Government
agencies and private industry have long been concerned
with ensuring continuity of operations (COOP) and continuity
of government (COG) during and after emergencies. However,
a variety of natural and technological emergencies
over the last few years have underscored the importance
of ensuring the continuity of essential government
functions across the U.S. Federal Executive Branch.
Continuity planning addresses any situation that might
disrupt normal operations and possibly prevent access
to the organization’s
primary place of business, ranging from a short-term
inconvenience (e.g., a water main break or other maintenance
issue) to a long-term interruption (e.g., a major terrorist
incident or natural disaster). Disruptions in communications
and/or information technology systems also can trigger
activation of a continuity plan—physical damage
to the primary facility is not required. |
This article was published
in the Winter
2005 issue
of Perspectives.
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of Use policy regarding acceptable
use of content on the ICF International Web
site. |
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 In order to create these COOP plans, organizations should
identify the essential functions that must be performed under
all circumstances and determine the personnel, communications
equipment, records and databases, and hardware needed to
support these essential functions. The process of identifying
essential functions not only includes a thorough examination
of laws and regulations but must include intense stakeholder
participation in the identification of operational functions.
The proper identification and prioritization of these elements
are critical for the creation of a viable continuity plan.
Once the essential functions and supporting resources are
identified, agencies determine alternate facilities to which
they can relocate in case their primary facility is not available.
Lines of succession and methods for delegating authority
also should be established for key personnel to help ensure
continuity. Similar to the orders of succession established
for the President of the United States, each staff member
with responsibility for carrying out mission-essential functions
should have multiple clearly identified successors. These
successors should be trained in their contingency responsibilities
on a regular basis. Other agency personnel should be familiar
with the identity of these successors as well as the nature
and extent of their authority. Once an agency creates what
it considers to be a viable continuity plan, it must develop
and train employees on the new procedures, supplemented by
regular drills and training exercises.
The most important, and
most difficult, element of building a viable continuity plan
is identifying the correct essential functions. Staff selection,
equipment assignments, and choice of vital records and databases
are all based on this initial list of functions. If the list
is too narrowly focused, continuity of critical functions
cannot be ensured. If the list is too broadly focused (e.g.,
"Provide speeches for the Secretary"), excessive resources
may be earmarked to sustain nonessential functions, impeding
work on tasks that are truly essential.
Another common pitfall agencies encounter when identifying
mission-essential functions is neglecting to fully consider
interdependencies with other agencies. For example, many
federal agencies depend on the U.S. Department of the Treasury
to make or collect payments. Similarly, an agency may be
responsible for maintaining a database that is used by several
other agencies. The database may not be critical to the owning
agency’s daily activities, but may be deemed essential
by the other agencies that use it.
When creating a continuity
plan, many people neglect to emphasize the importance of
training successors in their emergency duties. Other pitfalls
include neglecting to adequately document the legal authority
that enables designated officials to make policy decisions
during an emergency. Many plans omit information on the
location of all vital records and databases and do not establish
a program to regularly update this data. In addition, training
and exercises often are not conducted with sufficient regularity.
 Continuity
planning is being revisited by private industry as well as
federal, state, and local governments. In the private sector,
continuity activities are often referred to as "Business
Continuity Planning" but involve
the same process of identifying and prioritizing critical
functions and planning how these functions will be supported
under all conditions.
Regardless of the term used, continuity
planning is a useful exercise even if no business interruptions
occur. Agencies and businesses are forced to re-examine their
current policies, practices, and resources (e.g., data backup
and storage procedures, vendor and mutual aid agreements,
personnel policies and leadership structure, versatility
of communications and computing equipment) that can lead
to change, improvement, and increased preparedness no matter
what the future holds.
Learn more about ICF International’s continuity
of operations capabilities.
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