Houstonians fight back against TSA public bus searches (Americablog)

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Watching This Is the Closest You'll Get to Aerial Combat [Video]

If you've ever dreamt of flying a jet into war—I see you, joystick jockeys—this incredible GoPro footage is your best new alternative. Watch it in fullscreen if you actually want to feel nauseous. More »

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'Five-Year Engagement' Cast Reveals How They Keep Composure

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt and Alison Brie share with MTV News cures for avoiding on-set laughter: 'I just think of really dark, morbid stuff.'
By Kara Warner

Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Chris Pratt and Alison Brie in "The Five-Year Engagement"
Photo: Universal Pictures

Whenever a movie features a very talented cast of actors who are also great comedians, it's easy to assume that many laughs and bloopers occurred during filming. Take the upcoming romantic comedy "Five-Year Engagement" for example, which boasts the very funny ensemble of writer/actor Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie ("Community") and Chris Pratt ("Parks and Recreation") to name a few.

When MTV News sat down with the cast to talk about the film recently, we asked how they keep their cool to avoid ruining a scene when a castmember does something particularly amusing.

"I have a lot of experience trying not to break on the set of 'Community' working with a lot of funny people," Alison Brie explained. "I consider it a personal challenge when working with Ken Jeong to not break in scenes with him, and he's ridiculously funny, so I had that under my belt."

Regarding her methods for maintaining a straight face, Brie said, "I just stay in character — professional! Look, I just think of really dark, morbid stuff. I don't want to tell you; it's going to make you depressed."

Segel revealed he learned his lesson early in his career: "I'm terrified of breaking, because Judd Apatow screamed at me once when I was very young on 'Freaks and Geeks.' I was laughing, and I was young, and looking back, he was just trying to scare me, but he said, 'Every time you break, it costs me thousands of dollars!' And since then, I'm terrified of breaking."

Blunt blames "nervous energy" for her on-set laughter. "I laugh at everything," she shared. "I found myself laughing at my grandfather's funeral because I had that nervous energy, and you don't know how to cope. I think the more pressure I'm under from the cast and crew not to laugh, the better I do."

Check out everything we've got on "Five-Year Engagement."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: 'The Five-Year Engagement'

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HP Envy 4 shows up for pre-order on HP's China site, priced as low as 5,499 yuan

A few days ago, HP accidentally listed the unannounced Envy 4 and 6 on a support page within its American website. Fast forward to today, and the company's Chinese site is following in similar footsteps -- though, this time around exposing a couple more details. HP's online shop in China shows a total of six different Envy 4 models, starting with the 1005tx / 1019tx, followed by the mid-level 1004tx / 1021tx and ending with what appears to be the higher-end Ultrabooks: Envy 4-1006tx and 1021tx, which are both priced at 6,299 yuan (around $1,000). As expected, the pair sitting at the bottom of the pile is the lesser-specced of the bunch, revealing an Intel Core i3-2367M CPU, while the top-shelf machine (1021tx) is listed as sporting a Core i5-2467M. Taking into consideration all the recent leaks, it's now only a matter of time before Meg Whitman & Co. make these 14-inch skinny laptops an "official" reality. Until then, those living in China can try and pre-order one of these by pointing your browser toward the source link below.

HP Envy 4 shows up for pre-order on HP's China site, priced as low as 5,499 yuan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kanye West, Kid Cudi Working On Video Project In Middle East?

Sources say Kanye is filming 'top-secret' project in Qatar.
By Jocelyn Vena

Kanye West
Photo: Getty Images

Kanye West and Kid Cudi seem to be up to something. The two are rumored to be shooting a video project in the Middle East, in Qatar.

Kanye and a film crew were spotted in the nation late last week, outside the capital of Doha in Education City. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the country's Doha Film Institute is helping back the project. And according to student sightings, Kanye, along with desert animals like camels, was spotted on set. Other sources say that locals were used as extras and that they were dressed in a "culturally sensitive" manner.

