Welcome to the

1. Welcome to the Continuity of Operations Training Sponsored by The Maryland Emergency Management Agency October 2, 2006

2. What is COOP? Continuity of Operations (COOP): The effort to assure that the capability exists to continue essential agency functions across a wide range of potential emergencies.

3. Why COOP?

4. Objectives of COOP • To ensure the continuous performance of an agency’s essential functions during an emergency. • To protect essential facilities, equipment, records, and other assets. • To reduce or mitigate disruptions to operations. • To minimize injury, loss of life and property damage. • To achieve a timely and orderly recovery from an emergency and resumption of full service to customers.

5. Requirements for a COOP Plan COOP plans must • Be maintained at a high level of readiness; • Be capable of implementation with and without warning; • Be operational no later than 12 hours after activation; • Sustain operations for up to 30 days; and • Take advantage of existing agency infrastructure.

6. COOP Sample Timeline for Completion Month 1 Survey of state agency COOP activities completed. Identify COOP POC and team. Month 2 Essential functions identified and prioritized. Month 3 Key personnel identified; delegation of authority plans and orders of succession devised. Month 4 Vital records; critical systems and equipment; and communications systems identified; protection and recovery programs devised. Month 5 Alternate work sites identified and relocation plans prepared. Month 6 Initial drafts of COOP worksheets submitted to reviewing agency. Month 7 Review of draft plan and summary report by reviewing agency due. Month 8 Training for essential personnel and initial plan for exercises and drills completed. Month 9 COOP plan revisions and final submission to reviewing agency.

7. COOP PLAN OUTLINE • COOP Responsibility • COOP Program Schedule & Timeline • Impact Analysis • Agency Essential Functions & Key Personnel • Protection of Vital Records, Critical Systems & Equipment • Alternate Work Site Assessment and Relocation Planning • Communications Planning • COOP Training, COOP Plan Testing and Execution.

8. First Steps • Designation of a COOP Point of Contact • Selection of a COOP Planning Team • Consists of a good mix of agency professionals and includes members from all levels of agency management and staff. • Consists of people who can work under pressure. • Development of a COOP Program Timeline • Business Impact Analysis (Overlaps with Identification of Essential Functions)

9. Essential Functions

10. What are essential functions? Essential functions are those functions that MUST be performed to achieve the agency’s mission. This corresponds to Section I of the COOP plan outline.

11. IDENTIFY ALL AGENCY FUNCTIONS Is this necessary? Identifying all agency functions is the best way not only to determine all essential functions but also to gain a thorough understanding of agency operations. Through this comprehensive review of agency operations, a COOP team can best devise specific plans to ensure continuation of essential functions.

12. IDENTIFY ESSENTIAL AGENCY FUNCTIONS KEY TO DETERMINATION = AGENCY MISSION The agency’s mission statement should clearly outline the basic purpose of the agency, but look to other sources, such as the legislation authorizing the agency or regulations promulgated by the agency, to determine the agency’s mission and its essential functions.

13. Worksheet1 continued:Description of Functions/ Essential? • The next objective of this worksheet is to determine essential agency functions by considering threats to agency functions and analyzing risk. • If, at any point, the function is determined NOT to be essential, it is not necessary to continue the COOP planning process for that function.

14. IDENTIFY THE CRITICAL PROCESSES AND SERVICES THAT SUPPORT THESE FUNCTIONS. • Essential functions and their supporting critical processes and services are intricately connected. • Sorting out essential functions and prioritizing them requires consideration of their supporting critical processes and services. • See Worksheet 2.

15. Worksheet 2: Critical Processes or Services forEach Essential Function Critical processes for each essential function are those processes or services that must be recovered quickly (usually within 24 hours) after a disruption to ensure resumption of the essential function.

16. IDENTIFY REQUIREMENTS FOR CRITICAL PROCESSES AND SERVICES. These include all resources necessary to carry out the critical process or service: • Recovery Time Objective (RTO) • Priority, • Personnel, • Data or vital records, and • Systems and equipment.

