Disaster Recovery Journal, Fall 2010

ever planning structure existed, no matter how it was changed.

When we first deployed the tool, we implemented a data and document management philosophy of “single entry, multiple use” that continues to serve us well today. Essentially, this design philosophy suggests that you design the BC plan layout and content to meet your BC program needs. Consider what data and documents are required, and then structure the BC planning tool to capture those data and documents in the most efficient manner.

For example, since the BC plan owner’s name is displayed in multiple places throughout the BC plan, we capture their name once in the data collection web form and display the name wherever it is required throughout the body of the plan. This philosophy has been extremely helpful in gaining wide user acceptance of their responsibility to maintain their own BC plans by eliminating redundant data entry and minimizing the work effort when changes are required.

With an end-user community of more than 10,000 users, our BC program team has ongoing responsibility to train new users as they are identified. We also function as the help desk for existing end user questions about BC planning tool navigation and use.

In 2009 we trained about 2,000 new users across the organiza-
tion. During the same timeframe, the BC program team responded
to an average of 25 end-user calls per day. Training of new users
on how to navigate the planning tool takes 45 minutes and is deliv-
ered classroom-style and in instructor-led, Web-based training
format we developed ourselves. We also provide the end user with
a one-page quick reference guide that summarizes all of the key
navigation functions of the planning tool. As evidence of our suc-
cess, we know that end users retain more than 95 percent of what
they learned 12 months prior. The success of our training program
has had a significant impact on the hours we spend training and
retraining end users. As a result, we spend much more of our time
consulting with business on creating a better BC plan. We launched
the “Business Continuity Planning (BCP) 100% Club” to recognize
Kaiser Permanente facilities and campuses where every department
plan owner has reviewed and fully updated their BCP using our BC
planning tool. Twenty-three facilities won the award in 2009!

Challenge No. 2 – Keep it Simple, Grow Slowly

From the very beginning, we have integrated a business continuity maturity model (BCMM) into our BC program strategy and goals. “Start simple, then grow slowly” was the tenet of our original BC program deployment.

The BCMM defines a six-level maturity framework within which organizations evolve. It identifies that BC planning practices mature over time as the organization becomes increasingly familiar with business continuity concepts, methods, and tools. This concept of evolving the BC program over time was very appealing to our national Business Continuity Management Governance Council and continues to be a recurring theme in our annual updating of the BC program goals and objectives.

Management agreed it was more important to have a successful program launch from which we could enhance planning over time than it was to create comprehensive BC plans from the start. As a starting point for the initial deployment of our BC planning tool, the BC plan template focused on a subset of the elements you might find in a comprehensive BC plan: