “ARE YOUREADY?”The 2007 hurricane season is right around thecorner, and forecasters say this hurricane sea-son could be nearly as destructive as 2005 –the worst on record. The U.S. Department ofHomeland Security’s Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA) and the TexasGovernor’s Division of EmergencyManagement (GDEM) remind the country tobegin their emergency preparations now.

The FEMA publication “Are You Ready?”offers free assistance in planning and preparingfor hurricane season, which runs from June 1through Nov. 30.

“State and local emergency personnel willrespond quickly to the scene of a disaster,” saysFrank Cantu, state coordinator for responseand recovery at GDEM. “If individuals andfamilies do their part by planning ahead, theywill be better prepared before, during and aftera hurricane.”

The 200-page guide to disaster prepared-ness can be used as a reference source or as astep-by-step manual on how to get informedabout local emergency plans, how to identifylocal hazards and how to develop an emer-gency communication plan and build a disastersupplies kit. Other topics include evacuation,emergency public shelters and protecting peo-ple with disabilities.

“As we continue the recovery fromHurricanes Rita and Katrina, I urge everyone to

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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 TransitionalRecovery Office. “Now’s the time to take per-sonal responsibility.”

To download “Are You Ready?” in English orSpanish, log on to www.fema.gov/areyouready.

— FEMA

HOUSING ASSISTANCE EXTENDED 18MONTHS FOR GULF COASTHURRICANE VICTIMS Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast RebuildingDonald E. Powell, U.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development (HUD) SecretaryAlphonso Jackson and FEMA Administrator R.David Paulison have announced that the tem-porary housing assistance programs for GulfCoast hurricane victims have been extendedby 18 months until March 1, 2009. The currentFEMA extension ends on Aug. 31, 2007.

HUD and FEMA are also working on a planwhereby HUD would take over managementof the rental housing program on behalf ofFEMA beginning on Sept. 1, 2007. GCR, HUDand FEMA are working on the mechanics ofthe new arrangement and will consult withCongress on the most appropriate structure fortransferring management responsibilities.

Beginning in March 2008, individuals inboth the rental housing and travel trailer andmobile home programs will pay a portion ofthe cost, which will begin at $50 per monthand 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 homesand travel trailers to purchase their dwellings ata fair and equitable price. Seniors and the dis-abled whose primary source of income is sup-plemental security income or other fixedincome that make them eligible to receive assis-tance under existing HUD programs will beprotected. HUD will actively work to transitionthese individuals into its properties or programsfor seniors and the disabled.

“We understand the importance of minimiz-ing uncertainty for Gulf Coast residents whohave endured this unprecedented tragedy,”Powell says. “This coordinated, 18-monthextension will provide stability to residentswhile providing effective incentives and assis-

tance to help them transition into long-termhousing solutions.”

“The overwhelming scale of this humantragedy 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 disasterhousing needs continue and move into alonger-term program, HUD is working toensure the affected families will continue to getthe housing assistance they need as well as theindividual services that will help them rebuildtheir lives.”

“This extension allows FEMA and our part-ners to be responsive in developing innovative,flexible and compassionate solutions to helpdisaster victims get back on their feet,” saysPaulison. “While we are proud of the tremen-dous progress we’ve made, we won’t be satis-fied until every disaster victim has successfullynavigated the road to recovery.”

Under the proposed parameters of theFEMA-HUD Disaster Housing AssistanceProgram, local public housing agencies (PHAs)would administer the program under StaffordAct authority. FEMA would provide resourcesto HUD to extend rental assistance to up to40,000 hurricane-affected families who arealready living in rental units paid for by FEMA.Families are expected to experience a seamlesstransition under the new program.

DHAP would provide much-needed stabili-ty to individuals and families affected by thestorms, and would lengthen the potential forsome to receive housing assistance for up tothree-and-a-half years following the 2005storm season. In addition to housing assistancebeing made available, under the proposed pro-gram, PHAs would also work with individualsand families under this new program to pro-vide access to job training, housing counselingand other forms of support that would betterenable disaster victims to regain independenceand self-sufficiency.

Between now and Sept. 1, 2007, FEMAplans to provide HUD with a list of its currentrenters so that HUD can assume their rentalassistance. Under the proposed program,beginning on March 1, 2008, HUD would usea 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 theend of the 18-month extension. For example, ifa family has an $850 rental apartment, theywould be required to contribute $50 towardtheir rent starting in March 2008, which wouldrise to $100 in April 2008; $150 in May 2008,etc. In addition, beginning on March 1, 2008,families in FEMA travel trailers and mobilehomes would begin to pay a share of themonthly costs, which will also incrementallyincrease until the program reaches its conclu-sion on March 1, 2009.

To the extent allowable by law, seniors andthe disabled who qualify would continue toreceive the full subsidy required to pay theirrent (either in an apartment or in travel trailersand mobile homes) throughout the duration ofthe extended 18-month program.

HUD plans to continue to work closely withlocal PHAs nationwide to administer the newDHAP vouchers. These PHAs also administerHUD’s regular Housing Choice VoucherProgram (Section 8), which gives them thebusiness knowledge required to manage thisnew program, and will allow for a smooth tran-sition for families. PHAs also have the neces-sary expertise in working directly with familieswith 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 andother valuable services that help lead thesefamilies to self-sufficiency.

FEMA will continue to manage its mobilehome and travel trailer operations throughoutthe Gulf, and also will continue to engageHUD, as well as state and local officials, on acollaborative effort to identify alternative hous-ing solutions for those in mobile home andtravel trailer residents. As with the HUD pro-gram, beginning on March 1, 2008, individualsin the trailers and mobile homes will pay asmall portion of the cost, beginning at $50 permonth; FEMA will increase the amount of rentcharged incrementally on the travel trailers andmobile homes until the family reaches its abili-ty to pay, according to a FEMA formula basedon income.

Beginning immediately, FEMA is setting up aprocess to allow victims of Katrina and Rita

GlobalAssurance News


who have been living in travel trailers andmobile homes to purchase those units at areduced cost. The adjusted fair market costwill take into account FEMA’s monthlyexpenses for maintaining the units and its stan-dard cost for deactivating the units. This initia-tive will allow those residents who have beenunable to move on to purchase their ownunits, thus facilitating their return to self-suffi-ciency.

— FEMA

MAJOR PREPAREDNESS EXERCISEUNDERWAY The Department of Defense in cooperationwith the Department of HomelandSecurity, the Canadian Department ofNational Defence (Canada Command) andmultiple state and local officials is conduct-ing a major preparedness exercise fromApril 30 to May 18.

Major events will take place in NewEngland, Indiana, Alaska and adjacent watersand along the Western U.S.-Canadian border.

Ardent Sentry-Northern Edge 07 is aChairman, 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 NationalHurricane Preparedness Exercise, Blue Flag,Positive Response and Alaska Shield) as anational level exercise for 2007. This exercisewill be the largest and most complex exerciseundertaken by USNORTHCOM.

The exercise will include a hurricane sce-nario, the 2007 National HurricanePreparedness Exercise, in the northeasternUnited States. Rhode Island, Massachusetts,Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire,Maine and New York, as well as the FederalEmergency Management Agency, will beinvolved in the event. Most activity will becentered 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 2,000active duty military personnel and nearly1,000 National Guard personnel to Camp

Atterbury and the Muscatatuck UrbanTraining Center. U.S. Northern Command’sJoint Task Force – Civil Support will deploy toIndiana.

The state of Alaska, in coordination with U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force –Alaska, will respond to a series of simulatedterrorist related events throughout the state.Maritime events will take place in the watersadjacent to Alaska, and several events involv-ing aircraft will unfold in the state.