A source said that the project will be similar to Yeezy's 2010 short film, "Runaway," which was released in the lead-up to his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

"It's going to be approximately 30 minutes long, in between a long-form music video and short film," the source said. "Kanye conceived the story, which is set in the Gulf. It's supposed to showcase the beauty of the region, a piece that's culturally sensitive and embraces the customs and traditions of the region."

Further information about Cudi's role in the flick wasn't given, which seems to be the way the rapper wants it. An eyewitness told the Doha News that "the whole thing was pretty top-secret."

The video shoot comes as fans are eagerly anticipating the release of Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music compilation, which may coincide with the release of this super-secret short film. And with Kid Cudi appearing on the album, it would make sense for the two to be doing something together.

While there is still no release date for the G.O.O.D. album, Mannie Fresh shared that it's all "pretty close" to finished. "The cool thing about G.O.O.D. Music is it's a bunch of great ideas and I'm one of those ideas," he explained. "[Kanye's] trying to find the most talented producers, most talented artists, put 'em all in a room and say, 'Go for it. Y'all energy, like whatever is creative to y'all.' "

Related Artists

• Kid Cudi
• Kanye West

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20M Users Strong, Lookout Partners With Deutsche Telekom To Bring Mobile Security Apps To Europe

Lookout, a company that offers security services for a number of smartphone platforms, is continuing its international expansion to Europe with a strategic partnership with European telecommunications giant. Deutsche Telekom. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. For background, Lookout?s web-based, cloud-connected applications for Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and iOS devices help users from losing their phones and identifies and block threats on a consumer?s phone. Users simply download the software to a device, and it will act as a tracking application, data backup and a virus protector much like security software downloaded to a computer. People can also manage multiple mobile devices and locate a phone or tablet on a Google map. Lookout, which now has 20 million users, says it identified more than 1,000 instances of mobile malware in 2011, which is a significant increase since 2010.

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Kendall and Kylie Jenner Seventeen Magazine?s New Fashion Contributors: Caption This Photo!

Seventeen magazine readers get ready for some fashion advice from Kendall and Kylie Jenner. Yep the Kardashian?s younger sisters have landed a monthly column with the magazine and in honor of that, the girls have been chosen as Right Celebrity?s Caption This photo contest for the week, sweet! Kendall and Kylie Jenner are following in their big sisters footsteps when it comes to fashion and soon they will be advising teens all over the world about fashion and style. I have more on the latest gig involving the Jenner girls but first let me tell you real quick about our Caption This photo contest. It is very easy, just take a look at the above pic of the two young ladies and caption it by leaving your super funny remarks in the below comments section. Then next Tuesday when a brand new hot topic and photo are posted check back to see if your witty remarks were announced as the big winner. I know that you all have something to say about the next generation of the Kardashian clan, so spill it. Ok now that we got all the deats of the contest out of the way let?s get back [...]

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Unlike ?Thermonuclear? Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Tim Cook Says He?d Rather Settle Litigation

Looks like Tim Cook doesn't quite want to go as "thermonuclear" on rival phone makers as Apple founder Steve Jobs did. Cook didn't sound so eager to pursue patent infringement suits against Samsung, Motorola and HTC on today's quarterly earnings call. "I'd highly prefer to settle versus battle," Cook said. "But you know the key thing that's very important is that Apple doesn't become the developer to the world." He added very pointedly, "I?ve always hated litigation. We need people to invent their own stuff." His words are at odds with what iconic Apple founder Steve Jobs in Walter Isaacson's biography:

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Scaling the Summit: A Family Law Blog: Should Shared Parenting ...

The Minnesota House recently passed a shared parenting bill which has a presumption of at least 45.1% of the parenting time with each parent. ?This presumption can be overcome by certain factors. ?Attorney Robert Franklin has written an editorial supporting the bill and calling on the Senate and Governor to pass it as well.

A similar movement has been trying to get presumptions of shared physical custody passed in Massachusetts, and we reviewed these proposals in our series on Custody Reform.

Custody Reform should be based on evidence about what defaults are in the best interest of children. There is evidence of a shift in our society to greater parenting involvement of fathers, but the available evidence is still strongly in favor of very young children spending more time with their mother. Frequent contact with both parents is necessary at a very young age, but equal time doesn't take into account the realities of the unusual feeding and sleeping schedule that newborns have (especially if the mother is breast-feeding).

