B7 – Business Continuity Operating System (BCOS): Framing Business Continuity to Achieve Lasting Focus
(Note: Breakout Sessions B5, B7 and B9 are part of the BCOS Series. Attending one individually or collectively is at the discretion of the attendee.)
Rob Giffin and Morgan Perry, Avalution
Ensuring that business continuity programs establish effective boundaries to maintain focus is a significant characteristic of successful programs, but one that is often a challenge to maintain. Through our experience, we’ve identified several questions, which when answered, will add focus to, and simplify, all aspects of your business continuity program. During this interactive presentation, we’ll discuss each question, explain why it works, and share how you can get everyone in your organization on the same page, whether you’re building a program from the ground up or improving an existing program.

B8 – Don’t Let the Upheaval of a Merger or Acquisition Derail DR and BC
Doug Sawyer, Kroger
No industry is immune to the surge of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rushing over the business landscape. M&As can be a doorway to great changes and progress, but confusion, commotion, uncertainty, and instability often describe the energy and conditions experience during M&As.

Depending on the acquired entity, do you keep the existing pre-merger/acquisition plans, processes, procedures and people in place, or do you integrate them into the existing parent company plans? Join me in this session as I share lessons learned from my many years’ experience in maintaining IT and business operations through a wide variety of M&A activity for companies of various size, location, and data/IT sophistication.

C7 – BC/DR in Context to Computer Security Incident Response Plans (CSIRPs)           
Ramesh M. Warrier, eBRP
A data breach. The threat causing many sleepless nights for senior executives. Most organizations have adopted strategies to reduce their vulnerabilities and concurrently created computer security incident response plans (CSIRPs) in the event of an incident.  This session will discuss enhancements to the traditional business continuity and disaster recovery planning efforts to enable adaptive, flexible, and efficient response to security breaches. Automating workflow facilitates seamless collaboration plus the ability to monitor, measure, and manage activities that are critical to effective incident response.

C8 – Jump the Hurdles!  How to Keep Your Plan Development Moving
Tam Williams and Skip Williams, KingsbridgeBCP
In this fast-paced and informative session, we will identify and address the hurdles that delay the completion of your BC/DR plans. If you are trying to write your BCP and not getting much support from your colleagues, or are expected to deliver and maintain a plan with no funding to work with, then this is your opportunity to work with experts to learn new tips and tricks for getting buy-in across all levels of your organization. During the hands-on sesseion you will get the opportunity to share your experiences and learn techniques for getting buy-in, completing TRAs & BIAs, plan development, exercising and plan maintenance. Key takeaways include how to address funding issues, gaining support from your peers, and Tips & Tricks for TRAs, BIAs, Plan development, Exercising and Maintaining your plans.

D2 – USAA Business Continuation: Incident Monitoring and Mitigating Risks Using Real-Time Incident Detection and Mapping

Mickie Williams, USAA and Karl Kotalik, NC4
This session will review how USAA, a Fortune 100 company is able to mitigate its risks by providing global situational awareness to its employees using real-time incident monitoring and layered mapping technology. Through its data analysis of various contextual threats and/or incidents, they are able to generate relevant alerts based on incident type, severity or location, utilize visual representations of these threats, create advisories and alerts, deliver travel intelligence/tracking, and ultimately, provide predictive intelligence to its clients and traveling employees.

G2 – Robots, AI, and Automation: Keeping your Job in the Future of Business Continuity         
Cheyene Marling, Firestorm; David Lindstedt, Ph.D., Adaptive BC Solutions; Joel Navarro, Mary Kay; and Hart Brown, R3 Continuum
When Gartner is giving advice on preparing your organization for the near-future impact of robots, AI, and automation (RAIA), it’s time to start paying attention. No matter how the impending “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will actually take shape, there is no question it will impact our lives and professions. Part one of this panel discussion will focus on the growing capabilities of RAIA in general and how they will impact our work in the near future. Part two will focus on what these changes might mean to the BC profession, and what it might look like to be a BC practitioner in the 2020’s. Part three will focus on the skills you need to start developing now in order to adapt to the forthcoming changes. Join a lively discussion ranging from Cyberdyne Systems to automated BIAs offered by respected though leaders within the preparedness industry.