NYS Forum Business Continuity Committee Meeting

Date: Held : 2/18/2009 @ 2:00 PM
CGI offices, Corporate Woods, Albany
From: Tom Luther and Mark Spreitzer

Discussion Topic

Agencies represented:
Tax & Finance - Janine Messina
NYS Housing and Community Renewal - Richard Siek
DOS - Steve Conant
OSC - Tom Luther, Keith Farrell, Chad Erickson
CGI - Mark Spreitzer, Jim Hewitt
DCS - Bill Barber
DHCR - Dave Dietrich
State Insurance Fund - Charles Race
Tailwind - Tim Gallagher
State Police - Doug Friedman
NYS Housing and Community Renewal - Richard Siek
Department of Labor - Steve Koslowski

Table go-around, with updates on BC-related activities

During introductions, attendees reported on business continuity and DR related activities at their agencies.

  • Doug Friedman noted that NYSPIN links to F.B.I. and many other databases; OFT handles NYSPIN system support and disaster recovery. He said a disaster exercise is planned for the Hawthorne Barracks, where DOT and SEMO share the space at the site. Fiscal issues have delayed this test; some training is being conducted in the meantime
  • Steve Conant said OFT had requested an update on State's mission critical functions
  • Charles Race from NYSIF said he's "between B.C. and D.R.," and that NYSIF has no B.C. owner. Their I.T. is supported by NYSIF personnel, and they do synchronize over a SAN between Albany and Syracuse.
  • Tim Gallagher from Tailwind said his company has provided some B.C.-type consulting in the past, and he was there to learn more about contemporary issues.
  • Richard Siek said his agency has a strong B.C. commitment at the executive level. The commissioner and executive deputy have both been through disasters, plus their agency would have a big role in any recovery operation. (The commissioner is a veteran HUD.)
  • Dave Dietrich had been at DHCR for 20 years; he's excited about the recent focus on B.C./D.R. (a C.I.O. working group on B.C./D.R. which includes himself and Sharon Davies is being established).
  • Bill Barber said Civil Service's mainframe is maintained by OFT. They also have their own data center at the Alfred E. Smith building. They've started some B.C. work, and have secured space at the SEMO data center. They fully rely on tapes now, he said. He said the agency's most important function is the administration of health insurance benefits for State employees.
  • Janine Messina said recent BC tests have been completed.
  • Steve Koslowski, Internal Controls Officer for Labor, said they have a July completion for a BC project being performed by a consultant. They are also progressing on NY-ALERT.

HSEEP presentation

Keith Farrell and Chad Erickson from OSC gave a presentation about their recent attendance at a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) class. It dealt with exercise evaluation and improvement planning. In addition, they demonstrated some features of the HSEEP Toolkit, a Web-based application available on FEMAs site that assists users with planning and evaluating exercises.

  • Registration to the site is required but access is provided free to agencies
  • The tool can be used to setup your program and though options you would be able to trigger additional planning activities
  • The tools interfaces with MS Office platforms so you can upload your exercise plans in MS Word or Excel formats
  • Observation is that 80% of your exercise level of effort is actually in the pre-planning of the event, coordinating with resources and reviewing plans Following the HSEEP toolkit may enable you to reduce the number and duration of exercises at alternate facilities by identifying gaps before the event.

Open Discussion

It was suggested that Mark Spreitzer sanitize a COOP plan CGI developed for a customer. Mark said it would be better - since most attendees were from government - to look at a plan that was developed for use by a State agency Mark went on to state that he finds that the collective review from peers provides a more open and active involvement in the process of "thinking different" about how a plan is constructed and felt that choosing a plan from a state agency would be reflective of some of the common culture and challenges each member faces. Tom Luther agreed to use the OSC plan as a sample to review at the next meeting.

Announcements

Mark Spreitzer and Tom Luther have been asked to discuss integrating BC into the Project Management lifecycle with the NYS Forum Project Management Community of Practice (COP). As a result, Mark Spreitzer will be co-presenting a joint topic with the Security Committee on March 24 in Meeting Room 6 of the Empire State Plaza starting at 2:30 - 4:00 PM. Please try to attend and invite project or program management resources from your agencies.

Action Items

Action Item
Notify Co-Chairs of suggested agenda items.
Owner
Committee Members
Due Date
ASAP
 

Next Meeting: March 18, 2009 2:00 to 4:00 at CGI offices at 12 Corporate Woods Boulevard

Additional Documents of Reference

None