Strohl LDRPS Business Continuity Planning Software

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1 Kristen Noakes-Fry, Trude Diamond Product Report 15 August 2003 Strohl LDRPS Business Continuity Planning Software Summary Strohl s LDRPS for global enterprises integrates standard planning tools, an enterprise resourcecompatible database and collaborative continuity planning. It is available in five versions for businesses in many sizes. Table of Contents Overview Analysis Pricing Competitors Strengths Limitations Insight List Of Tables Table 1: Enhancements: LDRPS Version 9.1 Table 2: Overview: LDRPS Table 3: Tools Supporting LDRPS 9.1 Table 4: Features and Functions LDRPS Table 5: System Requirements LDRPS, LDRPS Plus, LDRPS EZ, LDRPS LAN Table 6: System Requirements LDRPS Client/Server Table 7: Price List: Strohl LDRPS Table 8: Competitors to Strohl LDRPS Gartner 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 Strohl Systems 631 Park Avenue King of Prussia, PA 19406, U.S.A. Tel: ; Fax: Internet: Overview Strohl Systems Living Disaster Recovery Planning System (LDRPS) provides increasingly flexible planning tools for organizations of all sizes and levels of complexity. LDRPS may serve as a first business continuity planning toolset for small and midsize businesses that anticipate growth, yet large organizations will find it useful for expanding their plans across new business units and around the world. Expanded language modules accommodate different languages at the administrator and end-user levels. In addition, LDRPS supports integration of departmental continuity plans into an enterprisewide plan that optimizes recovery resources for corporations facing the task of analyzing complex variables and organizing diverse resources into a comprehensive business continuity plan. LDRPS provides the necessary tools for comprehensive analysis and organization through an expert system that guides the entire process. The data created from the analysis and plan-building phases resides in a relational database that can be customized for compatibility with embedded corporate data resources. The stand-alone NotiFind product automatically informs key players of emergency situations. LDRPS is available in five versions to provide basic business continuity plan features across a broad spectrum of business sizes, structures and industries. All versions of LDRPS provide, at a minimum: Standard reports with customizable output Project management tools Spread sheets Import capability for loading and validating data from American Standard code for Information Interchange (ASCII) files Security Capability to integrate and rollout multiple plans LDRPS Versions and Business Profiles LDRPS EZ for businesses with one or two locations and a planning group of one to three people; can be used in a stand-alone environment or reside on a file server for access by any number of users in a single-concurrent mode. LDRPS Plus a single user system designed for large organizations with multiple departments or locations. LDRPS PLUS can be used in a stand-alone environment or reside on a file server for access by any number of users in a single-concurrent mode. 15 August

3 LDRPS LAN for businesses with more than three locations and a planning group that will involve more than one concurrent user; also for enterprises with up to five business units, each with one planner responsible for its own plan; incorporates the features of LDRPS PLUS with simultaneous multiuser access. LDRPS Client Server for companies with a group of planners working from several locations; provides multiuser access; stores plan information on Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)- compliant database servers (Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server); capable of importing data directly from a variety of formats including text files, Excel files, Access database files and ODBC sources. LDRPS Web Server for organizations with six or more business units in two or more locations, each location with more than one planner responsible for a discrete plan; Web Server supports Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Web Hosting Service for geographically diverse organizations and geographical dispersion can play a key role in disaster recovery Strohl s Web Hosting service provides LDRPS Web Server business continuity software, while eliminating backup, installation and maintenance issues for the client. Strohl will host any of its suites of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) products. Table 1: Enhancements: LDRPS Version 9.1 Version 9.1 Date Announced 9 April 2003 New Languages Currently, the entire LDRPS product (online screens, templates and documentation) Supported can be purchased in English, Spanish or French Canadian: German and Portuguese are in development. The language modules can be assigned at the user level; for example, while administrators use the English version in the St. Louis headquarters, planners in Santiago see and interact with LDRPS in Spanish. NotiFind This new emergency notification system is designed to work with LDRPS or as a stand-alone product. NotiFind enables users to quickly and effectively contact key personnel in a time of crisis, deliver critical messages and receive important data. BCP Builder Plan Templates customizable Features Automatically scheduled importing and printing Automated plan notification and approval automated reminders to update plans when: an import effects a plan (that is, a team member leaves the company); a task in the plan assistant expires; when a plan is printed; a plan is submitted for approval Simplified Security administrator-assigned screens, plans, fields or record access to each user Table 2: Overview: LDRPS Version 9.1 Date Announced 9 April 2003 Date First Installed Product has been in use and updated regularly since the late 1980s. Types of BCP Strohl employs its own internally developed methodology: Open PR4 methodology Methodologies Used (prevention, response, resumption, recovery and restoration). PR4 is based on the sequential phases an organization follows during a disaster, based on their consultants experience and the accepted standards and practices in the BCP industry. The methodology is customizable for any type of organization. 15 August

