NYS Forum Business Continuity Work Group Meeting

Date: Held : June 23, 2010 @ 1:30 PM
CGI offices, Corporate Woods, Albany

Discussion Topic

Attendance

  • CGI - Mark Spreitzer
  • DHCR - Richard Siek
  • IPLogic - Scott Elliott
  • NYSDOL - Mallory Curley
  • NYSDMV - Mary Kozlowski
  • NYSED - Ken Mason
  • SEMO - Dave DeMatteo

Member updates

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

  • Mark Spreitzer, CGI-recently attended 3 security conferences & has information to share
  • Ken Mason, NYSED - Found the IT DR plans have been useful in planning for possible State government shutdown scenarios
  • Dave DeMatteo, SEMO-legislature recently approved merging of emergency services agencies
  • Richard Siek, DHCR-COOP draft is being reviewed by management; working on a DR database
  • Mary Kozlowski, NYS DMV-good progress being made with COOP; agency is leveraging software from Bold Planning; learning how to deal with a unique notification challenge: 2/3 of employees do not have email
  • Mallory Curley, DOL-progress being made on hiring a Supervisor of Emergency Management; more than 90% of staff have taken NIMS training
  • Scott Elliott, IPLogic-available to support BC work group in capacity of Corporate Co-chair

NYS Forum Updates

  • It's important that BC work group members participate in the NYS Forum Strategic Planning Meeting being held on July 16, 2010.
  • During discussion of Emerging Technologies Work Group event on Social Media, it was suggested that we secure a representative from Web 2.0 Consolidated Task Group to discuss with us social media usage in disaster response.

Takeaways from the World Conference on Disaster Management (WCDM); Contingency Planning and Management (CPM) 2010 West and the CANSEC security conference

  • Mark suggested that work group members review the agendas from the CPM West 2010 and WCDM conference tracts to see if there is a specific interest in any of the tracts from events
  • Topics of interest can be presented as 'repeat performances' or session materials may be distributed depending upon interest

Discussion of Upcoming Strategic Planning Goals and Objectives

  • Mark offered to perform a Testing, Training & Exercise Manual Creation session; a repeat of a session at WCDM. About 3 hours in length.
  • Discussed creating an "Introduction to Business Continuity Learning Track" to educate agency personnel on the various types of available training and certification; how to know what training may be valuable to support the mission of the agency.
  • Discussed an encore of NY Alert: a presentation/demonstration from a user's perspective rather than an architectural overview. This would be done following the deployment of the new version.
  • Ken discussed hosting a Business Continuity Planning session put on by Gartner in the fall. If we can get Forum-wide exposure, Gartner will perform the session at no charge.

NYS Cyber Security Conference Update

Ken Mason highlighted a session that he found valuable at the 2010 CSCIC conference. The concept of "RSO" or "Recovery Strategic Objective". RTO and RPO are often used as recovery targets. The suggestion was made to plan for "RSO"; in other words 'procedures that will be implemented while primary systems are unavailable'.

Action Items

Action Item
Rolling List of Possible Session Topics
  • Infrastructure recovery of DR and how virtualization can play a role in helping to reduce cost, offered as a panel discussion with a few vendors
  • Auditor Panel Discussion
  • Partner with the Emerging Technologies work group to request a representative from Web 2.0 Consolidated Task Group discuss with us social media usage in disaster response
Owner
Mark Spreitzer
Due Date
N/A
Action Item
Represent BC Work Group at Strategic Planning Meeting
Owner
Ken Mason
Due Date
July 16
Action Item
Work with Rebecca and Greg regarding scheduling a date that would work for the Gartner opportunity and posting a call for speakers to support NYS Forum process
Owner
Ken Mason
Due Date
September

Next Meeting: September 15, 2010, 1:30 PM to 3:30PM at CGI offices in Corporate Woods

  • Participants agreed to forego the July 2010 meeting in favor of encouraging participation in the Strategic Planning Session on July 17.
  • As per NYS Forum tradition, there will be no meeting scheduled for August due to vacations availability