NYS Forum

The NYS Forum, Inc. and The International Consortium for Organizational Resilience (ICOR) Offer Business Continuity Management Seminar in Albany, New York

On February 2nd in Albany, New York a three day seminar entitled "Essentials of Business Continuity Management" was kicked off by leadership of The NYS Forum and ICOR.  The Forum and ICOR are not-for-profit educational organizations and joined in this endeavor to address what has been in the planning by The Forum's Business Continuity Work Group for several years.  Tom Luther, formerly (since retired) of the NYS Office of the State Comptroller and Co-Chair of The Forum's Business Continuity Work Group provided a welcome to the attendees.  Mr. Luther was instrumental in leading the work to develop the course content and the partnership with ICOR.

The seminar is being offered to twenty four New York State employees responsible for and/or actively involved in business continuity planning in their respective New York state agencies.  The three day program provides the knowledge needed to develop an actionable business continuity program for state agencies and provides the foundation necessary for new and current professionals interested in seeking business continuity certification and/or a career in a business continuity program in their own state organization.

Lynnda Nelson, ICOR President, indicated that "the partnership that led to developing a course specifically shaped by The Forum's Business Continuity Work Group, is a fine example of how practical education and training needs can drive creation of programs that are fully addressed to meet those needs."

Gregory Benson, NYS Forum Executive Director, indicated that "this seminar was the culmination of work that was initiated and spanned several years.  It began soon after 911 when business continuity planning was consistently ranked as a first priority by Forum membership and continued in that position for many years.  The persistence of those associated with The Forum's Business Continuity Work Group, in particular our previous Chair Tom Luther, the current Work Group leadership and members, and the ICOR commitment to working with us, all contributed to making this first seminar a success.  We are hopeful that we can offer more of these valuable seminars in the future and are confident that those trained at this session will be a valuable resource to other state agency staff."

For further information about The NYS Forum and the Business Continuity Work Group, visit: http://www.nysforum.org/committees/businesscontinuity/

NYS Cyber Security Director Addresses The NYS Forum's Executive Council

William F. Pelgrin, Director of the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC) addressed The NYS Forum's Executive Council at its monthly meeting on Friday, January 08, 2010, at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York.  

Mr. Pelgrin began his presentation with a review of initiatives at the national level and cited several types of malicious cyber tactics that are gaining prominence.  He also stressed the importance for New York state to have close working relationships with the Federal physical and cyber security organizations and underscored that the working relationship between New York and Federal organizations had never been better.

Mr. Pelgrin spent considerable time reviewing the work and resources of CSCIC and spoke specifically about the vulnerabilities inherent to phishing and the use of various social networking tools.  He also reminded those in attendance that the draft policy on the use of social media (P09-001) had been released for comment and that comments are due by January 29, 2010.

CSCIC has a variety of resources and tools available for state and local governments and information concerning those resources and contact information is available at: http://www.cscic.state.ny.us/

NOTE:
The NYS Forum's next Executive Council meeting is Friday, February 12, 2010 and will feature a presentation by Alan Lebowitz of Governor Paterson's Office of Taxpayer Accountability.  The meeting will begin at 8:30am in the Huxley Theatre in the NYS Museum Building in Albany, New York.

Forum Seminar Addresses The Role of A Business Analyst

On Tuesday, December 15, 2009 The NYS Forum's IT Skills Development and Project Management Work Groups co-hosted a seminar entitled "Becoming a Successful Business Analyst".  The seminar addressed how good business analysts develop stakeholder relationships and work with stakeholders to elicit, analyze, document, communicate, and manage requirements through a project life cycle.

James Nicol, Co-Chair of the IT Skills Development Work Group provided a welcome and introduced of the panel of presenters.  Presenters and their topics included:

• Caryn Quinn of Technodyne on "What Makes a Successful Analyst?"
• Paul Franz and Angie Musa of NYSTEC on "The role of the Business Analyst"
• Katheen Barret, IIBA President on "Business Analyst and Project Management Roles: How They Interact and Interrelate"

The seminar was adjourned by James Nicol.

Presentations made at this seminar are available at: http://www.nysforum.org/events/BA_12152009/

NYS Forum and CATA Co-Host Holiday Event

On Monday, December 7, 2009 The NYS Forum, Inc. and the Capitol Area Technology Association (CATA) co-hosted a Holiday Event at the Italian American Community Center in Albany, New York.

Attended by nearly 150 Forum and CATA members, the event featured a presentation by Melissa Ward, Founder of NewWard Development, LLC, a web development firm that provides assistance with leveraging the social media to enhance achieving business objectives.  Ms. Ward's presentation will focus on social media tools.