17. PRIORITIZE THE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND SEQUENCE RESUMPTION OF ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS ACCORDING TO PRIORITY • Consider first the time criticality of the critical processes or services for each essential function. • Determine Recovery Time Objective of each essential function. • Sequence for recovery of essential functions and their critical processes.

18. TIME CRITICALITY • The amount of time that a function/process can be suspended before it adversely affects the agency’s core mission. • Measured by recovery time objective (RTO). RTO: The period of time within which systems, processes, services, or functions must be recovered after an outage.

19. SEQUENCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS IN ORDER OF RECOVERY • See Worksheet 3, Priority of Essential Functions, in the COOP Planning Manual. • Looking at the estimated RTOs for the supporting critical processes and services, estimate the time criticality for the associated essential function. • Assign a priority number for each essential function in the last column based on the estimated RTOs.

20. PRIORITIZING ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS • Those essential functions with multiple critical processes and services will have shorter RTOs. • The essential functions with the shortest RTOs receive the highest priority. • The essential functions with the highest priority will be the first to be resumed after a disruption in service. • Defer functions not deemed essentialuntil resources are available.

21. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY AND SUCCESSION PLANNING The deliberate and systematic effort to ensure continuity of leadership and the continued effective performance of an organization by making provisions for the development and strategic placement of people in the event of either an anticipated or a sudden vacancy in a key position.

22. Why Have a Succession Plan? • Prepares the Agency for planned departures as well as for emergencies; • Provides for consistency of operations; • Reduces stress during a transition whether caused by an emergency or not; • Preserves institutional knowledge and expertise; and • Maintains agency functionality with minimal interruption.

23. Delegation of Authority • Identify which authorities should be delegated and conditions triggering delegation. See Worksheet 4. Types of Authority: • Emergency • Administrative

24. Describe the circumstances that would trigger succession to that position. • Emergency event • Death • Incapacitation through illness or serious injury of that person or his/her family • Imprisonment • Abduction • Unexplained disappearance • Filling the vacancy of another key position

25. Delegation of Authority • Establish rules and procedures for delegation and succession and methods of notification. See Worksheet 5. • Identify limitations of delegations. See Worksheet 5.

26. Identify any limitations on the successor. • Length of term in the position • Return to normal operations. • Original person is able to return to duties. • Agency head designates a new person. • Limits on decision-making authority • May make only short-term decisions involving day-to-day operations. • May or may not make fiscal decisions. • May or may not make staffing decisions.

27. Delegation of Authority • Identify key positions and positions to whom authorities should be delegated (orders of succession).

28. Identify key positions. • Key positions are those positions necessary to carry out the agency’s essential functions and fulfillment of the agency’s mission. • Key positions may include the agency head and management, but can also include non-management positions. • Examine the agency’s organizational chart for clues to identifying key positions. (See Worksheet 6.)

29. Worksheet 6Current Organization Chart Using the example organization chart below, complete an organization chart for your agency.

30. Identify key positions. ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: • What are the positions that support each essential function? • Could this essential function operate effectively if this position were vacant? • Why is this position so important? • During an emergency, would it be necessary for you to be present at the facility to perform your job?

31. Establish an order of succession byposition for each key position. Considerations: • Qualifications required for key position. • Geographical location of key position. • Other positions proximal to the key position, both geographically and organization-wise. • Qualifications and skills of the individuals in the potential successor positions.

32. Ensure successors are trained to perform their emergency duties. • Some key positions are so unique, it is difficult for another agency staffer to simply fill in on short notice. • Training promotes regular review and revision of orders of succession. • Training should include regularly briefing potential emergency successors on the job requirements of the key position. • All agency staff should be educated on the basic operations of their department or division. • All employees should document the major initiatives and ongoing tasks that they perform.

33. Vital Records, Systems & Equipment This corresponds to section II of the COOP plan outline.

34. VITAL RECORDS Records or documents, regardless of their form, which, if damaged or destroyed, would • Disrupt agency operations and information flow; • Cause considerable inconvenience; and • Require replacement or recreation of the records at considerable expense.

35. Vital Records Protection & Recovery • Evaluate current program against potential threats and protection requirements for vital records. • Outline procedures for the recovery of vital records during an emergency. • Prioritize the recovery of vital records.

