NEWS : north america,
March 2010

Every contact point counts
Why multi-modality is essential to emergency notification. By Tony Schmitz.
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•Date: 31st Mar 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis communications
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US Congress allows National Flood Insurance Program to lapse
Issue highlighted by Marsh.
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•Date: 31st March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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COOP Systems adds new features to myCOOP
COOP Systems, the developer of myCOOP, an advanced business continuity management software package, has added three new capabilities to it.
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•Date: 31st March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC software
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US major disaster declarations
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- New Hampshire
- West Virginia
•Date: 31st March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Web Planner Express business continuity planning tool enhanced
Web Planner Express, an easily affordable business continuity planning tool, has been significantly enhanced with support for BIA and risk metric management, expanded database lists, and planning template upgrades. http://www.waypointadvisory.com/
•Date: 31st March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC software
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The Business Continuity Institute announces that it will accept other associations’ credentials as part of an ‘Alternative Route to Membership Program
MBCP, CBCP or ABCP holders will no longer have to take the BCI’s official exam.
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•Date: 30th March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Key US sector leaders meet to discuss community resiliency in a large-scale crisis
Session chaired by Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery.
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•Date: 26th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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US major disaster declarations
President Declares Major Disaster For Maine
President Declares Major Disaster For District Of Columbia
•Date: 26th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Study looks into US business continuity planning trends
The results of the ‘2009-2010 Preparedness, Security and Crisis Communications’ survey.
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•Date: 24th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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SunGard Availability Services adds vendor and work force assessment capabilities to Continuity Management Solution
Helps identify potential vulnerabilities and manage policies.
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•Date: 24th March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC software
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Florida Business Continuity Center opens
The Florida Business Continuity Center has been officially opened, offering increased capacity to meet the disaster recovery and business continuity needs of public and private organizations throughout Florida. Located in Winter Haven, Florida, within the Inland Fiber & Data Technology Park, the 250 workstation, 14,000 square foot Florida Business Continuity Center was established to provide full service alternate workspace recovery facilities and services. www.fbccdr.com
•Date: 24th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: Recovery facilities
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Major disaster declared for New Jersey
FEMA has announced that federal disaster aid has been made available for New Jersey to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by a severe winter storm and snowstorm during the period of February 5-6, 2010. William L. Vogel has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=12528
•Date: 24th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Everbridge sees record growth in 2009
Everbridge, the leader in incident notification systems, has announced that it continued to drive technology innovation, customer acquisition and communications expertise in 2009, solidifying the company’s leadership position within the sector. In addition, the company achieved an average annual growth rate of 130 percent over the last three years, a figure considerably higher than the industry average, which Gartner calculated at 29 percent for 2009. More details.
•Date: 24th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets
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NFPA releases new edition of NFPA 1600
Latest version of the US Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs is now available.
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•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness's 2010 Business Continuity Award
Do you know someone in Canada that exemplifies leadership in the business continuity profession? If so, consider nominating them for the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness's 2010 Business Continuity Award. Nominations close April 30th, 2010. http://www.ccep.ca/awards.html
•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: Canada •Type: Briefing
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Government of Canada publishes latest Federal Emergency Response Plan
The Honourable Vic Toews, Canadian Government Minister of Public Safety, accompanied by Daniel Petit, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, have announced the release of the Canadian Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP). This has been developed by Public Safety Canada in consultation with other federal departments. It has been formally approved by the Government of Canada along with the Federal Policy for Emergency Management, which outlines Canada’s emergency management policy and provides a framework for emergency management at the federal level.
•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: Canada •Type: Briefing
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2010 Hurricane Season will be more active than 2010: AccuWeather.com
AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center meteorologists have released their early hurricane season forecast for the Atlantic Basin for 2010. The forecast is calling for a much more active 2010 season with above-normal threats on the US coastline. AccuWeather.com is forecasting seven landfalls. Five will be hurricanes, and two or three of the hurricanes will be major landfalls for the US. Read the story.
•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: Warnings
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Major disaster declared for Arizona
FEMA has announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of Arizona to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas struck by severe winter storms and flooding during the period of January 18-22, 2010. Mark A. Neveau has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=50630
•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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SunGard’s 2009 results
SunGard has reported that revenue for the full-year 2009 was $5.51 billion, down 2 percent from 2008. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.50 billion, down 7 percent from 2008. SunGard reported a loss from operations of $576 million for the full-year 2009, compared to income from operations of $470 million for the full-year 2008. The reported loss from operations in 2009 includes a noncash write-down of goodwill in SunGard’s Availability Services business of $1.13 billion. Read the full results.
•Date: 22nd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets
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In-crisis decision making: ‘let them do their job’
Part four of Dennis Hamilton’s series on effective crisis management.
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•Date: 12th March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis management
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US major disaster declarations
Federal disaster aid has been made available for South Dakota to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by a severe winter storm during the period of January 20-26, 2010.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=50603

Federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of Kansas to supplement recovery efforts in the areas struck by severe winter storms and snowstorm during the period of December 22, 2009, to January 8, 2010.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=50598

Major disaster declared for California
FEMA has announced that federal disaster aid has been made available for California to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe winter storms, flooding, and debris and mud flows during the period of January 17 to February 6, 2010. Michael H. Smith has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=12448
•Date: 10th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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EU and US discuss critical infrastructure protection
The European Commission and the EU Presidency took part in the first EU-US expert meeting on critical infrastructure protection in Madrid on 4-5 March.
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•Date: 9th March 2010 • Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: Terrorism
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In-crisis decision making: Communicate or expect the worse
The third in a series of articles on crisis management critical success factors, by Dennis C. Hamilton.
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•Date: 5th March 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis management
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Iron Mountain appoints Hasbro chairman to its board
Iron Mountain has announced that Alfred J. Verrecchia, chairman of the board of Hasbro Inc., has joined its board of directors. Verrecchia became Iron Mountain’s 11th director at the company’s regular March meeting. www.ironmountain.com
•Date: 5th Mar 2010 • Region: US/World •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets
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Major disaster declared for West Virginia
FEMA has announced that federal disaster aid has been made available for West Virginia to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by a severe winter storm and snowstorm during the period of December 18-20, 2009. Regis Leo Phelan has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=12389
•Date: 5th Mar 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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NIST releases ‘Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems: A Security Life Cycle Approach’
Final version now available.
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•Date: 4th March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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Accenture opens cyber security threat analysis center
Accenture has opened a threat analysis center in San Antonio, Texas. The center enhances cyber security services that Accenture has long provided to help government and commercial clients reduce the risk of cyber disruptions, protect against threats of data theft or manipulation, and address requirements for trusted software applications. The company also plans to use the center to provide clients with assistance in areas such as technology infrastructure, identity management, malware analysis, cyber forensics, mission resilience, business continuity, and Federal Desktop Core Configuration compliance. www.accenture.com
•Date: 3rd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing
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US disaster declarations
Major disaster declared for Iowa
Major disaster declared for North Dakota
•Date: 3rd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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US Senators criticise FEMA’s proposed disaster recovery plan
Plan “still has significant gaps”.
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•Date: 2nd March 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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FEMA and European disaster management agencies meet to discuss large scale disaster preparedness
FEMA leadership meets with NOAA National Weather Service and European partners; geomagnetic events high on the agenda.
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•Date: 26th Feb 2010 • Region: US/Europe •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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VoiceNation survey looks into US demand for voice continuity
VoiceNation has published the results of a survey of US small to medium sized companies regarding their business continuity plan for voice communication. This found that while 100 percent of respondents agreed that there was a critical need for some sort of emergency plan if they lost their voice communication platform; only 38 percent actually had some sort of plan in place. www.voicenation.com
•Date: 26th Feb 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: Telecoms continuity
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US disaster declarations
Major disaster declared for Nebraska
Major disaster declared for Iowa
Major disaster declared for Oklahoma
•Date: 26th Feb 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Iron Mountain announces $150 million share repurchase program
Iron Mountain’s board of directors has approved a new share repurchase program authorizing up to $150 million in repurchases of the company's common stock. This represents approximately 3 percent of the outstanding common stock based on the closing price on February 19, 2010. In addition, the company announced that its board of directors adopted a new dividend policy under which the company intends to pay quarterly cash dividends on Iron Mountain common stock. The first quarterly dividend of $0.0625 per share, representing a planned annual dividend payout of $0.25 per share, will be payable on April 15, 2010 to shareholders of record on March 25, 2010. The cash dividend is the first in the Company's history. Iron Mountain has also released its fourth quarter 2009 financial results this week, which show strong Adjusted OIBDA growth of 14 percent.
•Date: 26th Feb 2010 • Region: US •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets and companies
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Survey looks at homeland security management across the various US states
The results of the 6th Annual State Homeland Security Advisors Survey.
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•Date: 25th Feb 2010 • Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: Public sector
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