4 Table 2: Overview: LDRPS Types of Business BCP Tools Included or Integratable Operating Systems Supported Database Compatibility Target Market Languages Supported For business impact analysis (BIA), LDRPS integrates with Strohl s BIA Professional and Incident Manager. Also included are: Continuity Plan Builder BCP Database Collaborative Planning Windows 95/98/NT/2000, XP Sybase ORACLE SQLServer Midsize to large businesses. Largest markets are in financial services, healthcare and manufacturing. Current clients include auto manufacturers, global insurance companies, commercial banks, general retailers and telecommunications. The entire LDRPS product (online screens, templates and documentation) can be purchased in English, Spanish or French Canadian. German and Portuguese language modules are in development. Table 3: Tools Supporting LDRPS 9.1 BIA Professional (and Web Server) 3.1 Incident Manager (and Web Server) 2.0 PLANet 1.2 NotiFind Identifies business impact vulnerabilities and develops strategies to minimize exposure to the risk of interruptions. Outputs to management reports of financial and operational vulnerabilities, impacts and recovery strategies. Web-enabled automated command center that stores all information in a relational database. Incident Manager can also perform virtual test scenarios on plans to identify logistic flaws. Internet-based tools for BCP and disaster recovery, specifically for community banks, credit unions and schools. This new emergency notification system is designed to work with LDRPS or as a stand-alone product. NotiFind enables users to quickly and effectively contact key personnel in a time of crisis, deliver critical messages and receive important data: Activation: Users with NotiFind access can activate a notification via phone or Web. By phone, users select whom to contact as well as contact time and method using the telephone keypad. Web-access Activation Wizard guides users through the activation process. For the unexpected, users can create activation (call script including a custom message combined with notification groups) on the fly. Notification: Using plans, teams, contact information and personnel attributes from LDRPS, NotiFind contacts team members via phone, cell phone or pager all simultaneously or by sequenced priority. Table 4: Features and Functions LDRPS Installation LDRPS is installed from a single CD, which the customer retains as backup if needed to rebuild the server. Web products have the option of on-site installation. Updates are delivered on fullly installed CDs, or administrators can download them over the Internet. 15 August

5 Table 4: Features and Functions LDRPS Platforms Supported BIA Tool BCP Builder Features All versions of LDRPS present the same user interface, regardless of platform. Platform characteristics for each LDRPS version: EZ, Plus and LAN Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000, XP Client/Server Database Server for Sybase, ORACLE and SQL Server Web Server Web Server for NT or Windows 2000, supporting Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) at the user company s standard level of encryption Web Hosting SSL 128-bit encryption Expert-system Planning Assistant guide supports template completion and customization for the development of business impact analysis. Reporting uses Crystal Reports: Stand-alone BIA Professional (and Web Server) 3.1 Customizable questionnaires Timetable for disaster recovery What-if modeling Customizable reporting Export capability into continuity planning systems Expert system Planning Assistant guide supports template completion and customization of the BCP plan database and documents. Reporting uses Crystal Reports. In addition, all versions of LDRPS include: Industry-standard tasks and procedures Enterprise complexity-specific versions Model questionnaires, forms and plan templates Project management tools and reports Glossary of BCP terms Risk assessment Plan development methodology/procedures Document and uniform resource locator (URL) attachment (directly to any plan) Printing of plan documents without changing the Table of Contents Call list and logistics builder for sequencing callers and their lists of call recipients integrates with corporate employee database for auto-updating of employee names and phone numbers Version control (configuration management) Plan-testing module Plan Summary Page with each summary fact linked to further details Navigation History session-tracking guide Workstation Recovery Planning to the PC workstation level Plan Templates customizable Language Modules ability to create and view LDRPS information in different languages at user and administrator levels Automatically scheduled importing and printing Automated plan notification and approval automated reminders to update plans when: an import effects a plan (that is, a team member leaves the company); a task in the plan assistant expires; when a plan is printed; a plan is submitted for approval. Simplified Security administrator-assigned screens, plans, fields or record access to each user 15 August