“Exercises like this provide an excellentopportunity for federal, state, and local agen-cies to review processes and techniques andbuild relationships,” says Mike Perini, theNORAD and U.S. Northern Command direc-tor of Public Affairs. “This exercise is designedto be challenging and complex. It allows partic-ipants to challenge their people and resourcesand look at new options and solutions.”

For this exercise, participants developed var-ious training objectives. Exercise planners thendesigned situations where the participantswould have an opportunity to meet thoseobjectives.

The exercise also provides the reserve com-ponents with a unique opportunity to exercisewith USNORTHCOM, other federal agen-cies, and representatives from state, local andnon-governmental organizations involved inhomeland security.

— United States Northern Command

IAEM CO-SPONSORS EIIP VIRTUALFORUM DISCUSSION ONREORGANIZATION OF FEMA ANDDHS As of April 1, changes to FEMA and theDepartment of Homeland Security’s (DHS)organizational structure, including therealignment of several functions into FEMA,became effective under the provisions of thePost-Katrina Emergency Reform Act of2006. In order to present an overview of theFEMA realignment and its implications forstate and local emergency management, theEmergency Information InfrastructurePartnership (EIIP) hosted a “live chat” pres-entation and interactive Q&A session onApril 11, 2007.

IAEM will participate as a co-sponsor ofthis special Virtual Forum. The guest presen-

ter was Marko Bourne, FEMA’s Director ofPolicy and Program Analysis since October2006. Bourne has more than 20 years’experience in governmental and legislativeaffairs, public affairs, marketing and theemergency services and emergency manage-ment fields. He previously served as ActingDirector of the NIMS Integration Centerand as an Executive Officer with the U.S.Fire Administration. This educational serviceis provided by the Emergency InformationInfrastructure Partnership.

— IAEM

CIDRAP, INTERNATIONAL SOS JOINFORCES TO PROVIDE PANDEMICPREPAREDNESS INFORMATIONAs part of an ongoing relationship to sus-tain awareness of the threat posed by aglobal epidemic of avian influenza inhumans, and to help organizations plan forbusiness continuity during such an event,the University of Minnesota’s Center forInfectious Disease Research and Policy(CIDRAP) has signed a contract with glob-al assistance firm International SOS to pro-vide organizations with access to theCIDRAP Business Source Web-based sub-scription information service. The servicewill be supplied to International SOSclients as part of the firm’s subscription-based Pandemic Information Service (PIS).

As the number of people and animalsthat 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-scaleoperations disruption. As evidenced by the2003 SARS outbreak in Asia and Canadathat crippled the airline and tourism indus-tries in those regions, a precipitous loss ofrevenue can result when planning for infec-tious disease emergencies is inadequate.

Together, the complementary CIDRAPand PIS information services will provide acomprehensive resource for practical infor-mation available to business, nonprofit andgovernment leaders, to help prepare theirorganizations for an influenza pandemic orother widespread health emergency.

— Center for Infectious Disease Research &Policy; International SOS

10 | CPM-GA May 2007

During the past three months, through this series, we’ve discussedorganization, designing for results and exercising with confidence.

This last article in this series is intended to take what we’ve learnedduring the exercise and enhance and improve the process for futuresuccess.

Take a deep breath … the exercise is over. It’s time to analyze thefindings from the exercise for continual improvement in the overallbusiness continuity program. It’s also time to take stock and look athow well things went from a planning and design perspective. Whatwere the things that didn’t go quite so well that can be tweaked beforeyour next exercise?

STEP 1: POST-EXERCISE After the exercise has been completed, gather all information fromthe recovery room (evaluations, notes and flipchart pages) to analyzeat a later time.

Send a “thank you” e-mail or note to those on the observation anddesign/simulation teams and the exercise assistant to show yourappreciation. You may need their help in the future. Better yet, theywill be seasoned veterans at the next exercise. Maintain a list of will-ing participants for future exercises.

