You Are Here: Business Continuity Committee
Co-Chairs
Christopher Lloyd,
Keane Inc.,
(518) 432-3209 x 279
Tom Luther,
Office of the State Comptroller,
(518) 474-9929
About
The objective of the Business Continuity committee is to work in collaboration with state and local agencies and representatives of the IT Corporate Roundtable to develop education and training opportunities and tools that address business continuance planning needs. The absence of a clearly defined regulatory driver in the governmental sector for business continuity planning continues to make it a low priority for many entities. However, in recent years an increasing number of unplanned events have reminded prudent executives why business continuity planning is a wise investment. This committee seeks to increase the awareness of, and to offer assistance with, business continuity planning methods, and to provide a focal point for information sharing and collaboration.
The Committee is in the process of reaching out to State and Local Government Agencies to solicit contact information of representatives performing, or interested in developing, Business Continuity Planning or Disaster Recovery related activities. This Committee welcomes your involvement as we work with state and local agencies on BCP education and training, and to prioritize and engage the initiatives identified at the NYS Forum's annual Strategic Planning Meeting. If you have an interest in getting involved please contact one of the co-chairs, Tom Luther (TLuther@osc.state.ny.us), or Chris Lloyd (Christopher.Lloyd@Keane.com).
The NYS Forum's Business Continuity Committee Co-Chairs are pleased to announce the availability of the updated version of the "Online Business Continuity Health Check." The original version of the "health check" was released by The Forum in March 2002 and was developed following September 11 in response to the heightened concern in both public and private sectors that organizations be fully prepared to continue business operations in the face of disastrous events, whether resulting from natural causes or malicious attacks.
The new BC Health Check is designed to provide an organization with an indication of the status of emergency preparedness and business continuity readiness and provides suggestions, primarily based upon best practices, for addressing shortcomings. The Health Check is a tool that an organization can use to increase awareness and generate executive support on the importance of emergency planning. The "health check" is not intended, nor was it designed, to replace the deliberate, agency-wide risk assessment and contingency planning process that is inherent to a well designed and frequently updated business continuity plan.
The NYS Forum Executive Leadership and the Business Continuity Committee are concerned that planning for emergency response, business continuity and disaster recovery is not made a high priority in NYS Government. This issue was thoroughly discussed in a white paper completed in 2002 (Supporting the Public's Business: Continuity Planning & NYS Government) that is available on the Forum web site ( http://www.nysforum.org/resources/publications/reports/ html, pdf). Most of the issues presented in that document still remain today. It is our hope that the Business Continuity Health Check can help to generate a higher interest and commitment to business continuity planning in State Government. The Health Check is available at http://www.nysforum.org/resources/bcphealthcheck/.