6 Table 4: Features and Functions LDRPS Types of Plans Included, With Templates BCP Database Collaborative Planning Training and Support Customizable templates for development of all elements of business continuity. While the templates are in LDRPS proprietary word processing, files such as MS Word, Excel and Visio can be embedded and included in the plan: Crisis Management Disaster recovery Business resumption Business recovery Contingency Enterprises with multiple business units or several locations can organize the plans in any logical manner by business unit within location, for example, or by each location where a business unit operates within the business unit s overall plan. In any of the supported databases (Sybase, Oracle, SQL Server), the system administrator can configure the fields and perform all database management functions during the plan development and maintenance life cycle: Database Customization Field resizing and addition Scalability Import and consolidate data from departmental data bases Connectivity to external databases Export to reporting format Crystal Reports Customizable reporting Central control/administration within existing company standards Security-controlled business unit plan updating Scheduled, automatic importing for HR database End-users participate in data gathering with direct access to the LDRPS Q&A Processor tool available in the LDRPS-Plus version. LAN and client/server users participate via the company network; Web users can access LDRPS via the Internet or the LAN/intranet: compatibility The Q&A processor is not tied to a specific system. LDRPS supports Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) compliant systems and will attach the program directly to an outgoing . How it works The Q&A processor is a 16-bit application with a proprietary database format. It operates in a check-out/check-in version management protocol, with information from a single plan being released to an individual for updates, additions and deletions. The program and the data file fit on a single diskette or can be sent as attachments. Once the recipient makes changes, the single data file is returned to the LDRPS administrator for replacement into the system. The Q&A Processor provides full audit/exception reports on every change the user made (orattemptedtomake). Free and unlimited training at the U.S. or U.K. facility for all product users. Instructor-led classes provided in classroom setting or Internet-based Web-cast technology. Table 5: System Requirements LDRPS, LDRPS Plus, LDRPS EZ, LDRPS LAN Operating System Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000 Processor Pentium II, 266MHz RAM Capacity 64MB Hard Drive Capacity 200MB of free space 15 August

7 Table 5: System Requirements LDRPS, LDRPS Plus, LDRPS EZ, LDRPS LAN CD-ROM Graphics Required Video Graphics Array (VGA) (800X600), 16-bit colors Table 6: System Requirements LDRPS Client/Server Concurrent Users CPU Memory 5 Pentium-II 600MHz 128MB 10 Dual Pentium-II 600MHz 192MB 15 Dual Pentium-II 600MHz Dual 256MB 20 Dual Pentium-II 600MHz Dual 25 Dual Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz 30 Dual Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz 35 Dual Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz 40 Dual Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz 45 Four Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz 50 Four Xeon Pentium-II 550MHz Analysis 320MB 384MB 448MB 512MB 576MB 640MB 704MB A pioneer in the BCP industry, Strohl Systems Group, Inc. has focused solely on the design, development, marketing and support of business continuity software and consulting services, acquiring the LDRPS product from OSI (Tampa, Florida) in Since offering the first PC-based BCP software package, Strohl has enhanced its planning products and services in response to the expanding market for enterprisewide and then Internet-based continuity planning. Gartner has identified Strohl as a leader in the BCP software marketplace for its global presence, its adoption by corporations of all sizes in diverse industries and its responsiveness to customer feedback. User reports in Strohl s newsletter reveal diverse and creative applications of LDRPS capabilities in disasters including the Northridge earthquake (1994), Hurricane Floyd (1999) and Tropical Storm Allison (2001). Strohl s nearly 30 LDRPS clients in New York and Washington who were directly affected by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have all remained in business, and all of their major financial industry clients answered the bell the Monday following the disaster. Merrill Lynch used LDRPS in the recent World Trade Center attacks, as reported in Smart Business: Using Strohl Systems contingency-planning software, LDRPS, Merrill Lynch successfully relocated nearly 9,000 employees and re-established near-normal operations after the WTC s collapse forced its downtown headquarters to close. When compared to other similar products, Strohl s LDRPS has several major strengths: It may be used effectively within a broad range of industries. While competing products such as McGladrey s Business Continuity Planning System and CSCI s RecoveryPAC serve primarily the 15 August

