What do you do when the lights go out

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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
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The University of Auckland Statistics 2006

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

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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

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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

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• 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.

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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

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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

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Business Continuity PlanningWhat you should
consider
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Business Continuity Plan Suggested Framework

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Assumptions

• Given your risk assessment base the plan on a few
• scenarios. For example
• Severe storm causes floods and power outage
• University closed temporarily
• Non essential staff sent home
• Central computer system operational
• OR
• Pandemic strikes the campus
• University closed and quarantined
• All staff sent home
• Essential work completed from home
• Central computer system not operating

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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

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Operational Management

• Key elements to manage -
• Authority and decision making Organise an
  emergency management committee
• Communications Dont rely on IT and telecoms
• Resources Organise Staff and Physical Resources
• Evacuation Occupation Organise relocation or
  temporary facilities and Utilities

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Recovery and Continuation
Plan to resume normal business as soon as possible

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

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Overview of a Plan
Goals
Scenario
Risk Assessment
Objectives
Assumptions
Emergency Plan
Business Continuity Plan
Operational Mangement
Academic Events
Recovery
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Plan implementation and Response
Emergency
Operational Management
Business Continuation

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Fire at University of Southampton 2005