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A Publication Featuring The Information Services Technology of Maine State Government

Volume IV, Issue 11	November 2001

From Disaster Recovery to Business Continuity: A Change in Focus

By Mark Kemmerle

Historically Disaster Recovery Planning has been regarded as a function of an organization’s information systems or information technology (IT) department. Disaster Recovery focused primarily on assuring data integrity and employed hot site strategies for recovering from disasters that affected centralized mainframe processors. Today, Business Continuity is the name given to an agency-wide planning process that emphasizes continuity of services for clients and citizens. IT is but one component of Business Continuity planning, which is very broad in scope.

Recent experiences -- including the relocation of the BIS data center and planning for the Year 2000 date change -- have drawn increased attention to the need for an effective Business Continuity Planning Strategy throughout Maine State government. The 1998 ice storm showed that business functions could be disrupted even when IT services remain unaffected, demonstrating that business continuity is what is important, not just recovering from disasters that affect information technology. Preserving services, assuring that services are not interrupted through a variety of strategies, is what is important to the government and the citizens of Maine.

Over the past few years, the Bureau of Information Services has taken a number of important steps toward business continuity preparedness. For example, the Bureau of Information Services has:

Moved storage of backup copies of critical data out of the local area,
Installed UPS battery power for the mainframes and servers,
Begun construction for the installation of backup generator power (to be completed by December 21, 2001),
Increased physical security at the data center, including 24 hour security guards at the Bureau’s entrance seven days a week ,
Implemented a Building Access Policy which restricts access to certain areas, and requires proximity badges to enter the building,
Developed and continued to test Emergency Evacuation Plans with diagrams for evacuation routes posted in strategic location,
Installed First Aid and Hazmat "Cleanup Kits" throughout its facility,
Renewed agreements for use of the Gardiner or the Waterville Armory for an emergency data processing operations center and/or Recovery Headquarters, and
Conducted Application Impact Analyses with 23 key customers whose critical applications run on (or require an interface with) mainframe and certain server platforms.

BIS is also exploring business resumption partnerships with other state agencies, quasi-state agencies, and other public and private entities, such as the University of Maine and InforME. At the October 18 meeting of the Information Services Policy Board (ISPB), BIS made a presentation which included several recommendations, among which were:

State agencies must identify their key business processes and perform a Risk Assessment, a Business Impact Analysis, and develop business continuity plans.
Agencies should perform gap analysis to compare their current state of preparedness to their desired state, and should formulate short-term strategies to address critical exposures.
A work group, including representatives from the Office of the Chief Information Officer, BIS, and state agencies with significant investment in IT infrastructure, should be chartered to formulate a coordinated business continuity strategy for state government services and to establish long-term strategies.

This group would also develop an integrated plan for business continuity strategies for various scenarios to deal with interruptions of service caused by severe weather, natural disaster, and civil emergencies. Cost estimates for key components of recovery strategies must be prepared as well as sources of funding for needed expenditures.

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services has also organized a workgroup to study emergency preparedness within the Executive Branch. This group is being chaired by Eben Marsh, Director of the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery.

The ISPB will forward a version of the BIS presentation and recommendations to the Governor and his cabinet for their approval and action.

Questions? Comments? Contact Bureau of Information Services Director of Production Services Mark Kemmerle by e-mailing mark.kemmerle@state.me.us.

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