Potomac Forum, Ltd. – The Forum of Choice for Government & Industry Since 1982 ^TM

Continuity of Operations (COOP) and Emergency Planning in the Government Environment Training Workshop

September 29-30, 2009 – Willard InterContinental Hotel

What You Will Learn

Additional Focus for the September 29-30, 2009 Workshop:
 Preparing the Government for an H1N1 COOP Response

• Define all aspects of COOP

• Justify COOP programs and testing

• Describe the activities involved in developing and implementing a sound COOP strategy

• Distinguish between COOP and Disaster Recovery and understand how both topics are critical to contingency planning

• Understand the new Federal requirements and guidelines

• Develop an action plan for delivering your COOP Program

• Understand COOP and IT Infrastructure support

• Develop a COOP Implementation plan complete with Emergency Response Strategies

• Develop a COOP Testing, Training, and Exercise Plan & Program for tracking your COOP posture

• Understand Government regulations on COOP and Business Continuity and how they pertain to your agency and why (including The Disaster Recovery Plan and the Information Technology Contingency Plan according to NIST 800-34 and Federal COOP Guidelines - FCD-1/FCD-2/NCP Implementation Plan)

• H1N1 and how to integrate into your COOP Program

• The difference between Pandemic and COOP strategies

• The draft Pandemic policies and what they mean to the future of your COOP Program

• The intersection of H1N1 and Telework strategies - molding your Tactical response

• Pandemic Tactical Response - making ready the workforce

• Telework and personal PI plans - maintaining the workforce

• Data Center Operations during a Pandemic, getting your arms around contracted resources

Workshop Description

Industry and Government Leaders Present Practical Solutions to Government COOP Requirements. Hear from industry experts and government managers leading Business Continuity Planning and Continuity of Operations Development. The instructor Team presents practical, real-life solutions required to establish or improve a business continuity program within your government organization. The key to success in moving your COOP program forward is gaining the foothold within your organization's culture and business processes. You will hear from Federal Agency Leadership about their development of a COOP Program that has been recognized by DHS as best practice.

Learn about the New COOP Requirements and what they mean for your organization. The Federal Government's continuity requirements are currently being updated and this workshop will address the new developments and how it will impact your organization. The planning of the large scale National Level Exercise - NLE 2010 is currently under way. This session will address how to gauge your progress in preparing for it and what new aspects you can expect from it.

Learn how to Justify COOP Programs to Senior Management and Build Cooperation and Consensus at the "Front line" levels. Instructors will simply and clearly answer the "what's in it for me" question from the leadership level through, and right down to the individual implementer's level. This technique, though simple and easily tailored, is often the key to gain leadership's buy-in and individual understanding of the complexities involving the many facets of COOP.

Consider this Workshop

• If you have a COOP Program that is just taking off,

• If you have an established COOP Program and want to become familiar with how the new federal guidance has changed in as little as the last six months,

• If you are new to the Federal COOP environment,

• If you are in top leadership and need to learn more about what you are "on the hook" for within COOP,

• If you have recently taken over an existing COOP Program and want to ensure that it is up to speed with the industry's best practices,

...then this is the session for you to deliver a practical and sustainable COOP Program that complies with government regulations, best practices and effective management.

What You Will Learn

• Define all aspects of COOP

• Justify COOP program and testing

• Describe the activities involved in developing and implementing a sound COOP strategy

• Distinguish between COOP and Disaster Recovery and understand how both topics are critical to contingency planning

• Understand the new Federal requirements and guidelines for COOP and H1N1 Pandemic Planning

• Develop an action plan for delivering your COOP Program

• Understand COOP and IT Infrastructure support

• Develop a COOP Implementation plan complete with Emergency Response Strategies

• Develop a COOP Testing, Training, and Exercise Plan & Program for tracking your COOP posture

• Understand Government regulations on COOP and Business Continuity and how they pertain to your agency and why (including The Disaster Recovery Plan and the Information Technology Contingency Plan according to NIST 800-34 and Federal COOP Guidelines - FCD-1/FCD-2/NCP Implementation Plan)
  

Who Should Attend

• Senior Leadership who own the COOP Program

• Middle managers and staff tasked with the development and implementation of COOP

• IT Managers and Staff tasked with the Information Technology Contingency Plan

• Managers or Directors involved with H1N1 and Pandemic response

• IGs and Staff

• Program Managers responsible program operation

• Procurement Staff responsible for COOP Contracting
  

Why You Should Attend

• Learn how COOP/DR is an essential requirement for government emergency preparedness

• Network with your colleagues on COOP/DR capability in the Federal Government

• Review the development phases, tasks, and how to deploy personnel for COOP/DR implementations, testing, and exercises

• Understand the best COOP/DR Architecture for your organization

• Get some practical experience in COOP/DR/Pandemic concepts and planning through the course workshops

