Planning for the Future Disaster Recovery Plan / Business Continuity Plan

Planning for the FutureDisaster Recovery Plan / Business Continuity

Plan

Jim Zukowski, Ed.D.Texas State Board of Dental

Examiners

2006 Annual Conference

Alexandria, Virginia

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation

Expect the Unexpected: Are We Clearly Prepared?

Presented at the 2006 CLEAR Annual ConferenceSeptember 14-16 Alexandria, Virginia

Planning for the Future

In the wake of HurricanesKatrina and Rita, morefocused attention has beenplaced on developing abusiness continuity plan inthe event of a real disaster.

The aftermath of thosenatural disasters has servedas a wake up call for agenciesin the public and privatesector.


One point that became quite evident from Hurricane Katrina is that no one knew who was in charge.

State and local authorities had an Incident Command System in place, but no one utilized it.



Another lesson learnedfrom the disasters is that you have to take into account how much manpower you’ll have available to you.

Remember your first responders to an incident may not be able to report for work.



Communication outages during disastersare all too common. Remember how willyou be communicating with your staff ifall communication lines and links aredown. Blackberries, cell phones andother communication tools might as well be thrown out the window.



Let the public know that your servicesare interrupted. Convey a sincere but

consistent message regarding when you anticipate thatyour services will be operational again.



It is also essential to coordinate your continuity plan with other agencies that you regularly deal with. If possible, have a workingknowledge of their continuity

plans.



Think about any secondary

impacts that a disaster can

impose on your agency or business. It was clearly shown during Hurricane

Rita that the city of Houston did not have a clear transportation plan to evacuate its citizens systematically out of its town.



How does a small state agency of

30 individuals maintain a current and realistic Business Continuity Plan?



The goal of our Business Continuity

Plan is to develop advanced

arrangements and procedures

that will enable our board to

respond to a disaster so that…



Critical business functions resume within a defined timeframe, the amount of loss isminimized, and the damaged

facilities are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.



Any plan should cover the entireagency, which will include all of your business functions.



A risk analysis, which is apart of a normal businessoperation plan, is taken intoconsideration.

A risk analysis for any regulatory programshould include an assumption that thefunctional areas of a regulatory environment depend heavily upon automation informationsystems.



If your computer systemis down and/or destroyed, a solution would be to move the critical business functions to a disasterrecovery site, which in our

case, is the Austin Disaster RecoveryOperations Center.



Create a Disaster Recovery Management Team.

The purpose of this team will be todirect, coordinate and report to the head of the agency until full recoveryhas been accomplished.



The Disaster Recovery Management Team

is responsible for initial

damage assessment to

the facility, its offices

and business structure.



Other responsibilities include:

- Identify the extent of damage.- Identify communication problems.- Determine the condition of equipment/supplies.- Assess operational capability.- Define restoration requirements.- Assess equipment for salvaging. -- Schedule equipment for salvage and restoration. -- Monitor the salvage and restoration operation.



The team advises the head of the agency whether or not a disaster should be declared. Included in this assessment is the scope of the disaster and its effect on

entitiesother than that of your own

physicaloperation.



Set out your recovery operationsand include detailed tasks for

eachfunctional area of your operation.

For example, your Director of Licensing would go to their respective office(s), salvage files, and contact Licensing Staff regarding the disaster and whether or not they should report to work and where.



If your operation is moving to a new site, you need to establish a masterequipment list and master supply list that will keep your agency operational for the first 30 days of operation after the

disaster.



Establish a Disaster Recovery Box which would include, at a minimum:

Licensure packets, licenses, application packets, rules andregulations, your enabling legislation, strategic plan, and Disaster Recovery Planand Business Continuity Plan.



Have a list of current telephone numbersavailable It should include at a minimum:

- Other State Agencies

- Agency Staff and Board

- Vendors



Monitor the progress of the recovery. Set up a recovery log and track theprogress. Note any delays, because

theywill impact your restoration. Securedetailed costs involved in therestoration. This is especially important if no emergency funding relief has been granted.



Once your office location has beenrestored or a new home has been

established, preparefor a controlled moveback to your

permanentoffice.



The following needs should be takeninto consideration when establishing amove date:

- Equipment and furniture- Computer Network- Workstations and printers- Telephone Service- Start-up of normal business

processing.



A Disaster Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Plan will go a long way to reestablish afunctioning office

setting.



Have Questions?

Just ask Dr. Z !



Speaker Contact Information

Jim Zukowski, Ed.D.

Texas State Board of Dental Examiners333 Guadalupe, Tower 3, Suite 800

Austin, Texas 78701-3942

Phone: (512) 475-1660Fax: (512) 463-7452

E-Mail: [email protected]: www.tsbde.state.tx.us

Planning for the Future Disaster Recovery Plan / Business Continuity Plan

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