November 2, 2006
Keeping services going in a disaster: Business continuity symposium slated for Nov. 6
How can businesses and UW departments and units continue to serve clients effectively in the event of a disaster? The answer is business continuity planning, according to the UW Emergency Management Office (UWEM).
Keeping continuity going during emergencies will be the topic of a symposium from 9:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 6, in the Walker-Ames Room of Kane Hall. The symposium is co-sponsored by the UW Business School and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
Scott Preston, business continuity manager for UWEM, who is organizing the symposium, said his office’s approach is more oriented toward more “resource-oriented” than “threat-based” planning. That is, “it’s much less expensive to protect something, by a factor of seven, than it is to replace it.”
Resource-based planning, Preston said, “supports the all-hazards approach taken by UWEM and avoids creating a massive tome of plans — what I call the Big Book of Everything — in favor of more streamlined action plans and supporting information.”
He said the business continuity model also call for testing of plans to assure their ongoing viability. “A large, dusty collection of untested plans will not be good for anything in the middle of a disaster,” he said.
The keynote speaker for the symposium — which will be held again in the afternoon for the public business community — will be Brian Yeoman, a senior research scientist at the Houston Area Research Center, who will speak on disaster recovery for universities.
Preston will give a presentation on best practices in business continuity, and Barbara Benson, director of Records Management Services, will discuss protection and recovery of vital records.
The morning session is mostly for the campus community, and the afternoon session, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., is open to the public. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to disaster@u.washington.edu. For more information, call Preston at 206-897-2378.
