Business Continuity Program Outline
April 12, 2005
Preface
This Business Continuity Program has been developed for the Dallas County Community College District’s Campus Division/Workgroups with assistance provided by the District’s Business Continuity Analyst Brigham Wilcoxson. The Program is intended to be a guideline for recovering time-sensitive functions in the event of a disruption (i.e., damage to the facility, a major computer system failure, or a significant area disruption).
All recommendations made by the Business Continuity Analyst are intended to provide a framework and guidelines for a workable business continuity program. Implementation of the Division/ Workgroup’s Business Continuity Program is the responsibility of the Campus Administration and the Division/Workgroup.
Recommendations Regarding the Program
Minimally, the Division/Workgroup should review the Program’s content for accuracy once a year. Preferably, the Division/Workgroup will review the Program’s contact (internal & external) information, computer system usage, and list of mission critical equipment once a quarter.
Using the Program’s documentation as a guide, with the assistance of the Business Continuity Analyst the Division/Workgroup will test or exercise the Program. Minimally, the Program should be tested once a year. Preferably, the Division/Workgroup will exercise mission critical portions multi-times a year. Exception items identified during the exercise(s) will be analyzed and resolution(s) determined.
Modifications will be incorporated into the Program on an as needed basis. The revised Program will be reprinted and distribution made to key personnel.
See Attachment L for Program’s distribution list.
Definitions:
Time-Sensitive Functions: Those types of functions if unable to execute would immediately cause the District an unacceptable level of financial loss, reduced customer service, or endanger lives.
Many people wrongly associate what is time-sensitive or critical with what is important. All
division/workgroups or service are important. Time-sensitive functions are people, services and hardware that without the organization cannot function. Many important division/workgroup and/or services can shut down for short periods of time without causing major disruption to the organization. Example: Christmas Break.
Disruption: Any occurrence, which compromises the ability of the division/workgroup to carry out its critical operational functions. These occurrences can range from a key employee in the hospital for an extended period, construction workers cutting fiber cables, denied access to the building for whatever reason, to a tornado causing major damage to a campus.
Overview
DCCCD Policy
District recognizes that prudent measures (i.e. Business Continuity Program) must be taken to mitigate the impact of potential disruptions on the District’s educational goals. The District is committed to ensuring that appropriate Business Continuity Programs and facilities are developed, tested, and maintained. DCCCD will continue to integrate Business Continuity strategies into its normal policies, procedures, and ways of doing business.
Purpose
The District is committed to preparing students for successful living and responsible citizenship in a rapidly changing local, national, and world community.
As part of this educational mission the District is also committed and obligated to protect its students, faculty, staff and visitors in the event of a "Disruption" and/or major interruption in the District's mission and operations.
District obligations extend to enabling each Division/Workgroup within the District to meet its individual obligations.
These Division/Workgroup obligations include insuring the ability to rapidly restore the services expected of them and to carry out functions critical to the mission of the District.
Failure to have a business continuity program could lead to interruption of academic classes, to financial losses, unnecessary injury, and delays in completing other mission critical activities.
Objectives
- Provide a level of safety and security for students, employees and facilities
- Identify time-sensitive systems, applications, and vital records.
- Provide for the continuity of the identified time-sensitive systems, applications, and vital records
- Minimize delay in recovering to pre-event level.
- Identify and outline responsibilities.
- Minimize the decision making during a "Disruption."
- Ensure continuation of service to customers.
- Compile information concerning equipment and inventory, vendor information, and emergency contact lists.
- Provide a standard for exercises, maintenance, and implementation of the continuity program.
- Improve the marketability of the District in the insurance market and lower insurance premiums.
- Receive positive media coverage as a result of advanced planning.
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Business Continuation Program’s Ownership
The Division/Workgroup Supervisor is the owner of the Division/Workgroup’s Business Continuity Program and is responsible for the Program’s accuracy, maintenance, and exercising of the program.
Assumptions
- A sufficient number of qualified personnel possessing the appropriate skills will be available to implement the recovery procedures.
- The event that causes the "Disruption" is localized to a specific functional area or campus. It is not a general "Disruption," such as a tornado affecting a large area of Dallas County.
- It should be noted; however, that in a general “Disruption” the Business Continuity Program would still be functional. Even though the basic priorities for restoration of essential services to the community will normally take precedence over recovery of an individual organization, the District's
- Business Continuity Program can still provide for a more expeditious restoration of the District's resources for supporting time-sensitive functions.
- The Program is based on the availability of resources for the time-sensitive functions within the District.
