Business Continuity Planning

Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity (BC) can be defined as an institution's ability to maintain or restore its business and academic services when some circumstance disrupts normal operations. BC involves disaster recovery, the many activities that are necessary to restore the institution to operational status after a disaster. BC planning is an institution-wide responsibility and needs a champion at the executive level in order to make progress. A collaborative effort is needed to do a robust risk assessment, to prioritize what business processes need to be restored in what order, and to plan and practice the steps needed to restore operations back to a working level after an event. This integrated approach involves every department understanding and preparing for the role it will play in keeping the entire institution functional in a crisis and operational long-term. BC involves more than just traditional administrative information systems recovery; it also means planning for contingencies for teaching and research in the event those systems on which these services depend are inoperable. Academic sustainability needs to be at the forefront of BC planning. Recent incidents such as Katrina have brought BC planning into sharp focus for higher education institutions.

EDUCAUSE has identified links concerning business continuity that may be useful to the higher education community. Many of these links have been contributed by EDUCAUSE members. If you have additional resources you would like to include on this page, send the information to contribute@educause.edu.

Federal Government Resources

Continuity of Operations (COOP) Programs, FEMA

Building a Disaster-Resistant University, FEMA, 2003

PandemicFlu.gov

Preparing for Emergencies - What businesses can do, United Kingdom

Other Resources

Continuity of Operations Plan, Wikipedia

2007 Consultant Survey, Disaster Recovery Journal

Association and NGO Resources

Business Continuity Planning, Telwork Coalition

Laws Influence Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Among Industries, Gartner Group

Mission Continuity Planning: Strategically Assessing and Planning for Threats to Operations, NACUBO, 2002

Stewart Mixon, CUPA-HR Past President, Shares Hurricane Stories at EDUCAUSE's Business Continuity Summit, CUPA-HR, 2006

NFPA 1600 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, National Fire Protection Association, 2006

Universities and BC

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, North Carolina State University

Campus Pandemic Influenza Planning Information, University of California, Davis

Center for Health and Homeland Security, University of Maryland

Incident Planning, Response, and Recovery Manual, The George Washington University

IT Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Policy, Guide, and Planning Template, The Univeristy of Auckland

Pandemic Influenza Resources for Colleges and Universities, CSHEMA

Conferences or Training

Business Continuity Forum 2007, July 17-18, 2007

Business Continuity, Security & Crisis Management, May 22-23, 2007

Conferences and Symposia Links from the Rothstein Associates Inc. web site.

ERM Fundamentals: A Workshop, May 9, 2007

Non – EDUCAUSE discussion or working groups

Business Continuity and Emergency Management, DavisLogic Inc.

Disaster Recovery Forum, Rothstein Associates Inc.

Internet2 Disaster Recovery and Planning Working Group

EDUCAUSE Resources

Business Continuity Management Constituent Group, Discussion List

Connect Blog on Facility Issues

Disaster Recovery Planning, Resource Center Page

Going Beyond Recovery to Continuity: Lessons Learned, EDUCAUSE Live! September 6, 2006

Learning the Hard Way, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Volume 29   Number 4  2006

Selecting a Business Continuity Planning Tool, EDUCAUSE Live! February 27, 2007

Shelter from the Storm: IT and Business Continuity in Higher Education, ECAR Research Study, March 2007

Simple Things That Could Save Your Institution, ECAR Bulletin, April 24, 2007