Taking the FearOut of BC

Exercises: ABlueprint for

SuccessPart IV: Enhance, improve, succeed

By Telva Chase

STEP 2: READ AND ANALYZE THE EXERCISE EVALUATIONSGo through the evaluation forms you collected at the end of theexercise. Did the participants feel the exercise went well? If not, takecriticism as opportunities to improve. If you are new to the world oforchestrating exercises, be glad that people shared their feedbackwith 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 improvementsin 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 hardto understand and often needs further explanation. Instead, contactthe participant by telephone, or speak to them in person if possible.

Look for consistent results in the evaluations, but do not dismissthe one response that may differ from the others. Why one personwas willing to make this comment and others were not may besomething to explore. Analyze why responses were made and whatcan be done to improve the results.


Revise your evaluation form for the next exercise to see if moreconstructive information may be given in a different format. And don’tforget to include all written comments in the post-exercise document.

STEP 3: REVIEW VERBAL FEEDBACKGo through the notes made during the feedback session. What com-ments came up multiple times? Analyze the comments and add themto the appropriate list of needed improvements (external or internal).Assign appropriate participants to action items and assign due dates forthe external list. You may have had time to have a discussion duringthe feedback session and already agreed on action items and dates.

Throw out items on the internal list that are beyond your control ornot within your area of influence. Also, update the post-exercise doc-ument with feedback and findings, recommended improvement andaction Items. Be sure to assign responsible parties and due dates foraction items.

STEP 4: EXERCISE FOLLOW-UPPublish 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 thedocument 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 IMPROVEMENTSUsing the list of needed improvements, determine where adjustmentscan be made to the exercise documentation. Run through the exerciseplanning cycle with the list.

Meet with the team and brainstorm for enhancements andimprovements to the exercise program. Adjust any internal notes toinclude comments from the list so they won’t be forgotten.

The following points outline proper planning and follow-throughthat 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 aretaken by surprise by an outcome during a scenario, the plan was notwell-thought out.

• Think about the aftermath of a disaster: How will employees feel onan 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 theinternal list will be negligible and the exercises will be run effectivelyand efficiently.

SUMMARYContinual improvement is the key for a successful exercise program.Just as business continuity plans are dynamic and require continualimprovement as the organization changes, so, too, the exercise pro-gram, process or procedures need to be self-adjusting over time tomeet the needs of the participants and overall organizational goals.

About the AuthorTelva Chase has more than 27 years of software engineering and seven yearsof full-time BC/DR experience. In 2002, she created and currently is thedirector of the business continuity program office for Thomson Scientific &Healthcare (www.thomson.com). Questions and comments may be directedto [email protected].

The World at Your FingertipsWant the latest breaking business continuity news stories when it’s convenient for you? Look no further than

www.ContingencyPlanning.com. Exclusive Web updates are added every weekday to ensure you don’t miss a step.

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SURVEY LOOKS AT EMEA DATA-RELATED BUSINESS CONTINUITY,DISASTER RECOVERY PRACTICESAn independent survey, commissioned byHitachi Data Systems and carried out byVanson Bourne, has looked at the datastorage practices of 950 companies acrossvarious EMEA countries.

Respondents were asked to list the threeareas that caused them the greatest con-cern with regards to data management.“Managing the explosion of storagegrowth” 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 anddisaster recovery (34 percent).

Respondents in Russia were the mostconcerned about backup and disasterrecovery (50 percent), followed by respon-dents in Switzerland (42 percent) andPoland (42 percent). UK respondents werethe least worried about this issue, with only19 percent stating that this was a currentconcern.

The survey asked respondents, “Whenwas your disaster recovery/business conti-nuity strategy last tested?” The UK came inat the bottom of the league in this area.Overall, 40 percent of respondents hadtested their business continuity and/or dis-aster recovery strategy within the pastthree months; however, only 7 percent ofUK respondents had done so. Norway andthe Benelux region both checked in at 30percent. Austria and the Czech Republicwere the best performers, with 54 percentof respondents saying that testing had beencarried out in the past three months.