36. Vital Systems & Equipment • Identify vital systems and equipment. • Select and arrange protection methods for vital systems and equipment at both the primary and alternate work sites. • Prioritize the recovery of vital systems and equipment by using recovery time and recovery point objectives.

37. Alternate Work Sites and Relocation Planning This corresponds to Section III of the COOP plan outline.

38. Factors in Selecting Alternate Work Sites • Size of the alternate facility and space requirements • Construction of the alternate facility and adaptability • Location • Ability to obtain services at alternate facility • Availability of mass transit to the alternate facility • Communication needs • Security requirements • Contractual obligations

39. RELOCATION PLANNING • Arrange for provision of agency employees’ physical and emotional requirements. • Transportation • Lodging • Food • Counseling • Arrange for security and access controls at both primary and secondary facilities.

40. COMMUNICATIONS This corresponds to Section IV of the COOP plan outline.

41. Communications Planning • Identify critical processes supporting essential functions at the primary and alternate facilities. • Implement preventative controls at the primary and alternate work sites. • Select alternative modes of communication for use in an emergency, taking interoperability into consideration. • Prepare a chain of communication or rapid recall list and designate alternate means of communication in an emergency.

42. Implement Preventative Controls Preventative controls are those efforts to avoid the occurrence of unwanted events and to mitigate risks to vital systems and equipment. Examples include the following: • Uninterruptible power supplies; • Fire and smoke detectors; • Water sensors; • Emergency master system shutdown switch; • Technical security controls; and • Frequent and scheduled backups.

43. Worksheet 18 Alternative Modes of Communication Copy the information gathered in Worksheet 24, Communication Systems Supporting Essential Functions, into this table and identify alternative providers and/or modes of communication. Communication systems already in place can be named as alternative modes for other modes of communication. For example, radios could be an alternative mode of communication for voice lines

44. Reconstitution & Devolution This corresponds to Section V of the COOP plan outline.

45. Definitions Reconstitution: The process by which surviving and or replacement personnel resume normal operations from the original or replacement operation facility. Devolution: The process by which essential functions are transferred to an alternate agency or facility.

46. Reconstitution Process • Form a Reconstitution Team (Worksheet 20) • Within 24 hours of an emergency relocation, the Organization should initiate and coordinate operations to salvage, restore, and recover the building (after receiving approval from the appropriate local/federal authorities) • Plan for movement from the COOP site to the originating facility including transition of all functions, personnel, equipment, and records. • Outline procedure necessary for orderly transition from a relocation site to a new or restored facility.

47. COOP Plan Execution This corresponds to Section VI of the COOP plan outline.

48. COOP Plan Execution • Execution of a COOP plan mayor may not involve the deliberate andpre-planned movement of key personnel to an alternate work site. • Agencies should develop an command and control structure that allows for the quick and accurate assessment of the emergency and determination of the best course of action for response and recovery.

49. Determining the Class/Level of Emergency • Level I :Disruption of up to 12 hours, with little effect on services or impact to essential functions or critical systems; No COOP activation required, depending on individual organization requirements. • Level II: Disruption of 12 to 72 hours, with minor impact on essential functions; Limited COOP activation, depending on individual organization requirements. • Level III: Disruption to one or two essential functions or to a vital system for no more than three days; May require movement of some personnel to an alternate work site or location in the primary facility for less than a week • Level IV: Disruption to one or two essential functions or to the entire organization with potential of lasting for more than three days but less than fourteen days; May require activation of orders of succession for some key personnel; May require movement of some personnel to an alternate work site or location in the primary facility for more than a week • Level V: Disruption to the entire organization with a potential for lasting at least fourteen days; Requires activation of orders of succession for some key personnel; Requires movement of many, if not all personnel, to an alternate work site for more than fourteen days.

50. BUILDING ALERT SYSTEM Building Evacuation Plan • Building Alert System (worksheet 21) • Evacuation Routes and Exits • Emergency Evacuation Personnel (worksheet 22) • Designated Assembly Areas (worksheet 23) • Shelter-in-Place - Training