Mr. Franklin indicates that breast-feeding can be worked around through pumping and storage as mother's who work often do. ?However, this ignores part of the benefit of breast-feeding which is bonding with the mother. ?This comment also ignores the immense pressure put on mothers of newborns. ?Because of the need for newborns to have constant contact with both parents to form a bond with them, an equal parenting plan at this age would involve almost daily transitions. ?Mr. Franklin expects these mothers to work, pump every two to three hours and?accommodate?multiple parenting transitions. ?I'm not sure when he expects them to sleep?

I am in favor of recognizing the societal shift in parenting duties through greater presumptions for shared physical custody. However, there should also be some indication that this presumption does not mean equal time for children whose age would not favor equal time. I would suggest some tempering of the shared physical custody presumption to recognize the different needs of children at different ages. ?The Shared Parenting brochure and the Model Parenting Plans provided by the Massachusetts courts both recognize this need to adjust the schedule and division of time as the child grows older.

Maybe the time has come to change the presumptions, but that doesn't mean we have to force those presumptions to fit every situation. ?Presumptions of shared parenting with children of certain ages makes sense, but with children who are very young or who have special needs there needs to be consideration of how those factors affect their needs.

For more information check out these resources:

Parenting Plan Worksheet - Use this worksheet to help compare potential or proposed Parenting Plans on a user-friendly calendar.

Child Custody Mediation
Collaborative Child Custody Resolution
Child Custody Litigation

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TiVo quietly rebrands Premiere XL, Elite DVRs as XL2 and XL4 under cover of darkness

TiVo's rebranding its Premiere line of DVRs in order to eliminate customer confusion in the lineup. The range will now comprise of the Premiere, while the Premiere XL is unsurprisingly renamed Premiere XL2, while the quad-tuner Premiere Elite is now called the Premiere XL4. The first two are suitable for over-the-air programming, while the latter is limited to those of you with cable or FiOS subscriptions. New livery and branding should arrive in stores soon, although TiVo's website is yet to reflect the changes.

TiVo quietly rebrands Premiere XL, Elite DVRs as XL2 and XL4 under cover of darkness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux: Planning Summer Wedding in Crete?

Looks like Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are planning a wedding thousands of miles away from Tinseltown, possibly this summer, according to reports.

No, this is not just some made-up tabloid story in response to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie getting engaged. Jen really was seen recently scouting places in Crete.

Sources connected with the Elounda Beach Hotel in Crete, an island south of Greece (where Jen's dad was born) say she was there to check the place out.

She also mentioned a possible July wedding, apparently.

The hotel website boasts a wedding package that includes a dedicated consultant, a civil or religious ceremony and various decorations for just $2,300!

Somehow we're guessing Jen would add more extravagant touches ... if she even has it there. One hotel employee says she hasn't settled on his hotel.

At least not yet. Jen is still considering other places on the island as well. As he put it, "She has connections on the other side of the island as well."

It pays to have those for possible wedding venues in Crete.

[Photo: Fame/Flynet]

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Soccer player defects from Cuba, requests asylum in US

Soccer player defects: A Cuban national soccer player disappeared while his team was playing in an Olympic soccer tournament in Tennessee.

Yosmel De Armas is a Cuban soccer player who has defected in order to seek asylum in the United States. While in Nashville, Tennessee last month for an Olympic qualifying soccer tournament, the Cuban midfielder was absent from his national team's final game against Canada, although he played on Saturday?s 4-0 loss to El Salvador.?

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When asked why the player skipped the game, the Cuban national coach said De Armas was sick and remained at the team's hotel. However, when the team left Nashville, the promising soccer player did not accompany his teammates on their return trip to the island nation.

Although US officials refused to comment about the player?s whereabouts, it was reported that De Armas was last seen in Miami.?

"We're preparing an asylum application to file with the Department of Homeland Security," attorney Alex Solomiany said, according to Reuters.?