8 financial services industry, LDRPS has proven itself over the years in the manufacturing, retail and telecommunications industries, as well as in banking and insurance. The vigorous integration of user suggestions into the products is noteworthy most recently in the additional language translation modules and languages supported. Automated imports, scheduled printing and templates for specific business units, and enhanced Web security resulted directly from user suggestions and technical advisory groups. The software is highly adaptable to integrate with a variety of corporate data sources. Many competing products, such as SunGard s PreCovery, integrate only with one or two corporate data sources, such as SQL and Sybase, while LDRPS integrates with those as well as Oracle, which is widely used by larger companies. The database flexibility and its consistent user interface in all versions of LDRPS allow this software to support, rather than hinder, a company s growth. Most competitors focus on one size of business or on a narrower spectrum of industries. The new NotiFind product works with LDRPS to contact key personnel quickly and effectively in a time of crisis, deliver critical messages and receive important data. Enterprise Scalability Configurations for all sizes of businesses, accommodating different BCP strategies and various network structures, permits small companies to grow into larger enterprises without limiting their growth strategies and infrastructure configurations or forcing them to adapt to new BCP software user interfaces for each new phase of growth. The uniform interface for all versions of LDRPS facilitates growth instead of making it even more complicated. Data conversion from one version of the product to another doesn t need to be recreated. Data Customization and Resource Integration LDRPS native data attributes may be customized to match those in embedded corporate resources. These resources, in turn, may be integrated into the continuity planning and implementation processes. The compatibility of LDRPS database with industry standard databases (Sybase, Oracle and SQL Server) facilitates that integration. Automatic polling of the embedded corporate data sources to update the LDRPS database maintains data integrity and ensures accuracy of continuity plan data. Support The annual Software Subscription maintenance contract available at a fee of 17 percent of the software s cost provides updates, customer support and access to the mystrohl.com Web site. The customer help desk is available 24 hours a day by phone, with immediate assistance between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. EST and pager or response outside of those hours. International technical support is also available through a network of distributors and resellers in more than 60 countries in the Americas, Bermuda, Europe, Africa and Asia/Pacific. Releases are supported in English, Spanish, German, French, Korean and Portuguese: Software support help desk: by phone or through the customer Web site ( Documentation: Software contains a planning assistant to help users through the analysis and to plan development processes; user guides are integrated within the system; all documentation is available on the customer Web site, and customers receive hard copies. Frequently asked questions (FAQs) are also available online. 15 August

9 Consulting on BCP methodology and specific client solutions. Approximately 10 Regional User Group Conferences each year provide learning opportunities, along with an annual International User Group Conference. Training Training classes are offered on a free and unlimited basis to all registered users of Strohl products at the corporate headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Online or on-site classes customized to accommodate individual organizations are available at customer sites for a fee: Instructor-led classes on BCP concepts, techniques and LDRPS software products at corporate headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania or in London. Customer site classes are available at extra cost (day rate plus expenses). Online training options: group seminars via Web-cast. These online software-training classes cover LDRPS users and administrators and BIA Professional. Pricing Table 7: Price List: Strohl LDRPS Product Description Price (US$) LDRPS EZ For businesses with one or two locations, one to three planners LDRPS PLUS For businesses with up to 500 employees, unlimited locations, one concurrent user LDRPS LAN For businesses with up to 500 employees, unlimited locations, up to five business units each with its own planner LDRPS Client/Server For businesses with 500+ employees, two or more locations, six to 10 business units; stores plans on ODBC-compliant database servers (Oracle, SyBase, SQL Server); imports data directly from Microsoft application formats and ODBC sources 9,990 19,990 24, , August

