Disaster Recovery Journal- Volume 18, Issue 2 - Spring 2005 Issue

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Spring 2005 Index

DISASTER RECOVERY
JOURNAL

P. O. Box 510110
St. Louis, MO 63151
(314) 894-0276
Fax: (314) 894-7474
Internet www.drj.com
E-mail drj@drj.com

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jon Seals
jon@drj.com

SENIOR EDITOR
Janette Ballman
janette@drj.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Ed Pearce, CBCP
ed@drj.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Pamela Clifton
pamelaclifton@hotmail.com

COPY EDITORS
Jim Hammill, CBCP
Richard Sandhofer
richards@drj.com

ADVERTISING
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

_____________

Corporate

President/CEO
Richard L. Arnold, CBCP
richard@drj.com

Vice President
Robert Arnold
bob@drj.com

CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
Patti Fitzgerald, CBCP
patti@drj.com

CONFERENCE REGISTRAR
Merce Knese
mercedes@drj.com

CIRCULATION
Laura Baugh
laurab@drj.com

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Mike Croy, Forsythe
Jeff Dato, MBCP, KPMG
John Jackson, IBM
Edward S. Devlin, E.S. Devlin & Associates
James Hammill, CBCP, JMH Consulting Inc.
Pat McAnally, SunGard Availability Services
Brian Turley, Strohl Systems
Belinda Wilson, Hewlett-Packard

INTERNATIONAL
CONTACTS
England: Thom Hetherington
Business Continuity
Phone: 0161-237-1007
thomh@tempus.demon.co.uk
Japan: Shinji Hosotsubo
Crisis Management and Preparedness Organization
Phone: 03-3519-6270
fax: 03-3519-6255
hosotsubo@cmpo.org
Brazil: José Carlos Ferreira
Disaster Recovery Mercosul
Phone and fax: 011-3666-9506
jocaff@uol.com.br

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The (BC) Times Are A-Changin’ ... Faster Than Ever

By JOHN B. COPENHAVER, CBCP

These are both exciting and daunting times for business continuity professionals.
The political and regulatory environment in which we operate is changing dramatically, demanding new approaches to protecting our organizations.
On a national scale, President George W. Bush has nominated a candidate for the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take the place of the retiring Tom Ridge. DHS continues to adjust internally to changes in mission and responsibilities among the former independent departments and agencies that now comprise the DHS.
A new Attorney General of the United States has been confirmed.
Sadly, one of the worst natural disasters in mankind’s history happened less than two months ago – the South Asia earthquake and tsunami. In addition to unthinkable loss of life, businesses throughout the region suffered tremendous losses that may affect commerce in some areas for years.
Six months ago, a series of devastating hurricanes began wreaking havoc across the state of Florida, doing many billions of dollars worth of damage. Entire communities were destroyed and businesses leveled.
These events will have lasting impact on many millions of people, including the world of business continuity planners.
This administration will likely play the strongest and most extensive role yet in legislating and regulating private sector preparedness. Beginning with the 9/11 Commission’s findings up through the passage of the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, the government drivers impacting our profession have begun undergoing a fundamental change. Recent legislation such as Sarbanes-Oxley places new responsibilities on corporate management to protect vital records and information.
For the first time, the government is mandating that companies develop business continuity plans and increase awareness of the need for contingency planning in virtually all types of enterprises – from small service businesses to major manufacturers and financial institutions.
To this end, professionals in the field of business continuity management are ideally positioned to become vital assets to their companies, agencies or departments.
We have more tools than ever to accomplish this mission. Resources such as DRI International information and background on our core professional practices are more robust than ever.
More than 2,900 individuals now hold DRII certification in our profession, raising our collective level of expertise and earning all of us more respect and recognition in the executive suites of companies nationwide. No company can ignore the need for business continuity, and we are the experts to whom they must turn.
Organization-wide recognition of business continuity, along with participation in business continuity management, is continually increasing. Done correctly, business continuity management is truly a team exercise, and people from all corners of an organization must support it and participate in it.
In January of this year, DRII created a new level of certification called the Certified Functional Continuity Professional (CFCP) designation. Until this year, the three certifications DRII offers have been earned primarily by executives whose primary function is enterprise-wide business continuity planning. This new certification allows executives in security, crisis communications, information technology, finance, human resources, and a range of other functions to become certified in our field. Business continuity management encompasses all these areas.
In anticipation of a surge of interest in professional certification offered through DRII, in December 2004 we launched a new fully-automated, online certification application. This new application permits applicants to complete the entire application online, including detailed explanations of work experience in any number of subject areas of the professional practices, the body-of-knowledge in business continuity management. The new, online application can be used to apply for all four of DRII’s certification levels: ABCP (Associate Business Continuity Professional); CFCP (Certified Functional Continuity Professional); CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional); and MBCP (Master Business Continuity Professional). The added benefit of applying using the online application is the ability to track the progress of an application through the review process and to determine if there are any reasons for a delay in the process.
Yes, the times are changing and DRI International is adapting rapidly to meet the challenges of the present and the future. The DRI International Board of Directors has just completed development of a new strategic plan to take the organization to new heights. Be looking for details about the plan and the new directions for DRI International in the years to come.

John B. Copenhaver, CBCP, is the chairman and CEO of DRI International and the former regional director of FEMA for the southern United States.