Offsite tape backup remains the maindisaster recovery method, with 52 percentof respondents focusing on this issue.Utilization of a third-party disaster recoverysite 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 inthis area, with third-party disaster recoverysite usage being the top method (37 per-cent) followed by offsite tape backup (24percent). Israel is the greatest user of offsitetape 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 percent2) Czech Republic: 34 percent3) Germany: 27 percent4) Norway: 24 percent5) Switzerland, Finland: 22 percent.

— Hitachi Data Systems

RAPID RESPONSE IS KEY TOMANAGING REPUTATION CRISESIn the business world, it’s a fact of life thatcompanies sometimes let their customersdown. Regardless of the severity of the let-down, all companies have a vested interestin addressing such “performance failures”in a way that encourages customers tokeep coming back.

How companies work to retain cus-tomers after disappointing them and howcustomers respond to such entreaties is thesubject of a new study co-authored byMichael Brady, associate professor of mar-keting at Florida State University. Brady anda colleague, Michelle L. Roehm of WakeForest University, have written “Consumerresponses to performance failures by high-equity brands,” which is published in thecurrent issue of the Journal of ConsumerResearch.

“Consumers expect a lot from high-equi-ty brands,” Brady says. “Because of this,when brands fail us we may be especiallydisappointed and become less enamoredof the brand. In fact, we may become sodisillusioned that our opinion of that branddips below even that of less prestigiousbrands.”

Ironically, he says, the more severe theperformance failure, the less likely it is toharm a company’s reputation, at least in

the short term.“Imagine you’re a traveler dealing with a

sizable flight delay,” says Brady. “Afterreceiving an announcement, many ques-tions may swirl in your mind: What causedthe delay? How will it be rectified? What isthe revised departure estimate? Whatassurance is there that the new time will behonored? How can I make the best of thesituation? You might begin making phonecalls to reschedule meetings at the destina-tion. You might also weigh grabbing lunchin the airport and buying a magazine to killtime. You might even ponder rebooking onanother flight and/or searching for a hotelreservation, if you suspect the initial flightwill ultimately be canceled.”

“Put simply, the rush of questions andplans that is brought on by the flight delayappears to occupy available mind spacethat you otherwise might spend assigningblame and re-evaluating the brand in waysthat may be detrimental to its equity. Inshort, the need to grapple with a substan-tial problem may provide a temporarybuffer that protects the company’s reputa-tion,” he continues.

Such a buffer, however, appears to beshort-lived.

“Once the problem is understood andcoping begins, a consumer’s negative re-evaluation may commence. The lesson formanagers is that, after serious lapses in per-formance, there may be a brief window oftime in which a failed brand remains rela-tively unharmed,” says Brady. “Strong mar-keters will use this temporary reprievewisely, rectifying whatever has gone wrongbefore the consumer permanently changeshis opinion of the brand.”

Failure to do so can come at a high costto the company’s bottom line. Brady pointsto other studies indicating that an unhappycustomer will relate his experience witheight to 10 other potential customers, caus-ing exponential damage to the company’sreputation.

Companies with high-equity brands

INTERNATIONAL NEWSGlobalAssurance


must look for ways to “soften the blow”when they have underperformed. Bradysays, “The worst possible thing a companycan do is give an unhappy customer timeto stew over the situation.”

— Continuity Central

SMALL PERCENTAGE OF FINANCIALSERVICES FIRMS ON TRACK WITHMIFID PREPARATIONSSunGard, a provider of software and pro-cessing solutions for financial services, andTradeTech, a research firm, say, accordingto the firms’ joint MiFID readiness survey,only 13 percent of financial services firmsare confident that they are on track tomeet new MiFID regulations. More than60 percent of respondents indicated thattheir preparations for the directive stillrequired some work, despite the rapidlyapproaching November deadline.

