RSM McGladrey Business Continuity Planning System

Transcription

1 Kristen Noakes-Fry, Trude Diamond Product Report 21 November 2002 RSM McGladrey Business Continuity Planning System Summary RSM McGladrey s Business Continuity Planning System supports planning from the Business Impact Analysis through Testing which can be combined with optional consulting services. Table of Contents Overview Analysis Pricing Competitors Strengths Limitations Insight List Of Tables Table 1: Overview: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Table 2: Features and Functions: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Table 3: System Requirements: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Table 4: Price List: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Table 5: BCP Products Gartner Entire contents 2002 Gartner, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

2 Corporate Headquarters RSM McGladrey National Integrated Technology Solutions Group 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1700 St. Paul, MN 55101, U.S.A. Tel: For BCPS tech support: , ext. 187 Fax for BCPS tech support: Internet: Overview RSM McGladrey s Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) automates the types of analysis needed to create a business continuity plan (BCP), including disaster mitigation, risk assessment and outage analysis. The business impact analysis (BIA) process permits the user to select options for risk assessment and outage analysis. After performing risk assessment, the user begins the process of building a BCP, which includes customization of user menus, forms, documents and database field descriptions, as well as the addition of user-defined fields. After completion of the planning process, the system supports the development and evaluation of plan testing. The BCPS database itself, however, is proprietary, not Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) compliant. In addition, the database requires manual updating because it does not automatically poll corporate data resources for updates to volatile (but vital) information such as employee contact numbers and hard assets. The plans incorporate documents, reports and graphics, as well as allowing the user to transfer files via FTP to a Web server for electronic storage, distribution and remote access. Management tools include multiple security levels with audit trails, and graphs and charts for BIA functions, project scheduling and management reporting. Reporting options include the addition of a customizable report writer, printable organizational charts and a Departmental Summary Report. Table 1: Overview: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Release 3.01 Date Announced 4 January 2001 Types of BCP Tools Business impact analysis Included Continuity plan builder Testing BCPS database Report Writer Operating Systems Windows 98/ME Supported Windows NT Windows 2000 Windows XP Novell NetWare 21 November

3 Table 1: Overview: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Database Compatibility Target Market Not ODBC compliant. BCPS uses a proprietary database design and does not interface with other databases. An import utility loads fixed-length or comma-delimited text files from external sources into its database. It does not directly import data from corporate data systems. It does not automatically poll designated corporate database sources to update the BCPS database. Midsize enterprises with fewer than 5,000 employees per business unit and distributed, network technologies. Current clients represent the financial industry, government, health services, manufacturing and retail. While BCPS creates plans in Portable Document Format (pdf) and provides FTP capabilities to upload to the Internet, it is not a browser-based planning tool. Table 2: Features and Functions: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Installation Platforms Supported Database User Menu Forms and Documents Report Plan Organization Web Options Security Manual installation on the first workstation to set parameters; automatic installation on workstations thereafter. Detailed installation log. Workstations: Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP. Database Servers: Windows NT, Windows 2000, XP and Novell NetWare. The BCPS application coordinator may modify the input screen field name descriptions. Pre-defined field sizes cannot be modified. User-defined fields can be established within all data records. User menus are controlled by security parameters. Options that are not authorized do not appear on user menus. Organization chart definitions that tailor the software to the enterprise s business structure also determine user menus and options. Users can customize word processing elements such as titles, labels and content in plan templates. Users can customize only labels of pre-defined, database-driven elements of input forms, but can add fully user-defined elements. BCPS includes over 110 standard reports that are not customizable because of their reliance on the pre-defined database elements. Customized labels applied to pre-defined database elements appear as customized on the reports. Additional reports can be generated using Crystal Reports and R&R Report Writer. Multiple organization levels (companies, divisions, facilities and other levels); userdefinable, unlimited number of plans and teams. FTP for plan storage and access, file backup and retrieval. Plans can be published using Adobe Acrobat to create pdf files from the databases and documents stored within BCPS using an automated publishing routine. Two security levels one administrative level for the common database and a second user level for plan developers and users. Customizable rights can be specified for users: View, Modify, Add, Delete and Print. Fully customizable permission templates for planners: each form or menu item can be individually selected. 21 November

4 Table 2: Features and Functions: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Documentation Electronic documentation is integrated with the software and with searchable files on the customer s network or PC. RSM McGladrey also provides hard-copy documentation as part of the software license. Table 3: System Requirements: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Operating System Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP Processor 500MHz or faster Pentium or compatible processor. Network Performance Optimization is not required for networks that already adequately support the specified configurations of workstations for the existing numbers of users. RAM Capacity 128MB Increased RAM will enhance processing speeds during plan publishing. Hard Drive Capacity 30MB (for a full installation). CD-ROM Yes, for installation. Graphics Standard PC graphics capability. Concurrent Users Software user capacity is flexible. Typically in midsize companies, fewer than 10 BCPS users are online concurrently, and existing capacity will accommodate the BCPS user traffic. Analysis RSM McGladrey s business continuity software can operate independent of, or in concert with, RSM McGladrey s consulting services. The company s acquisition by H&R Block and its own history in the financial services consulting industry make its BCP software particularly useful for that market sector, which is one of the heaviest users of BCP technology. The BCPS software also serves midsize clients in other industries, particularly city and county government, regional healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors, financial and IT service providers, as well as retail vendors. Enterprise Scalability The BCPS data structure supports any number of business units or divisions within an enterprise. Although memory of a user s system may present a constraint, the BCPS data structure itself does not. Some smaller, less expensive products have database structures that do not allow more than one business unit or location. However, the scalability in BCPS makes the product one that can grow with the organization. Data Although users can alter field names to comply with corporate standard terminology and add user-defined fields, the system s data integrity constraints prevent adaptation to match the structure of existing corporate data resources. Basic Features BCPS software includes all the basic elements provided by higher-priced tools at a scale and price-point attractive to the midsize enterprise and comparable to competitors for that market. These features include: Hierarchical organization structure Customizable plan development for any number of business units 21 November