• Gain insight into building resilient data centers that scale efficiently

• Learn the importance of data integrity and how to protect it

• Understand the reasons why some COOP/DR implementations fail

• Apply techniques to maximize the efficiency of your IT contingency plan
  

Workshop Format

• Lectures, classroom exercises, open forum, and government panelists
  

Agenda

Day One

7:30 AM	Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30	Welcome Art Chantker, President, Potomac Forum
8:45	What is the definition and understanding of COOP The continued changing and additions to the COOP Alphabet Soup - COOP, COG, ITCP, DR, CP, BCP, BCM, BR2, PI, H1N1
9:30	Federal COOP Guidelines FCD-1/FCD-2/NCP Implementation Plan and the Requirements of Eagle Horizon and National Level Exercise 2010
10:15	Break
10:30	Government Guest Speaker Ms. Veronica Glass DHS/Customs and Border Protection Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Floating your COOP Program and Keeping it Watertight
11:30	Your organization and COOP Compliance
11:45	Hosted Lunch
12:45 PM	COOP Operations: Tracking Progress of the COOP Program - Developing a COOP Concept of Operations
1:30	Break
1:45	COOP and IT Infrastructure Support
3:30	The Disaster Recovery Plan and the Information Technology Contingency Plan according to NIST 800-34
4:30	Wrap-up and Consulting Period Opportunity to discuss specific Agency COOP Challenges with the Instructors
5:00	Day One Adjourns

Day Two

7:30 AM	Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30	Welcome Back and Recap Art Chantker, President, Potomac Forum
8:45	Key Note Speaker on Pandemic Response
9:30	Pandemic Policy - What tools are out there to help me with H1N1
10:15	Break
10:30	PI Tactical Response - Making Ready the Workforce
11:30	Telework and Personal PI Plans - Maintaining your Workforce
11:45	Hosted Lunch
12:45 PM	The COOP program and the integration of Pandemic Strategies
1:30	Break
1:45	Data Center Operations during a Pandemic - Getting your arms around contracted resources
2:30	Pandemic Response Worksheet - Soup to Nuts in preparing for H1N1
4:30	Wrap-up and Consulting Period Opportunity to discuss specific Agency COOP Challenges with the Instructors
5:00	Workshop Adjourns

(Agenda subject to change)

Instructors

Potomac Forum, Ltd. has selected the Unisys Corporation to present this workshop. The Unisys instructors are experienced leaders in planning for and implementing government COOP programs. They have supported numerous civilian and DOD organizations in COOP preparation, testing and exercising, and developing government-wide Best Practices in COOP, Disaster and Emergency Preparedness. Each instructor brings years of experience in the government environment, has lived COOP from the government perspective and knows the compliance regulations and guidance necessary for an effective Government program.

Richard Gillies, CBCP

Richard Gillies is the Director of the Unisys Continuity of Operations and Continuity of Government Program and line of business within the Unisys Federal Enterprise Security Group based in Reston, Virginia. Rich has performed Continuity of Operations (COOP), Continuity of Government (COG) and Information Technology Continuity Planning (ITCP) on numerous contracts throughout the Federal Government. His most recent support has been within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) where he provided COOP Program and Exercise support during Forward Challenge 2006 and is currently staging for the 2008 White House mandated COOP exercise across the Federal Government known as NLE 2-08 (Eagle Horizon). In his role, Rich is assisting CBP in streamlining their COOP Program to meet the new requirements of FCD-1, FCD-2 and the NCP Implementation Plan as well as aligning their COOP Response and Recovery Strategies with the various CBP alternate facilities and information technology platforms.

Prior to joining Unisys, Mr. Gillies headed up the AT&T Broadband Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery effort within the National Technical and Network Operations Center located in Denver, Colorado. The effort involved the implementation of a multitude of Response and Recovery Strategies incorporating 350 critical infrastructure facilities throughout the United States. During 9/11, Rich coordinated response strategies used in New York City from the Network Operations Center in Denver.

Mr. Gillies served in the United States Coast Guard for a period of 34 years before embracing the challenges of the corporate world of Business Continuity Planning. Most notably during his military career - Rich received the Meritorious Service Medal for his efforts during the Coast Guard's Y2K response that included the development and deployment of the Federal CIO Verification Process declared by Congress as a Federal Best Practice. The process was deployed to all 50 states. He was also an Intelligence Officer in support to The Gulf War and was involved in many forward operations during The War on Drugs.
Mr. Gillies received his BA from the University of Houston and his BS in Strategic Management and MBA from Southeastern University.