The Miami-based lawyer, who?described his client as "nervous," said De Armas is "alone here"?and that he was on his way to Miami at the time of the game, contrary to the coach's allegations.

A rising number of Cuban athlete defections are explained by several factors: the continuous financial hardship the populace faces in Cuba, the plethora of defection precedents that make the process look easy, and the luring prospects of a better life, all coalesce to urge young athletes to follow this path.?

"This is another case of a Cuban sportsman trying to get a decent life, to try to take control of his own career," Omar Lopez told Reuters.? Lopez is general director of the Cuban American National Foundation, a Miami-based organization of Cuban exiles who seek political change on the island.

Four years ago, seven members of the Cuban under-23 national soccer team also sought political asylum after competing against its US counterpart in Tampa, Florida.?

"Of course, my heart will be in Cuba with my family, but I want to have the freedom to better my life, to play professional soccer, to be the best I can be, and for that we had to make this sacrifice," Yenier Bermudez told the Miami Herald, according to ESPN.

Since the 2002 CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football) tournament in Los Angeles, a total of 15 Cuban soccer players abandoned their teams and requested political asylum in the United States.

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Henderson: Bully Alexander gets his way on university (tbo)

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Some Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus preorders already being delivered

Did you manage to get a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus on preorder when they were still available? Seems some folks are already having their devices dropped off at their door. Anyone else get theirs today?

Thanks, gene26!

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Umbrella Insurance Policy May Help In A Storm | ECPA Claims Blog

Umbrella insurance policies, which offer additional liability insurance for claims exceeding your existing automobile or homeowner?s insurance policies, are most commonly bought by wealthy individuals with substantial assets to protect. But not just the wealthy can benefit from the extra coverage if they own a home or condominium with a pool or trampoline, if they own a dog ? of any kind ? or if they have teenage drivers.

?If you own a home or condominium, it?s definitely worth the time to look into getting one of these policies,? said Nick McCummings, an insurance agent at Harrington Insurance Agency in Brockton, Mass. ?Most companies that offer homeowners and auto insurance offer umbrellas, and umbrellas are fairly inexpensive.?

Because a personal umbrella policy goes into effect after the underlying coverage is exhausted, there are certain limits that usually must be met in order to purchase the extra coverage. Residents need to analyze their personal assets to decide how much insurance they need and if an umbrella insurance policy could suit them.

Umbrella insurance is usually sold in $1 million increments and costs on average between $150 to $300 a year for the first $1 million in additional coverage. The next million will typically cost about $75 annually and about $50 for every million after that.

Every insurance company has its own restrictions and requirements, and there can be wide variations between companies.

?

With auto and homeowners policies, the insurance agent who writes the policy has binding authority. That is not the case with umbrella policies. The completed application must be submitted to the company for approval. With limits that can go as high as $20 million or more, insurance companies want to have the final authority on whether to assume the risk.

Umbrella insurance policies have a place in just about every family or individual?s financial plan.

You can read more about this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/umbrella-insurance-policy-may-help-in-a-storm-631187/?p=2

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NotesOn: Risk Management - Disaster Recovery & Business ...

Introduction (V1.0):

The subject of differences between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity came up again.? During the discussion another idea came to me on how to graphically represent the two concepts, one that looks at the matter from another facet of the same jewel, as originally presented in NotesOn:? Risk Management ? Disaster Recovery versus Business Continuity.? I sincerely hope this helps ?the cause?.

?

Background:

As I?ve mentioned elsewhere, Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) are essential concepts to the current and future survival of a company, if you own or manage a company of any size then your company.? On the surface, these two subjects seem as if they should be pretty straightforward; wholly comprehensible.? But. ?Somehow.? Levels of complexity have been added and continue to be added to the point where some sources of information make them all but in-comprehensible.? As proof,? questions continue to arise around both topics. ?So I am building on the first four posts in this series (listed in reverse order of release below) in the hopes this approach will provide the ?ahhh-hah!? moment for those who haven?t quite ?gotten it? yet.

NotesOn:? Risk Management ? Cumulative Recovery Time Objective

NotesOn:? Risk Management ? Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Definitions

NotesOn:? Risk Management ? Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Essentials

NotesOn:? Risk Management ? Disaster Recovery versus Business Continuity

?