The survey results, taken from the thirdin a quarterly series of polls undertaken bySunGard and TradeTech, reinforce those ofan earlier poll in which more than 65 per-cent of respondents admitted that theywere yet to even identify or plan opera-tional budgets to meet the demands of thedirective.

With only three European countriesmeeting the Jan. 31 deadline for transposi-tion of MiFID regulations to local law, 63percent of those surveyed believed that,even if other EU countries failed to meet

the November deadline, those countriesthat were on track should not delay theirown implementations. This responsecomes despite respondents’ concerns thatMiFID-ready countries may be placed at acompetitive disadvantage to those fallingbehind. Forty-six percent of those surveyedalso stated that they remained concernedthat their own national regulators wouldadd further complexity to MiFID throughthe imposition of national laws and addi-tional guidance.

Carl James, head of Portfolio Services forHenderson Global Investors Ltd, says,”There is a feeling from some people with-in the UK that there are some countriesthat probably will not be ready byNovember and maybe they are thinking tothemselves ‘it doesn’t apply to us’. I amsure it will eventually but perhaps after theNovember 2007 deadline.”

Recordkeeping is an area of concernwithin MiFID. More than 65 percent ofrespondents indicated that they wouldeither struggle to handle the new require-ments proposed by the CESR (Committeeof European Securities Regulators), or thatthey were unable as yet to ascertain theimpact of these proposals.

The survey results are now beginning toshow an increased level of consistency inthe industry’s attitudes, implying that atleast understanding of MiFID and itsimpact is solidifying. Once again,

exchanges were generally agreed by overhalf the respondents as being most likelyto suffer from MiFID in the next 10 years.Best execution for equities remains oneof the biggest challenges for firms: Only23 percent of firms believe they willknow how to ensure best execution bythe end of April, with most (62 percent)estimating an August/September time-line. More than 70 percent of firmsexpect to use “post-trade statistical analy-sis” to ensure best execution, with morethan 45 percent expecting to do pre-trade analysis and more than 40 percentto use manual reviews.

Richard Thornton, head of MiFID con-sulting at SunGard Consulting Services,says, “Many buy-side firms are nowexpecting to opt down to professionalstatus, with the impact that many willbecome systematic internalizers. Of thosesurveyed, 25 percent of buy-side firmsnow believe they will become systematicInternalizers within the next five years –a significant increase from 6 months ago.”

Since its launch in September 2006,more than 400 participants from globalinvestment banks, institutional and pri-vate asset managers, consultancies andexchanges from across Europe, the USand Asia have responded to theSunGard-TradeTech MiFID readiness sur-vey.

— SunGard; TradeTech

For all the latest industry news, you only need to look to one source – the CPM Industry Insider. Published each month, Industry Insider gives you easy access to breaking news from around the world – all in one conventient e-newsletter delivered directly to your desktop. Log on to www.contingencyplanning.com and click Free e-Newsletters to register.


Building anArchive

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 likewalking a high-wire without a net. Corporate victims of disaster oftenface a long road to recovery, requiring time and resources to rebuildIT infrastructures, return critical business applications in operationalstatus and, most importantly, recover vital enterprise application dataand business information.

Today, every organization in every industry relies on enterpriseapplications to collect, create and process increasing volumes of datato support daily business activities. But as application databases con-tinue to grow, the amount of data that must be recovered becomesdaunting. As a result, companies are placing increased emphasis onimproving the way enterprise data is stored and managed.

To achieve this objective, IT organizations are recognizing the valueof an enterprise data management strategy that includes databasearchiving to safeguard historical data and speed recovery, all whilelowering costs and risks. As a recognized best practice, databasearchiving enables companies to shorten the time to recovery to meetbusiness continuity objectives.


