A15 – Hurricane Response Lessons from Ground Zero
Neeta Adkar, Lockheed Martin, and Brooks Nelson, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Extreme weather events and natural disasters are ranked in the top three threats to business operations, yet they are among the most predictable. It’s been over a year, but the 2017 hurricane season still looms over operational planning, as many areas impacted by major hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are still suffering the consequences of those devastating storms. Hear firsthand on the response, on-going recovery, resource functionality, information and planning networks between multiple levels of stakeholders, i.e. public and private sector partnership, and challenges, etc.
A16 – How RGA Reinsurance Runs Their Crisis Management Team: Effective Real-World Exercises During Day to Day Operations
Steve Seton, RGA Reinsurance, and Veronica Genao, Veoci
RGA’s philosophy is unique because it provides real-world exercises during day-to-day operations while maintaining business continuity globally. Participants therefore, do not have to take time away from their work to participate and it lends itself for a longer exercise which is more realistic. Typically, two hours for an exercise does not suffice. RGA was able to exercise over a two-day period from locations globally without the need to carve time out of the work schedule based on the setup of their team and their real-world approach.
C21 – Leveraging Key Corporate Relationships to Mitigate Risk of a Workplace Violence Event: A Case Study
Cynthia Simeone, Megan Gomez, and Timothy Hill, Excellus Health Plan, Inc.Take your BCM program and career to the next level by integrating and aligning your BCM program with your organization’s strategic mission and vision. Brand your BCM program and develop isolated value-added components that resonate with your key stakeholders – Legal (contracting/RFP), Human Resources (hiring practices), Facilities Management (Physical Security), IT (Data Security), Ethics (Corporate Behavior) and Compliance (Regulatory Requirements). This presentation will explore ways to leverage and strengthen the relationship of these disciplines and build a solid marketable Business Resilience program that focuses on Program capabilities and service delivery to all internal and external stakeholders. Finally, the presenters will moderate a group discussion and interactive evaluation using a Workplace Violence case study displaying the necessary cross-functional alliance required to successfully mitigate potentially hazardous situations.
C22 – The Interrogative Contingency Planner
Doug Sievers, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Interested in an interactive session that leverages the experience in the room to the benefit of all? Looking for someone to articulate the questions nobody else is asking about business continuity? If you answered YES, this session may be for you. No slides here, just sharply pointed questions about the components of YOUR program: the frameworks, the methodologies, the strategies; the standards, the policies, the procedures; the teams, the training, the tactics; the tools, the templates, the technology; the tests, the drills, the exercises; the maintenance, the metrics, the maturity model. You get the picture. We’ll discuss how we do them, why we do them, and most importantly, whether we should be doing them! In addition, we will explore the things we are NOT doing – but perhaps should be.
D5 – Integrating Quality Reviews with Risk Appetite Metrics
Beverly Schulz, Raymond James Financial
For years, Business Continuity Professionals have been reviewing BIAs and BC Plans to assess their quality. This presentation will cover how to take these quality reviews beyond a check of data completeness to an assessment of recoverability that can be integrated into the Risk Appetite Metrics that executives want to see. Attendees will leave this session with tips improving your Risk Appetite Metrics and Quality Review Programs.
E4 – The Cloud and What it Means for DR (for non-IT professionals)
John H. McWilliams, JH McWilliams & Associates LLC
The cloud is a growing reality and seems to be on everyone’s mind. But what does it really offer, especially when it comes to DR? This session will provide an overview of how DR capabilities can be developed using the services currently available from cloud vendors. The session will cover, in a non-technical way, what DR is, how it has been practiced in the past, and how it can be achieved when using cloud services. We will review new and old models of DR and explore some of the realities and potential issues that may arise when using cloud services. This session will help you to take an ‘eyes wide open’ approach to considering DR when using the cloud.