A Basic Business Workflow Diagram:

To set the stage for this discussion I?m going to bring forward a graphic that I included in a post written in May of 2010 entitled:?? NotesOn:? IT Fundamentals ? Simple Defined.? It was designed to demonstrate the basic processes, the essential flows of a Distribution company:

Distributor Business High Level IT Workflow Diagram - Click on image to enlarge

It has a different purpose in this post which is to provide a visual reference point as we discuss how you break down a company?s business into processes and the systems that support them.

Side-Bar:? ?I am also including this graphic to demonstrate the concept learned way back in my architecture and engineering days:? ?If you can?t draw it in two dimensions you can?t build it in three?.

Understanding this rule is crucial to someone doing the BIA?s that lead to Business Continuity Plans (BCP?s), and/or the DIA?s (Disaster Impact Analyses) that lead to Disaster Recovery Plans (DRPs). ?Simply put:? if you can?t draw it, you ?don?t got it?.? It is that simple.? To make sure I ?got it? I make a habit of diagramming the business process(s) when doing BIA?s, and, while architecting the DR system, how it fails over from the Production system; and anything else that doesn?t make sense until I it put down on paper visually.

There is a corollary to the above, that also applies to BC and DR team members, which goes something like this:? ?If you can?t draw in two dimensions what is already built in three, then there is something wrong, something missing, or at least one thing about it that is not understood.?

?

The BC-DR BIA-DIA Interaction Diagram:

The next graphic, and this is the key one for this post, is my new way to look at the entire BC-DR / BIA-DIA set of procedures and their various inter-relationships.? It is an interaction model and with it I am attempting to convey all of the key, critical, steps involved in properly, and fully, increasing the resilience of a business.

Now, I will warn you ahead of time that this is one of the more complex diagrams I have used in my posts.? There is a lot going on.? So, first, please take your time studying it (don?t forget to click on the image to enlarge it if you are viewing this on the web.? When you?re done we will take it apart, section by section.? Okay?

Here is the ?BC-DR BIA-DIA Interaction Model?:

Click on the image to enlarge

Note:? while graphic images are wonderful and many folks comprehend concepts more easily using them, a similar graphical effort, for the entirety of a business, could easily end up being wall-sized, so more usually a spreadsheet in some form is used.

A typical BC-DR status spreadsheet has all organizational units (often no lower than department level) across one axis, and all identified-as-important functions/business processes across the other, with relevant BC and DR status information at the nexus of each row and column (or sub-row and/or sub-column).? ?But.

Even using a non-graphic method, for larger to large companies the display will grow rather large rather quickly; perhaps to a 72?, or larger, HD Plasma TV Screen size, with small fonts?? The benefit of chewing up wall space is that, if done cleverly, and cleanly, management will obtain a clear picture of what is most important to their survival and, more importantly, what business processes, or business unit(s), are at greatest risk of failing post a DR event.

(Trust me, every company which has not gone through this process has one or more weak links that can and will bring the company down.? Not doing BC and DR is akin to not obtaining proper medical care for a known, potentially fatal, ailment.)

Let?s now re-focus back on the above interaction diagram and how it can benefit your BC and DR efforts; after all we?re really here to clarify the differences between the two activities and learn something about how they must yet interact to make the entire BC-DR effort successful.? Ready?

?

Building Consensus One Graphic Section at a Time:

A Business Continuity Primary Function

One of the most important tasks, one of the earliest steps of a BC team is to accurately identify the key business functions within the group which they are surveying, i.e. the focus point of their Business Impact Analysis (BIA).? These critical functions make up the heart of their Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for that area; all other data gathered revolves around and relates back to those functions.? If you ever see non-business-process oriented BIA?s being done your time (and money) is being wasted.? Let?s move on.

This first diagram section is an effort to demonstrate the gathering of critical business process information.

You will have noted that in my neatly arranged diagram I have three critical processes in each business unit.? Of course the reality could be quite different, ranging from none (that is most certainly possible) to dozens.