10 Table 7: Price List: Strohl LDRPS Product Description Price (US$) LDRPS Web Server For businesses with six to 139, business units, each with more than one planner responsible for its own plan and more than two locations; supports Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer Note: Prices quoted for Client/Server and Web Server are for the base 10 concurrent user license. GSA Pricing Yes. Competitors Table 8: Competitors to Strohl LDRPS Comdisco Computer Security Consultants Inc. (CSCI) RecoveryPAC RSM McGladrey Business Continuity Planning System (BCPS) and Business Recovery Planning System (BRPS) SunGard PreCovery See SunGard. Competitor with heavy concentration in the financial industry. CSCI s product line includes a BCP builder and BCP database, and integrates with an external 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. A financial industry competitor. Includes a BIA tool, a continuity plan builder and BCP database. RSM McGladrey, a division of H&R Block, has more than 600 offices in 75 countries, focusing all services on midsize, owner-managed businesses. A major competitor in scale, industry diversity and experience. More than 20,000 clients in over 50 countries. The acquisition of Comdisco added Revolution to its portfolio. In addition, competitors to the NotiFind product include EnvoyWorldwide, Dialogic Communication, and Eteam. Strengths Ease of Scalability LDRPS offers versions scaled to specific sizes and configurations of businesses, with complexity appropriate to each. The consistent user interface in all versions allows LDRPS to support the transition to a larger-scale version of LDRPS as a company grows. Responds to Feedback From Users Strohl supports a User Advisory Board and a Technical Advisory Board 10 regional user groups plus an international user group. At annual conferences, each group learns Strohl s responses to issues raised 15 August

11 during the year and discovers new issues that have been raised by members. Strohl s system and support enhancements then reflect this communication with customers. Strohl consultants have direct input into the software enhancements, bringing their experience with user concerns to the development table. The simplified security administration and new languages supported by LDRPS respond directly to user and market needs. Dedicated Development Team The development team provides consistent support of the products because Strohl employs only full-time, in-house developers who are therefore available to assist the support staff and become immediately aware of user problems. ODBC Database Compliance Ease of database integration with embedded corporate data resources ensures data integrity between the BCP database and the enterprise as a whole. The LDRPS Client Server version can poll those data sources for automatic updates to the BCP database. Templates, Training and Support in Local Languages Worldwide customers receive plan templates, training and support close to home and in their own language. The language modules allow separate translations within the same system. For example, if a global enterprise has LDRPS users in France, Mexico and the U.S., each location s users see the screens in their native language (if the individual language packs are installed). This includes all templates. Strohl s international distributors translate the documentation and training materials into the local native languages. NotiFind s Versatility NotiFind works with the LDRPS databases to contact key personnel quickly and effectively in a time of crisis, via phone, pager and either simultaneously or according to established priorities. Limitations Instructor-Led Training Only While instructor-led training works well for the initial training of a BCP team, new team members new system administrators especially would benefit from independent e-learning courseware to acquire the skills necessary to use the system efficiently. The e-learning currently offered is Web-cast-instructor-led classes. Report-Generation Complexity The complexities of the Crystal Reports application used to generate customized reports can raise problems for users. The variables that play in the data formatting and printing processes cause difficulties whenever an external report generator enters the picture. Strohl plans to offer classes in Crystal Reports both online and at its King of Prussia headquarters. In addition, LDRPS ships with 120 standard reports. Manual HR Database Import Into NotiFind Individuals on the contact list must access NotiFind via the assigned username and password to update their own information over the Web, or administrators can import contact information from their HR database or LDRPS. Automation of this process is planned for a future upgrade. 15 August

12 Insight LDRPS enables a company with separate continuity plans for the IT department and several business units to move to a coordinated enterprisewide plan. With LDRPS, the company can import the existing plans quickly and reliably, optimize continuity/recovery resources, and then centrally manage plan maintenance and testing. As a company, Strohl has diverse industry experience, which it can adapt to the needs of new clients. Anecdotal reports from objective evaluators engaged in comparing BCP software and vendors for future purchase, as well as from Strohl clients, indicate that a culture of customer responsiveness characterizes the Strohl staff, from consultants to technical help-desk service representatives. The latest product enhancements in the areas of simplified security administration and expanded language support provide evidence of Strohl s customer focus. 15 August