ALBANY, NY - March 7, 2002 - In response to the events of September 11th, The New York State Forum for Information Resource Management (the Forum) of the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York undertook a cooperative project with representatives of the information technology corporate sector to create a tool for government and corporate organizations to quickly gauge their readiness to recover and continue information technology business operations in the face of a major, unpredictable disruption of service. Called The Business Continuity Health Check, the collaborative work is a project of the Forum's NYS IT Corporate Roundtable and grows from heightened concerns in both public and private sectors that IT organizations be fully prepared to continue business operations in the face of disastrous events, whether resulting from natural causes or malicious attacks. As one of two projects being pursued by the Forum's NYS IT Corporate Roundtable, the initial concept for the "health check" was forged in December, 2001. Since that time the cooperation between the Forum's state and local government representatives and the corporate sectors has been focused on being fully responsive to organizational needs in as timely a way as possible.
As a tool, the Business Continuity Health Check is an Internet-based application developed to enable government and corporate organizations at all levels to quickly determine the adequacy of their planning and staffing capacity to address unanticipated outages of IT services and/or supporting infrastructures.
The content (questions) consists of components suggested in a Gartner research paper, integrates elements of the Aon workforce commitment assessment and draws upon suggestions made by Corporate Roundtable and Forum state and local government membership. The result is a survey instrument of approximately 40 questions. The questions and the paradigm for creating the resultant "organizational profile" have been carefully reviewed by Gartner business continuity experts and has been pilot tested by information management leadership in several New York state and local government organizations including the Office of General Services, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the Office of the State Comptroller and Schoharie County. The scope of the business continuity assessment tool is:
It is anticipated that an organization's CIO or equivalent would be the primary respondent to the health check. Once the questions are completed, the "health check" yields a high level profile of specific strengths and weaknesses evident in the organization's business continuity planning. The strengths and weaknesses are organized into major categories (each of which have diagnostic questions associated with them) in order to provide a level of focus and ability for follow-up in areas where it is apparent that assistance or further preparation may be required. Of particular interest to New York state and local governments, in instances where the resulting profile indicates the need for further work, the respondent is provided with a link to the New York State Office of General Services Procurement Services Group web page that contains specific links to New York State information technology contracts relevant to the specific area of business continuity weakness "diagnosed" by the health check. As a second level of referral, and also within each profile component, respondents are linked to New York State contracts held by members of the NYS IT Corporate Roundtable. In order to fully ensure that the online "health check" does not result in malicious use of profile information entered by the user organization, the data is only provided to the individual completing the "health check" while online and no information is stored once the profile is generated.
Mike LaFrancis, Gartner representative to the Forum's NYS IT Corporate Roundtable, commented that "the development of this tool from vision to online application in the last three months has been a uniquely efficient cycle benefiting from hard work by all members of the public and IT Corporate Roundtable team." Steve Frank, Oracle Regional Manager and Oracle's representative to the Forum's NYS IT Corporate Roundtable added, "The application development is, without doubt, an outstanding illustration of efficient development. However, to think that the New York State IT Corporate Roundtable was but a 'vision' seven months ago underscores just how much need and willingness there is to join together on 'neutral' ground to address the states' priority information management and telecommunications needs."
Commenting on the project, Gregory Benson, Executive Director of the Forum, indicated that "we believe the Business Continuity Health Check is an exemplar of what can be accomplished when corporate and public agencies focus on a shared priority in a straightforward, trusting partnership context. In this instance, a tool was created and it will be widely available to public and corporate organizations to undertake a quick, high-level assessment of their readiness for the unthinkable. Moreover, it links those organizations to providers of potential solutions in the areas where deficiencies may be evident. I could not be more pleased and grateful for the productive efforts of the Forum's public state and local membership and the members of the Forum's NYS IT Corporate Roundtable. Surely we will strive to improve this tool but this initial work has been a gratifying process and, most importantly, we feel the outcome underscores the value of the neutral and productive context that the Forum provides for creatively addressing public issues."
Government and corporate organizations interested in using the Business Continuity Health Check should visit the Forum's website at www.nysfirm.org. There is no charge for its use.
NYSFIRM is a member organization of information management leadership in New York state and local government organizations whose mission is to promote policies, practices and educational programs in support of the effective development, use and management of information resources in New York State.
The IT Corporate Roundtable is a project of the New York State Forum for Information Resource Management (The Forum) of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. The objective of the project is development of relationships and specific initiatives that improve the ability of New York state and local government organizations to efficiently develop, manage and maintain information management systems geared to provide enhanced services to New York's individual and organizational constituents. Membership in the IT Corporate Roundtable is open to all corporations with IT-related products and services of value to New York state and local governments.
For information regarding corporate membership or other NYSFIRM projects call (518) 443-5001 or email info@nysfirm.org. Visit NYSFIRM online at http://www.nysfirm.org.
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