Now this is not meant to be a detailed treatise (a learned thesis or exhaustive dissertation) on doing a BIA, that will have to wait for another time, so the first important thing to note is, and I know I am repeatedly beating the same drum, that the focus of the BIA is on the business process(es) not the design of and never the implementation of the IT disaster recovery systems that support it/them.

You may also have noted that the ?BC / BIA Product? bracket stops at the bottom of the IT Systems Frequency List.? There is a reason for this.

More than one beginner BC team has gotten mired down in such low level detail that they never get their own job done.? Leave IT DR Systems to IT and their DR team, the BC team must stay focused on the business processes and the resources and manual processes necessary to keep each business unit (BU) going during and post a DR event.

However, what the BC team members must collect for each critical business process for each BU, is the Recovery Time Objective and the Recovery Point Objective ? for each process.? Not for the IT systems that support each process, but the RTO and RPO for each process.? There is a big difference.? The two may correlate, or they may not, but if you assume they are the same going in, or never get the values for the process you may end up drawing assumptions that are not accurate, or relevant.

My good friend Chris Branch mentioned a while ago that he knows this set of values as M.A.D. or Maximum Allowable Downtime.? Whatever you know it as, whatever you call it, what you need to find out is (a) how long can the BU survive without their automated process being, well, automated.? And (b) how much of that process?s data, what the process requires, can the business unit afford to lose.

In the early stages of the BIA to BCP development process in particular, you don?t care what system or systems keep the process in question running smoothly (it?s possible one or more may not even be IT systems) and you certainly don?t care what system or systems stores the data.? You just need to know what the pain point, the breaking point, for each process is after which the BU will be in trouble.

Please.? Don?t carry it into any more detail than that.

If the BU folks tell you ?we need our invoicing data back in ____? or ?our inventory system has to be up in ____?, or whatever, and if we lose even ?one invoice? or ?one bill of materials list?, etc., then you know the service level requirements for that process.? Another BU?s requirements may be different, you?ll see examples of this in the diagram, but you know that BU?s RTO and RPO requirements and that is vitally important.

If one BU says their processes must be back up in ?twenty-four hours max? and another says ?we can survive for a week? and they use common IT system someone has to level set that ? but later.? Again, initially, you don?t ask or care what IT systems are used to support each process.

Only after you understand the process from front to back and can draw it in two dimensions do you ask about IT, or other, systems, at a high level, by name only.? Do not go digging down into the weeds and become wrapped up in performance specifications or operating systems or failover types or disaster recovery steps or ?? leave that to IT?s DR team and their DIA?s.

?

Where BC and DR Cross Over:

With the above said (and it can be said many more times) there is a point where the BC and DR teams meet, where a slight cross-over occurs.? I?ve touched on it above but it bears repeating.

Once the BC team has a good feel for how the various business processes work in that business unit and what they accomplish, once the BC team has them prioritized and fairly well mapped out, one of the questions, not the most important question for them but one of the questions they should ask is:

?What IT systems support that business process??

Don?t be surprised if you don?t get a complete list of all systems that help to keep the automated version of the business process running but you should be able to compile, through various interviews, a fairly comprehensive list.

The systems I listed above aren?t, of course, very helpful, their names are over simplified and we have no idea what processes they support.? But the key point of the above portion of the diagram is that you want to keep track of the frequency of use of these systems both across that BU and across all BU?s.

This is important, make that vital, data and it forms the central meeting ground between the BC and DR teams.

Now I have stated elsewhere that the DR team can, and often does, start ?DR?ing? IT systems without any input from the BC team.? They can, and do, build a Tier 1 (highest priority) systems list based solely on prior business experience (starting with the must hurtful pain points) and on institutional knowledge.? It may not be the ideal way to create a first cut of a Tier 1 list but, still and all, it is likely to be fairly accurate and it gets ?DR stuff? started.

Then.?? As the BC team completes enough of its BIA?s.? The Tier 1 systems lists are evaluated and synced up.

?

Where BC and DR Should Not Cross Over:

If you go any further than as described above you are (a) unnecessarily overloading what should already be a full workload and (b) you are digging down into the weeds where there is no reason to go ? because the DR team is going to have to go there anyway.

