Dear all ,
i have spent 3 Hours preparing a Mini manual on " Disaster Recovery,Business Resumption and Contingency Planning for Banks : Are you Prepared for the unexpected ?

of course I ran through all the Documents on the BOL Contingency Planning page . the topics I icluded are :

Index
·Introduction
·Bank Image Is Everything
Contingency Planning

·Concerns
·Policy
·Contingency Planning Process

Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Planning
·Overview
·What Should A Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Plan Do?
·What Are The Best-Recognized Types Of Disasters?
·What Are The Most Commonly Reported Disasters?
·What Will Likely Happen During A Disaster?
·What Should Be The Goals Of The Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Plan?
·What Issues Should The Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Plan Address?
·How Should The Disaster Management Team Be Created?

Disaster Recovery Test

·Hypothetical Disasters: Could These Happen To You?
·Natural or Cataclysmic Events
·Human-Caused Events
·Technological Events
·Your Institution’s Disaster Recovery & Business Resumption Plan
·A Regional Disaster

Cyber Security Advisory Checklist
References


my sincere Thanks goes to Mr. Dana Turner for his valuable Publication and Others whom were mentioned in references section.


My question is : What else should be inculded in This mini manual ?

Hussam -- I don't have the answers for you, but I wanted to welcome you back. It's been a long time since I've seen your name here!

Thanks for your kind words

I,ve been away for some time Busy here and there.

I did not see how the info on the disaster team and all employees gets updated on a periodic basis. Is there someone in the bank that has direct responsibility for making sure all the employee information is current ? That is the only point I could not see in the index and based upon my brief understanding of DR. Good luck witha the presentations !

I ditto John's welcome back and will add that you are in my thoughts. As we have many family, friends and customers preparing to deploy to your area, this is always on our minds.

If this (or the final document) is meant to provide direction in the event of a crisis, have you considered a call tree with all the contact numbers being included as well as multiple copies (work, car, home) for each of the team members? Just a thought.

Hussam - I ditto the welcome back comments - you've been away for awhile. If you still have any of your Y2K preparations, you may want to take a look at those - especially detailed resumption plans for each operational area of the bank.

Sometimes what is lacking in recovery plans is the nitty gritty details for each department - i.e. have someone visualize setting up their workstation in a different area - what will they need? Do they have pens, paper, procedure manuals, computer access, cash, envelopes to hold the work, etc. Some of it sounds like very basic stuff, but like the saying goes "For want of a nail, a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe, a horse was lost", and so on.

My prayers are that you will never need to use your Disaster Recovery procedures!

I agree with Bonnie. It's the basic things that sometimes get overlooked, like does everyone in a particular department know how to get to their alternate site? We included in the plan detail instructions and maps to alternate branches/sites. And here in LA, we encourage our employees to think of alternate driving routes that don't require driving over/under a freeway overpass.

Karen

Ditto the other comments. One of the most critcial pieces of a DRP is how to handle the IT function. This includes identifying secure hot and cold sites as backup in case of massive power failures or corrupted systems. Even the best firewalls can be penetrated. Without a running system, little can be accomplished in restoring the functionality of the operation. The IT folks will love it.

Hussam -

I sent you our Table of Contents via email.

How about critical paper forms that you might need. We have a list of them in our manual as well as a supply at our hot site. We asked each department to contribute to the list as to what they would definitely need should we be in a disaster situation. Ask people to think about what forms they would need if they did not have access to their computers!

As noted above, hope you don't have to implement this plan Hassam.... Peace


Opinions are mine and mine alone.

Burback: Thanks for the Tip, I’ll Add that.


Andy Z: I’ll add that too, thanks.

Bonnie M & KK: you are right on the details thing; I will revise and amend accordingly.

Bob: IT contingency planning is dealt with separately but within the same content of the whole Plan.

SJB: thanks for your email

Sue Norton: thanks for the tip.