ARCHIVING FACILITATES FASTER RECOVERY Unprecedented data growth continues to threaten business continuityplans, expanding database backup and recovery windows and slowingthe recovery process by hours or even days. Although implementingmore 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 historicaldata, both types of data are copied to a “recovery” storage medium,which increases the amount of data to recover, expanding recoverytime. For example, even with the most sophisticated business continuityplan, an insurance company will still need to recover 10 years of closedclaims 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 separatesessential from non-essential data, many companies can safely reduce thesize of overloaded databases by up to 50 percent or more during theinitial 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 theproduction 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 businesscontinuity plan: the recovery point objective (RPO) and the recoverytime objective (RTO). Defining the level of data loss (RPO) and down-time that can be tolerated for each application (RTO) helps determinethe 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 aftera disaster. If the recovery point is within minutes, asynchronous – or off-line – replication may be suitable. Tape backup is a suitable strategy ifrecovery can be acceptably undertaken back to a period days or weeksprior to the disaster.

With archiving, it is easier to manage database size and accommodatedesired disaster recovery windows and business continuity objectiveswhile 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 reducesthe 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 datafrom production databases and effectively manage archived data whileproviding 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 bearchived to preserve the business context of the data for audit andreporting purposes, and these capabilities support your data retentioncompliance requirements. Capabilities for compressing archived datasignificantly reduce storage requirements. Capabilities for managingarchives on a variety of storage media provide a natural complement totiered storage strategies and enable full-lifecycle data management toreduce costs.

A comprehensive database archiving solution must do several things:It must preserve the business context of the data; it must safely removeit from the production database environment; and it must allow for stor-age on a variety of cost-effective and secure storage devices. The idealarchiving 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). Businessusers need capabilities to view and report on both current and histori-cal data, whenever needed.

Typical alternatives for accessing archived data include native – orapplication-based – access and application-independent access. Forexample, native access allows the user to interact with archived datathrough the original application interface. Business users can access theinformation, using familiar formats and processes. Application-independ-ent access provides the most flexible range of access alternatives over thelife of the archive, enabling authorized users to interact with archivesusing industry standard methods, such as ODBC/JDBC, XML tools andreport writers. Most importantly for business continuity, application-independent access allows the user to future-proof the data, whichmakes 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 activitysafely removes it to a secure archive and keeps it easily accessible.


Combining archiving with tiered storage strategies can play asignificant role in a business continuity plan to offer additionalcost reductions over time. For example, when the cost to provideoptimal production-level access and performance outweighs thebusiness value of the data, it is beneficial to move data fromhigh-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 andrecovery windows, and routine backup processing ensures themost recent copy of operational data is available for recovery inthe event of a system failure, accidental file deletion or disaster.Consistent backup processing ensures that operational data canbe 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 schedulesassign a rolling window or short-term retention period for savingbackup data. The backup is overwritten after each rotation so thebackup media can be reused.

Successful recovery depends on the frequency and the qualityof backup procedures. With ongoing archiving, there is less datato backup and restore, which can significantly reduce backupand recovery times. Additionally, some IT organizations back upthe archived data for recovery on an as-needed basis. Databasebackup should not be considered as a replacement for databasearchiving – or vice versa. Deployed in tandem, these two bestpractices complement each other to improve business continuityand IT processes.

ARCHIVING MITIGATES RISK AND REDUCES COSTHot, cold and warm alternative disaster recovery sites may bechosen, 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 rangeinto 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 bothon-site and hot-site data centers to reduce costs. Managingarchived data backups at the hot site also provides the lowestrisk option and ensures that all current and historical dataremains accessible.

In contrast, a cold site is the most inexpensive alternativebecause there is no hardware setup. Implementing databasearchiving with a cold site disaster recovery plan reduces risk inboth on-site and cold-site data center because historical data issaved to secure storage devices and remains accessible.

A warm site’s cost and risk lies between those of the hot- andcold-site alternatives, allowing a business continuity plan to meetspecific business requirements. Again – implementing a databasearchiving strategy can reduce costs and risks, based on the appli-cations and the RTO and RPO data management policies.

INCLUDE ARCHIVING IN YOUR BUSINESS CONTINUITYPLAN Enterprise data management capabilities that include databasearchiving 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 recoveryplan.

