Data Concepts helps state agencies and commercial clients prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and technological disasters. We provide a full spectrum of solutions to events that could adversely affect operations - including planning, training, exercises, and automated support systems - to help our clients prepare for contingencies such as terrorist activities, natural disasters, national emergency situations, and "new world" threats such as cyberwarfare. In each case, we work closely with our clients, incorporating their business expertise to make sure our services and solutions meet their specific requirements. Our clients include the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Information Technology Agencies.
Planning
To help our clients prepare for and respond to any crisis that may arise, as well as mitigate its effects, we provide three basic types of planning support:
- Continuity of operations (COOP) plans
- Disaster response and recovery support plans
- Critical infrastructure protection plans
For each client, we assess site-specific threats, determine the essential functions that must not be interrupted, then define the activities needed to sustain them. Our clearly defined plan and easy to implement operations framework minimize ad hoc reorganization, duplication, and the resulting confusion in case of emergencies. We also provide detailed guidance for transitional activities to restore normal operations without disrupting key activities.
We supplement these plans with standard operating procedures to guide personnel in carrying out their assignments. The result is an integrated family of plans and procedures, ranging from broad-scale plans for senior management to detailed plans for managers of individual facilities and individual employees.
Training
Plans help only if they are used. We design and implement programs to train personnel for their emergency activities. Our training includes:
- Classroom instruction
- Workshops
- Computer-based training
We provide both initial and refresher training programs featuring examples and exercises to translate classroom instruction into real-life experiences requiring participants to use what they've learned. This participatory technique reinforces instruction and helps trainees prepare for the situations they may face in emergencies.
Exercises
Periodic exercises are an excellent tool for validating plans, procedures, responsibilities, and resources as well as reinforcing training. We identify specific objectives for each event, devise a plan to accomplish the objectives, develop a scenario and incidents intended to test the objectives, direct the drill or exercise, and evaluate it based on participants' comments and our own observations. We incorporate the lessons learned into subsequent training and events. Our exercise program includes:
- Procedural and performance drills
- Tabletop exercises in which managers interact with each other in developing solutions to problems related to issues
- Major exercises to simulate, as realistically as possible, how the organization will react to an actual crisis.
Automated Support Systems
Automated systems may be used to assist the planning process and to support crisis and recovery operations. Data Concepts can help a client select and utilize the best available "off-the-shelf" system or develop a customized automated system based on the organization's own specific requirements.
For more information, contact:
Cherian Abraham
Data Concepts
4405 Cox Road, Suite 140
Richmond, VA 23060-3395
Phone: (804) 968-4700
Fax: (804) 968-7900
E-Mail: cherian@dataconcepts-inc.com