- The Program is intended to provide general guidance of recovery efforts. Each incident is unique and should be treated as such. The Program is not a substitute for sound judgment. The Program is not a rigid set of rules to be followed at any cost.
- The initial recovery efforts will focus on the restoration of the few time-sensitive functions identified in this Program. These few time-sensitive functions will initially be staffed with only an absolute bare minimum number of key personnel. As the recovery efforts progress; additional staff will be brought in, additional facility resources (i.e., desks, chairs, telephones, PCs, etc) will be provided, and additional business functions will be restored in a “what makes sense” manner.
- The disruption will occur at the worst possible time.
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The District's Business Continuity Program is an active program that reflects the changing
environment and requirements of DCCCD. Therefore, the Business Continuity Program requires the continued allocation of resources to maintain it and to keep it in a constant state of readiness.
Business Continuity Program’s Security Classification
This program is a Proprietary and Confidential document with restricted distribution. The contents may not be disclosed to parties' external to the district without prior written authorization from Administration.
ALL home contact information is considered very sensitive and confidential. DO NOT publish or disclose.
Decision, Notification, and Communication Procedure
(Campus Level)
Response Decision
After Campus Administration’s initial evaluation of the situation, they will either:
1. Wait for further developments and / or information.
2. Announce an “Alert”.
3. “Declare” a disruption.
See Attachment “T” for “Administrator In Charge” list showing individuals authorized to announce to announce an “Alert and/or “Declare” a disruption.
There is no cast-in-concrete criterion of magnitude that determines whether or not to activate Business Continuity programs. It’s a judgment call. However, there are two levels of response available to address an incident caused by a disruption event. One is the “Alert” which is as the name implies. The other is the “Declare” which is a full-scale activation of Business Continuity Program.
Because this program deals with specific Division/Workgroup functions, it is possible and permissible to activate a recovery procedure for one or more of these functions, without having to "declare" a disruption. Once again, it's a judgement call.
“Alert” Status
When an incident of unknown magnitude is anticipated or an incident has occurred, but the extent of damage is uncertain; “critical” (i.e., required for the initial recovery effort) employees and “critical” vendors may be placed on “Alert”. Only preliminary notifications and preparations are activated. “Alerted” parties are to stand by for further instructions.
When an “Alert” is announced, Campus Administration will activate a calling tree procedure. Division/Workgroup supervisors will be contacted and informed of the situation. Critical vendors may also be placed on “Alert”. The person(s) making the calls will use the Communications Procedure (Attachment A) and the Telephone Contact Log (Attachment B).
An “Alert” may be upgraded to a disruption “Declare” after Campus Administration has evaluated the incident and found its damage to be of significant magnitude or the amount of time to reoccupancy of the facility prohibitive.
An “Alert” should be deactivated after Campus Administration has evaluated the incident and its damage is found it to be of lesser magnitude than once thought or anticipated. Campus Administration will announce an “All Clear”. Proper notification of the “All Clear” should be communicated to those individuals and vendors originally placed on “Alert”.
“Declare” a Disruption
A disruption will be “Declared” if one of the following happens:
- An incident, with significant damage, has occurred which prevents “essential” Division/Workgroup functions from continuing.
- The amount of time for re-occupancy of the facility is deemed prohibitive.
- The amount of downtime for core computer system(s) is deemed excessive.
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In general, it is better to “Declare” a disruption and then disband after a day if warranted, than to spend too much time analyzing before “Declaring”. Time can truly be of the essence in a disaster situation.
When a “Declare” is announced:
Administration will activate a calling tree procedure. Division/Workgroup supervisors will be contacted and informed of the situation. They will in turn contact their direct reports, “critical” vendors and inform them of the situation. Direct reports will in turn contact their direct reports, and so on down the chain of command. The persons making the calls will use the Communications Procedure (Attachment A) and the Telephone Contact log (Attachment B).
Supervisors of Division/Workgroup will evaluate their respective unit’s ability to perform “time-sensitive” functions. They will report their status and make a recommendation to Campus Administration as to whether or not to activate their individual Business Continuation Program. Division/Workgroup supervisors will activate their Business Continuity Program upon receiving concurrence from Administration.
When an individual Division/Workgroup’s Continuity Program is activated, “essential” personnel (i.e., required for the continued operation of important Division/Workgroup functions) will be instructed to report to their predetermined alternate work site and reestablish operations per their Division/Workgroup’s Continuity program. “Nonessential” personnel may be sent home and instructed to remain there until further notice.