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 forrecovery.

• Define the data to archive based on business policies. Scheduleroutine archive processing as needed to keep databases man-ageable.

• Select appropriate archive storage media based on the businessvalue and access requirements for each type of data.

• Update backup procedures to include archived data. • Selectthe appropriate low-cost storage media for database backups toensure recovery and reuse.

Developing an effective business continuity plan involves cre-ating a team representing IT and all business sectors of theorganization, including legal and risk teams, to identify criticalresources and functions and to determine which operations getthe highest priority. Including database archiving as an importantcomponent in the business continuity plan ensures data recoverywithin an acceptable time frame to resume business operationsas quickly as possible.

About the AuthorMarshall Shah has spent the last 10 years in the enterprise softwareindustry. 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 LucentTechnologies and Cabletron Systems. Questions and comments maybe directed to [email protected].

NOTE: Stop by the Exhibit Hall during CPM 2007 WEST tolearn more about our partner, Princeton Softech. To registfor CPM 2007 WEST log on to www.Contingency-Planning.com.


GlobalAssurance

APOGEE COMMUNICATIONSGROUP RELEASES NEWEMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DVDApogee Communications Group hasreleased its newest health and safetyDVD titled “Emergency Preparedness –Awareness & Survival DVD.” The educa-tional program gives important tips andhow-to instructions about planning formost types of disruptions from poweroutages, hurricanes, pandemics, dirtybombs and other acts of terrorism. Withmore than 20 years’ experience cover-ing major news stories for network tele-vision news, being a firefighter andEMT, producer Arthur Levy has seenthe results of many disasters. The pro-gram contains potentially life savinginformation and tips, including how touse a fire extinguisher, obtaining safedrinking water and how to store foodfor emergency use. The DVD is availableonline, 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 UNVEILEDCampa USA has been offering itsCampa All Terrain Trailers, such as theCampa All Terrain Trailer and theCampa Disaster Reconnaissance System,to government organizations, disastermanagement personnel and outdoorenthusiasts. Now the Campa ExpeditionVehicle System is available for purchaseby the general public. A 2007 ToyotaTacoma serves as the build platform. Themodular design easily transfers to othertruck makes and models. It is designedfor new vehicles and is a completely self-contained survival system. Optionsinclude a fridge/freezer, hot water show-er, sleeping quarters for four, a17-gallonwater tank, water purification, fully fit-ted oak kitchen unit, protective cases,GPS, a mobile communication systemand other survival components. An

optional mobile communication packageis also offered. Most components arefabricated of stainless steel and alu-minum to handle harsh and extremeconditions encountered in disasters andremote expedition environments.

www.campausa.com

SMB STORAGE OFFERINGS HP StorageWorks division has intro-duced three new storage offerings toprovide affordable solutions for growingSMBs. The new HP StorageWorks D2DBackup 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 ITenvironments and can be configuredand managed in three steps. Daily back-ups become fully automatic, reducing

the risk of human error and hardwareproblems. With browser-based remotemanagement, HP StorageWorksMSL8096 Tape Library meets a range ofdata storage needs, including unattend-ed backup, archive and disaster recov-ery. It offers up to 76TB of compressedstorage capacity in an 8U form factorand is available in a variety of configura-tions. HP AiO1200 helps store, share,manage and protect growing pools ofapplication and file data. The high-per-formance controller in a 12-drive arrayallows storage to be allocated at a gran-ular level depending on businessdemands. It features mixed drive sup-port, which lets customers leverage thecost efficiencies of serial ATA with thespeed and reliability of serial-attachedSCSI.

www.hp.com

21st Century Software

All Road Communications

Association of Contingency Planners

Dialogic CommunicationsCorporation

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, formerlyEnvoyWorldWide

Virtual Corporation

Vision Solutions

Y12 National Security Complex

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2007 05 global assurance magazine

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