Chuck Ugalde, CISSP, MCSE, CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCDP, CSMDS, ABCP

Chuck Ugalde is the Director of the Unisys Business Continuity Management line of business within the Unisys Federal Enterprise Security Group based in Reston, Virginia. Chuck has performed Continuity of Operations (COOP), Disaster Recovery (DR) and Information Technology Contingency Planning (ITCP) on numerous contracts with various City, State, and Federal Government agencies.

Mr. Ugalde's most recent engagement was with the U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency where he was responsible for delivering an IT Contingency Plan as part of the overall upgrade of the U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency's COOP program.
From 2006 through 2008, Mr. Ugalde worked with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where he provided COOP Program and Exercise support for several HHS OPDIVs in addition to Forward Challenge 2006. In his role as Deputy Engineering Manager for the HHS ITSC program, Chuck assisted HHS in streamlining their COOP Program to meet the new requirements of FCD-1, FCD-2 and the NCP Implementation Plan as well as aligning their COOP Response and Recovery Strategies with the various HHS alternate facilities and information technology platforms.

Prior to joining Unisys, Mr. Ugalde managed the planning, re-design, and implementation of major data center upgrades for the NYC Departments of Correction and Probation. The effort involved the implementation of a multitude of Response and Recovery Strategies incorporating the major data centers, 25 detention facilities and 30 branch offices throughout the NYC metropolitan area. During the NYC blackout of 2003, Chuck executed and coordinated all data center incident response, backup and recovery operations prior to full power restoration.

Mr. Ugalde has been designing, building, and operating data centers as well as providing disaster recovery services for the last 20 years for clients such as UBS Paine Webber, Polo Ralph Lauren, BMG Music Company, G&J Publishing, Mitsui-Sumitomo Insurance, and many other notable corporations.

Mr. Ugalde attended the State University of New York Farmingdale and studied Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Ugalde holds multiple industry certifications in routing, switching, security, and operating system and storage disciplines.
Mr. Ugalde is a regularly featured speaker at many government technical forums and is a frequent guest instructor for the Potomac Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing continuing education for government staff in COOP program management.

Joe Douglas, ABCP

Joe Douglas is the Director of the Unisys Continuity of Operations Tactical Programs within the Unisys Federal Enterprise Security Group based in Reston, Virginia. Joe has planned and executed continuity efforts for Customs and Border Protection, US Coast Guard and Department of Justice. He currently leads tactical continuity planning to implement the new CBP COOP Program and is supporting each of the alternate sites to develop a robust COOP reception and orientation program. Prior to this engagement he developed the alternate site reception and orientation plan for US Coast Guard Commandant Staff and completed the IT Contingency Plan for the DOJ Consolidated Asset Tracking System. He has been a trusted agent from Forward Challenge 04 through National Level Exercise 09 and Eagle Horizon 09 exercises. Additionally he has been instrumental in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) outfitting and accreditation. Before joining Unisys he served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard performing a myriad of operational and support duties that included coordination of directorate-level Year 2000 (Y2K) contingency planning. Mr. Douglas holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Appalachian State University and is a Certified Business Continuity Planner through DRII.

Registration

Government Registration Fee:  $1295
Government (Federal State and Local) Employees

Industry Registration Fee:  $1395
Industry including contractors in direct support of the government

Registration Fee includes:  Comprehensive Workshop Notebook, Presentations, Continental Breakfast, Lunch, and Refreshment Breaks.

Potomac Forum is so confident that you will be pleased with the COOP training, that if you are not satisfied with the quality of instruction, you will receive 100% of your registration fee returned to your organization or a complimentary registration at a future  Potomac Forum Workshop. 

 

 

For Registration Assistance Please Phone 703 683-1613 
or email Mary@potomacforum.org  

Send a Government Team Rate:

To Encourage Your Government Team to Learn Together.
Register two persons from the same government office at the same time and the third registers at 50% of the registration fee.

Cancellation Policy

Confirmed registrations who cancel within 3 business days of the program will be subject to a $250 cancellation fee. Registrations cancelled after the program starts are subject to the full registration fee. Substitutions can be made at any time. In the event a particular training workshop is cancelled, the liability of Potomac Forum, Ltd is limited to refund of any prepaid registration fee.

Testimonials

"Very good, will recommend to others."
Coop Manager, Navy

"Great workshop. Very current information."
Lead Program Manger, CBP Air & Marine

"Excellent: professional instructors, Top rate Installation Planning Specialist, HQ Army, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff. Excellent staff, First Class event & Training"

"I've been to numerous trainings and conferences for Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Department of Treasury, contingency planning. This is by far the best Bureau of Public Debt and most information. This was right on target and a MUST for all government COOP planners.I will recommend it to all COOP staff in my organization."

"This workshop is very good and very informative."
Director, Program Management Staff, DHS, CBP

"Speakers were knowledgeable and passionate about Emergency preparedness."

Meeting Location

Willard InterContinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington D.C. 20004
202-628-9100