Looking Back and Visualizing the Future

By THOMAS C. MAWSON, CAE

This past year has been a year of reinvention for DRII. In February, DRII launched the final two modules of our suite of nine online courses. These nine modules each cover a specific subject area of the “Professional Practices for Business Continuity Planners,” the body-of-knowledge of the business continuity management field.
The professional practices (PP) contain 10 subject areas (subject areas 9 & 10 were combined into one course) that cover the relevant areas included in any business continuity plan, from subject area No. 1, “Project Initiation and Management,” to subject area No. 10, “Coordination with Public Authorities.” In between these subject areas are the elements of assessing risks, designing continuity plans, implementing the plans, constantly evaluating the plans and they are the subjects upon which DRII has designed courseware and certification.
In designing each module, our course designers built solid learning methodology into each course. At the conclusion of each section of a course, each module contains self-tests to help learners evaluate their understanding of the course material. At the same time, students are introduced to the types of questions they may see on the DRII certification exam. Coordinating onsite course design with online instruction permitted DRII to simultaneous rewrite and redesign our premier course, the former DRP901, now entitled, BCLE (Business Continuity Live, English) 2000, “Business Continuity Planning for Advanced Professionals.” This four-day course covers the 10 subject areas of the PP and prepares students for the DRII certification exam.
We have completely redesigned the exam for certification in business continuity management. Working with a psychometric design firm, DRII exam writers have completely rewritten the content questions of the exam and dramatically expanded the number of questions available to include in the exam. The result is a more secure and a more technically accurate reflection of the knowledge and skills required to attain the title of “certified professional,” i.e. an individual certified by the DRI International.
In June, the DRII Certification Commission approved creation of a new, fourth level of certification – the Certified Functional Continuity Professional. This new level of certification meets the certification needs of individuals who are responsible for specific, functional areas within their organizations: data recovery, systems design, human relations, risk management, etc. but not recovery of the entire business enterprise. This new certification became effective Jan. 1, 2005.

The New Year
The year 2005 promises to be a year of continued growth and expansion of the programs and services of DRII. The DRII Board of Directors completed an exciting strategic planning exercise in December. Future columns in this space will describe the innovative and exciting new initiatives resulting from these planning sessions. In the meantime, DRII will continue to offer the finest introductory-level, mid-level and advanced-level course instruction in business continuity management worldwide. Certified professionals on six continents now practice standard methods for protecting their organizations’ abilities to continue operations despite any type of business interruption.
To emphasize the critical need for business continuity throughout the world, DRII is leading a major effort to promote Global Business Continuity Awareness Week, the week of March 14-18, 2005. Recognition of GBCAW will take many forms: certified professionals will receive special mailings of materials and tools to help them promote their business continuity plans, within their own companies and within their communities. In 2004, DRII successfully obtained a proclamation on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives officially recognizing the critical nature of business continuity in the security of business enterprise within the world’s economy. We are likewise planning similar activities in Washington, D.C. and other cities to continue to build on this recognition during the week.
DRII calls upon all professionals in this field to help promote Global Business Continuity Awareness Week prior to, and during the week of March 14-18, 2005. Global recognition of business continuity will enhance the visibility of practitioners throughout the world and ensure the viability of businesses and government entities everywhere.

Thomas C. Mawson, CAE, is the executive director of DRI International. Prior to joining DRII, Mawson served as director of leadership development for the American Society of Civil Engineers and executive director of the Foundation for Professional Practice. He is a Certified Association Executive with more than 24 years of experience in not-for-profit management.

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