5 Interface to common project management products, in addition to the internal plan audit and reporting capabilities Automated BIA with analysis Automated advice with searchable help and online documentation Web-based plan backup, restoration and distribution Support Annual support agreements include telephone help desk support and software enhancements. Most software and hotline support issues are included in the annual support fee. Standard support hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time. Extended support can be negotiated. International support: Use of and the Internet help to facilitate international user support. Training BCPS instructor-led training at the customer site or at an RSM McGladrey training center can vary from the standard two-day software course to customized training and project management services. Internet conferencing can provide software demonstrations and training on specific system features. Consulting services for business continuity/disaster recovery plan development are available on a fixed-bid, per-hour or retainer basis. Pricing Table 4: Price List: Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) Product Description Price (US$) BCPS Unlimited site license $40,000 BCPS Initial license $6,000 to $25,000, depending on the size of the user company or business unit and agreements for training and support. Pricing model is based on the size of the organization and the industry. GSA Pricing No. Competitors RSM McGladrey s strengths are its familiarity with the financial services sector, historically a heavy user of BCP software, and its appeal to the profit considerations in any industry. BCP software that offers sufficient flexibility at a manageable price appeals to growing midsize enterprises with LAN/WAN- or Webdistributed assets. Such companies constitute a growing segment of international business in all industries. The BCPS system can certainly serve the continuity planning needs of companies with Windows-compatible IT infrastructures and vital data stable enough to tolerate the delays inherent in 21 November

6 manual updating. Larger vendors with more costly BCP tools such as SunGard and Strohl permit greater diversity in the platforms they support as well as more automated data maintenance; however, similarly sized and priced BCP products offer much the same package of features and functions as does BCPS. Table 5: BCP Products LDRPS (Living Disaster Recovery Planning System) Strohl Systems PreCovery SunGard Availability Services RecoveryPAC Computer Security Consultants Inc. (CSCI) A product suite for midsize to large enterprise continuity planning, which integrates three tool sets standard for BCP with an enterprise resource-compatible database and collaborative planning. Strohl s BIA Professional product, sold separately, can perform the preliminary business impact analysis. Integrates BIA, continuity plan building, ODBC-compliant BCP database and collaborative planning. SunGard s BCP software has recently expanded with the acquisition of the business continuity assets portion of former competitor Comdisco. BIA features are included as part of PreCovery. Includes a BCP builder with ODBC-compliant database and integrates with a separate BIA tool (RiskPAC). RecoveryPAC is used at more than 1,400 midsize and large companies in 40 countries worldwide, with the customer base concentrated in North America and Europe. Clients include government agencies and private-sector industries. Strengths Scalable for Any Number of Business Units The continuity plans and data maintained in BCPS are grouped by business unit or division. This segmentation permits users to create plans for any number of divisions without overburdening the system. Managed Services Availability The Managed Service Provider (MSP) program gives users of BCPS the advantage of working with a vendor that has a wide range of business continuity services. MSP uses highly reliable AT&T Managed Service data centers to implement disaster recovery plans designed by RSM McGladrey s Integrated Technology Solutions Group. These solutions offer remote data warehousing for system storage, retrieval and archiving that is compliant with all SEC Rule 17a-4 regulatory mandates for management of system information. Financial Industry Expertise The finance industry s continuity planning and disaster recovery regulations are so stringent that midsize companies in that market may find comfort in a planning software and consulting provider that is intimate with those requirements. The designers of BCPS have written numerous books on BCP, and the software was designed to fit best-practices planning methodology. Good Value For midsize companies that do not require all the fully automated tools offered by more costly continuity planning software, BCPS s features come at a price point that is competitive with similar products from other vendors. Limitations Manual Maintenance Introduces Risk 21 November

7 Reliance upon manual maintenance of dynamic information, such as personnel and hard assets puts at risk the effectiveness of continuity and recovery plans. This chore must become a frequent to-do item on the system manager s calendar, which may very well mean that a full-time staff member must be assigned to manual updating of the plan. Windows-Only Platform Many midsize and expanding enterprises utilize a variety of platforms, particularly in different business units whose input to the continuity plan is vital. Importing company information into the plans as commadelimited text files can slow plan development and discourage participants. In addition, an inability to access the latest necessary documents at times of crisis could very well be hazardous. Lacks ODBC Compliance BCPS databases are proprietary and not ODBC compliant. Although an import utility can load fixed-length or comma-delimited text files from external sources into the product s database, the overall structural constraints of the database do not permit its pre-defined fields to be adapted to mirror the structure of external corporate databases. Maintenance of such dynamic information as employee contact numbers and hard assets must, therefore, be performed through periodic data imports or manually. Insight RMS McGladrey s BCPS product gives users a complete set of basic tools at a reasonable price. RSM McGladrey s formidable financial industry background and expertise in continuity planning can assist new continuity planners in the most effective use of these tools. For midsize, owner-managed companies especially those performing a continuity planning exercise for the first time such support provides a reliable foundation upon which to build and expand a continuity and recovery plan. However, one drawback of BCPS is that it requires greater manual intervention than is required by more automated and expensive BCP systems. Organizations using BCPS, then, must exercise discipline in the manual maintenance of accurate plan data. 21 November