Let?s take a different slice of the diagram and compare the two elements:

You will notice, again, the RTO/RPO designations at the top.? To be intentionally redundant these are process oriented values.

Then we have the three IT systems that support Critical BP #1 lined out below it.? There may be other ancillary systems (such as email or a word processer, etc.) but it has been determined that these three systems are vital to the recovery of that business process.

At the bottom of the slice we have three most critical DR team acquired values:

RTO (Recovery Time Objective) records the time the IT system should be back up in order to keep the business process viable.? Typically specified in hours or days.

RPO (Recovery Point Objective) records the amount of data the business unit can afford to lose, i.e. that they can re-create if they have to.? Typically specified in hours or days, or rarely a point in time such as ?At least make sure we have Month End backed up.?

RSL% (Recovery Service Level) records the performance characteristics of IT?s DR system, as compared to the Production system.? Keeping in mind that during a DR event there are likely less people on the system, and less demands on the system, the DR version can be ?slower?.? How much slower is the question.? 50%?? 70%? Or it must match Production in all ways, so 100%?

All three questions are answered by the BU folks during a DIA (Disaster Impact Analysis) as all three are system oriented questions; again, asked by IT?s DR team so the correct answer is obtained relative to that system.

[Note:? the DR team must be sure to ask for these answers as a business analyst would not an IT techie, but with an IT techie?s level of understanding.]

Keep in mind (as a very good rule to remember) that the more stringent the RTO, RPO and RSL% specifications are the more expensive the DR system will likely be; possibly causing Production side upgrades as well.? This is why IT has to be involved at this detail level, it is why I created the DIA.

IT must agree, or not, to provide the requested degree of resiliency.? The BU may pay for the final DR solution, but IT has to both commit to building it and be able to build it.? And since IT clearly has to be involved there is no sense in both the BC teams and the DR teams doing the same jobs (no offense to anyone, but BC trained folks are rarely thoroughly IT trained as well, and vice versa).

?

The Next DR Team Steps:

Once the DIA is complete (or, in an ideal world the BIA for the BU and all relevant DIAs) the next step for the DR team is to sit down and design the DR system and its connections to its Production system.

This is done, very methodically, with the network folks, the operating system folks, the database administration folks, the file storage folks, the security folks, the IT audit folks, the vendor folks if they are involved ? until a coherent, affordable, workable design is achieved and accepted by the various layers of managers and executives and business users.

Then comes the really fun part of the project, building it out ? preferably in a remote datacenter far far away from where Production is located ? followed by testing it (we?ll address the details of the types of testing another time).

Finally, as the DR design is being implemented, as the entire system is being built out and tested, the team is also working on the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).? If the entire team is smart, and they usually are, they will document the build out and document the test steps and in so doing they will have the meat of the DRP at least half written for that system ? before they officially start the DRP.

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What does a DRP look like, you might ask?? I?ll do another post on that (and, yes, on DIA?s too) in the not too distant future because that subject is beyond the scope of this post.? But.? In very brief form.? A DRP consists of at least the following elements:

• Who owns it ? the entire hierarchy, not just the one person at the bottom of the organization chart
• The scope of the system ? what BUs and sub-BUs does the system have an impact on
• An overview of the System, the DR Strategy and at least the key Service Level Agreement (SLA) requirements ? RTO, RPO and RSL%
• Contact Information for anyone who would be/could be connected with the execution of the DRP
• Skill Levels required to support the DRP
• The DR System?s Up- and Down-stream dependencies
• A method to assess the post-DR-event state of both the Production and DR system components
• The recovery steps
• The post recovery steps

Summary:

It takes a fair amount of work to put together competent, usable (in the midst of chaos) BCPs and DRPs so, from a very practical standpoint, it is necessary to ensure the investment in time and resources and cold hard cash is worth it to the Business.? One very good way to ensure that is to have a joint BCP-DRP / BIA-DIA methodology that will prove out, or not, that the effort being considered is worth everything you and your company will put into it.

Hope this helps,

DP Harshman

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