What do you do when the lights go out?

– The value of forward planning for disaster recovery and business continuity.

ATEM New Zealand Conference - July 2007

The University of Auckland – Statistics 2006

• Faculties: 8• Students : 37,924• Staff: 5,614• Alumni: Over 100,000• Degrees awarded: 10, 241

Semester 1 Examinations 2006

• 16 Days from 8 to 26 June 2006. • 75,000 individual student examinations in 32

examination sessions (2 per day)• 931 courses examined• 7 Campuses• 280 Supervisors• 10 Examinations Centre staff• 10 Temp staff

Emergencies

• 12 June – Major power outage in Auckland City all day. 5515 student examinations affected.

• 19 June– Bomb Scare. Two buildings evacuated. 200 student examinations affected.Also

• 20 June – Fire Emergency. Medical School examinations disrupted. 100 student examinations affected

Decisions – Emergency Committee

• Power was unlikely to be restored quickly and the University would be closed.

• Examinations affected would be postponed until 27 June.

• Immediate communication must be established with affected students within 24 hours.

• Replanning affected examinations should start immediately.

• Examinations staff are to be informed of events affecting their examinations.

• Provision would have to be made for out of time examinations.

Emergency Implications

• Contacting affected students• Communication between campuses was interrupted.• Rescheduling of Postponed Examinations• Some students unavailable to sit rescheduled examinations• Security of rescheduled examinations with new versions required• Availability of examiners and assessors• Availability of examination supervisors• Extended deadlines • Availability of examination venues• Delay in reporting grades• Access to Computer Systems• Enrolment delays

Managing Critical Success Factors

• Prompt decision making by Senior Management

• Prompt information gathering

• Comprehensive communication to Students and Faculty

• Assembling resources, assigning and delegating tasks quickly to key staff

Business Continuity Planning

What you should consider

Business Continuity Plan – Suggested Framework

• Goals• Objectives• Risk Assessment & Emergency Plan• Scenario and Assumptions• Operational Management• Cycle of Events• Recovery and continuation

Business Continuity Planning

“The goal of a plan is to promote business continuity and safety, minimise impact and assist in speedy recovery.”

New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence

Business Continuity Planning Objectives

• Minimising fatalities and injuries. • Reducing damage to buildings, assets, and equipment.• Minimising the impact on strategic plans• Recovery of normal operations as quickly as possible.• Providing staff resources and cover during an

emergency.• Assisting staff and the community after operational

recovery

Risk Assessment

Environmental threats causing a disaster or emergency could include;

• Floods, • Earthquakes, Volcanoes• Hurricanes, or severe wind storms, • Avalanches or Snow storms,• Pandemic diseases such as avian flu.

What emergency events are most relevant to your organisation

• Fire or Explosion • Building damage or structural failure • Spills of flammable chemicals • Accidental release of toxic substances • Utilities: Power outage, Loss of water supply • Communications and computer failure• Campus Quarantine

Plan an appropriate emergency response and create awareness to everyone on campus

Assumptions

Given your risk assessment base the plan on a fewscenarios. For example;

• Severe storm causes floods and power outage• University closed temporarily• Non essential staff sent home• Central computer system operationalOR• Pandemic strikes the campus• University closed and quarantined• All staff sent home• Essential work completed from home• Central computer system not operating

Cycle of Academic Events

Plan to accommodate different academic events;

• Summer School begins and ends • Quarter and Semester lecture periods• Fees payment; Admission processing• First deadline for Graduation applications

Student Accommodation • Conferences and Functions • Orientation week• Examinations

Operational Management

Key elements to manage: -

• Authority and decision making: Organise an emergency management committee

• Communications: Don’t rely on IT and telecoms

• Resources: Organise Staff and Physical Resources

• Evacuation & Occupation: Organise relocation or temporary facilities and Utilities

Recovery and Continuation

• Detail how you would re open• Limit downtime. Set a timeframe for recovery• Provide for quick communications recovery• Restore critical functions

Plan to resume normal business as soon as possible

Overview of a Plan

Business Continuity

Plan Operational Mangement

Scenario

Assumptions

Recovery

Academic Events

Objectives

Goals

Risk Assessment

Emergency Plan

EmergencyEmergencyOperational Management

Operational Management

Business Continuation

Business Continuation

Plan implementation and Response

Fire at University of Southampton 2005