Communications Procedure
See Attachment A for procedure and Attachment B for contact log forms.
Post-disaster Scenario
Post-Disaster Cleanup
The District restoration vendor is Blackmon-Mooring Steamatic (BMS).
Contact Blackmon-Mooring Steamatic (BMS) through District Purchasing to begin the full restoration process which will include but is not limited to:
- Fire, Smoke and Water Damage Recovery
- Moisture Control Services
- HVAC Decontamination and Cleaning
- Telecommunication Recovery (Restoration of Hardware)
- Electronics Restoration
- Books, Vital Records and Document Recovery
- Mold Remediation
- Hazardous Material Cleanup
- Power Protection (General Rentals, Electrical Repairs, etc.)
- emergency Construction
- Art Restoration
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At the time of the disruption, Facilities, Information Technology, Communications, and Business Affairs will determine the appropriate vendor(s) to assist them in the cleanup efforts. Cost, responsiveness, and area of expertise will be the criteria for selection.
Each Division/Workgroup is responsible for identifying their own critical items that would need special cleansing/restoration services. Also, these critical items must be those specifically mentioned in the respective Division/Workgroup’s Business Continuity Program.
Before removing any material from the work area, inspect documents/media for damage. Inform Facilities of any damaged documents/media. Facilities will consult with the cleanup vendor(s) to verify that transporting the material would not be hazardous to an employee’s health and/or will not cause further damage to the material.
Many forms of media will begin to deteriorate soon after exposure to heat and/or water but can be recovered if a cleanup vendor takes immediate action.
Special Instructions/Considerations
Program Exercises
A very lengthy, eloquently worded program document can be written and placed in a fancy binder, but it is the actual working program that is really capable of doing its intended job (i.e., facilitating the recovery of the respective Division/Workgroup’s time-sensitive functions). There is only one way to find out. Conduct An Exercise. As the Program is exercised there may be items identified that will necessitate additions and/or corrections to the Program.
How frequently the Program should be exercised depends on the Division/Workgroup’s degree of criticality and required recovery time window. Minimally, it should be exercised once a year, preferably quarterly. It just depends on the Division/Workgroup’s situation. The intensity of the exercise may run the range from a full/unannounced activation to a planned tabletop walk through.
Each exercised session should be documented in detail. The exercise’s documentation
packages will be stored separately from this program. The Division/Workgroup Supervisor is the custodian of the testing documentation packages.
Remote Access to GroupWise Email
Bring up a browser; go to http://gw5.dcccd.edu. Click Go next to English. Enter user I.D. and your password. Click Login. Verify with IT that you currently have a password in the system.
Vital Documents or Reports
The Business Continuity Program assumes the worst-case scenario. A complete interruption of a facility has occurred, and there is no access to its offices, office contents, computer equipment, or computer data. Also, all vital records, original paper documents, and documentation required to implement recovery of “essential” division/workshop functions are considered “permanently lost,” unless they are backed up at a secure backed up at a secure off-site location, and the copies are refreshed on a regular basis. These items stored off-site are considered to be the only such resources available for executing the recovery. Everything else is considered “permanently lost”.
Each employee has the responsibility of analyzing their respective work processes and determining what, if any, truly “essential” documents or data are needed in their day-to-day job performance. They should then determine if copies of these documents or data are stored at a secure off-site location.
Backup of PC Hard Drives
Probably the most commonly unprotected items of importance are individual data files on an employee’s personal computer hard drive. An application’s system / program files can be easily restored. On the other hand, the application’s data files can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recreate. Regularly copy essential files to the “U” or “P” drive. The “U” or “P” drive files are regularly backed up and the tapes taken off-site. (Confirm with your campus IT department that tapes are stored off-site.)
The application data’s degree of essentiality and/or its volatility should dictate the frequency of backup.
Attachments:
A – Communication Procedure
B – Telephone Contact Log Sheets
C – Division/Workgroup’s Alternate Location(s)– map, directions, and telephone numbers
D – Post-Disaster Cleanup Agreement
E – Division/Workgroups & District’s Contact Information
F – Information Technology Contact Information
G – External Contact Information
H – Critical Vendor Contact Information
J – Critical Items List
K – Family and/or Employee Contact Location
L – Distribution of Documentation
M – Program Exercise Procedure
O – Emergency Procedures for Department Equipment
P – Operational Manuals (see Off-site Note)
Q – Backup Media Handling / Storage Procedure
S – Back-up Personnel List
T – Decision Tree