Thanks for the Nice words , we all pray for a Non-war Zone , even though things seems to be heading to War.

Good morning, Hussam. One thing learned by those of us who were in NYC on 9/11 was the need for a good plan for "attempting" to communicate with employees. Many disaster plans contained lists of employees home telephone and cell phone numbers and a "telephone tree" plan for communication. However, many people (me included) did not go to their own home or were quite delayed in getting to their own home. Cell phone communication was not always working. My bank at the time (and other firms) ended up posting important information for employees on its main website (the internet didn't go down) and established both an 800 and local call-in number. Phone communication was sporadic for a few days...sometimes your cell phone worked, sometimes the land lines worked. Sometimes when calling in you could get the 800 number, sometimes you could get the local number. But you could always get through on one.

So...the biggest lesson was to set up a plan for the employees to go TO the information, not to try to get the information OUT to the employees.

Take care and hopefully none of us will ever need these plans again except for weather related incidents!

Kathleen

Kathleen, I guess it takes having to go through a disaster to fully comprehend what needs to be done. Great advice and hopefully here in Wyoming we will not need it. I admire you for having gone through what you did and being able to share your wisdom with us.

A few years ago Houston had some heavy flooding. Some of our branches there were effected. All land lines for telephone communications were out. Cell phones also did not work. But we have a backup, two-way text pagers. You know, the ones with the little keyboards on them. They use different systems than cell phones and we were able to stay in contact and knew which branches were effected and to what degree.

That is a great idea about the text pagers, Andy.

One aspect of disaster planning that I had not thought about until the snowstorm shut down some federal reserve banks is how to deal with a disaster that happens to someone else or somewhere else in the banking system. If the world goes crazy, this is something to take into consideration.

One thing we learnt from a recent "dry run" of evacuating the premises, was that staff had no containers or bags to carry important documents out of the building if they had a one minute notice to evacuate. We have hence decided to tape large hessian bags to the bottom of each desk, so that staff can rip it out, sweep all papers off their desk into it, keys etc. and rush out of the building.

The other thing that we have insisted on is that key people of the disaster planning exercise must keep copies of the telephone staff directory in their cars and their homes.

Here is one other tidbit learned on 9/11 in NY. Part of the disaster plan instructions afterward were for women to keep low rubber soled shoes at their desk that could be slipped on quickly. Women who were evacuating and had on heels (even low heels) ended up losing their shoes or kicking them off to run. They then ended up with seriously cut feet from debris! You don't have to be in a high rise for this to occur, if the streets are covered in debris.

Do you have food, water and other supplies (toiletries) to keep your employees fed, etc... for several days? Your employees could get stuck at the office. You might also tell them to keep battery operated radios, extra batteries, flashlights, etc at their desks. They should also keep books, games, etc, at their desks to keep themselves occupied in case they are stuck there.

Anyone who takes medicine should carry at least a three day supply with them at all times. If they live close to the office, two-way radios are relatively cheap--cell phones may be out of order. Radio Shack has them that work up to 5 miles for just $59. (Unfortunately, I am 13 miles from home.)

Women should keep a supply of feminine products.

Keep waterless hand cleaner and handi-wipes. You probably do not want to use precious water for cleaning duties. You may want some Sterno for heating up food.

For those of you who live in cold weather areas, think about staying warm. For those who live in hot weather areas, think about staying cool in a sealed room with no AC. It will get mighty hot in some places--and that is dangerous.

I don't think your country is at risk of biological attack is it? If it is, do you have a sealed area in case of such an attack?

Keep in mind that in some types of attacks, going into a sealed room is the opposite of what you should do. Rather than sheltering in place (as you might do after a radiological attack), evacuation to a fresh air environment (after removing clothes and scrubbing down, in some instances) is the proper option for some types of threats, such as sarin, vx, etc.

Consult our Threats Chart on the BOL Disaster Recovery page for more tips.