SCSIM Virtual Forum of Challenges Related to the Covid-19 Crisis

Many global companies have business continuity and disaster recovery plans (BCDR) that may impact one or two sites. But, most plans don’t address a global pandemic where a majority of your facilities are closed at the same time for an extended period. Also, how do you deal with industry security requirements that require segregated networks, yet still enable employees to work from home (WFH) on a production network during this crises?

This session will be hosted by Cindy McKenzie, CIO of Deluxe Entertainment, a global leader in digital media and entertainment services, and Lance Ralls, CIO of Belkin International, a global company with three highly recognized brands—Belkin, Linksys and WeMo. As COVID-19 circled the globe, Cindy and Lance had to quickly answer these questions and put contingency plans in place.

In this session, they will share how they are navigating country-specific government rules and guidelines that seem to change by the day. Topics will also include regional issues affecting WFH response, implications of operating in multi-tenant offices, customer security and compliance requirements, and the impact to BCDR plans when working with onsite clients, third party providers and others.

The retail and services industry is being hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. The media is already reporting St. Louis Fed projections that the coronavirus economic freeze could cost 47 million jobs. According to these reports, U.S. unemployment rate could soar past 32%, higher than 25% seen during the Great Depression.

Living Spaces, a Southern California-based furniture company with retail stores across the U.S., quickly saw how the health crisis became a conversation about the business. With “shelter-in-place” orders across many states, shoppers could no longer see and experience Living Spaces massive showrooms that included 150 living rooms, 115 dining rooms and 100 bedrooms.

In this session, Grant Anderson, CIO of Living Spaces, welcomes IT leaders from the retail and services industry to join and collaborate. Discussion topics will range from secure ways to work from home, revenue concerns, supply chain and delivery of goods and services, staff furloughs precipitated by store and hotel closings, immediate cost control measures, IT projects to support the business, and the impact of the CARES Act.

Before COVID-19 drove California communities to declare “safer-at-home” orders, many IT leaders were watching the pandemic hit Washington State and gauging how quickly they should respond. Should we go to our CEO to declare a disaster and preemptively put our companies into crisis management mode—potentially disrupting the business? Or, should we wait to see evidence of COVID-19 spread and for local health authorities and public figures to act first?

Along with many CIOs, Thomas Phelps, CIO of Laserfiche, a global leader in intelligent process automation and content management, faced this issue. He reached out to his peers, including Lea Eriksen, CIO and Director of Technology and Innovation for the City of Long Beach, as the crisis was unfolding to understand the public sector response.

In this session, Thomas and Lea will discuss public/private sector coordination, anticipating disaster events by taking an “all hazards” approach, and how COVID-19 put business continuity plans (BCP) to the ultimate test. These technology leaders will provide a primer on the key differences and components of business continuity, disaster recovery, and crisis management plans. Thomas will also share insights gained from leading business continuity plan initiatives for global companies prior to 9/11, H1N1 and now COVID-19.

Join your peers to benchmark ideas on emergency preparedness, the three phases of crisis management, business impact analysis (BIA) approaches and BCP frameworks (ISO 22301, NFPA 1600, DRI, NIST 800-34).

Thomas Phelps teaches on auditing business continuity management for ISACA and is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. Lea Eriksen has more than 20 years of experience working in local government, and is part of the crisis management team for the City of Long Beach.

Imagine sitting in a classroom one day learning from some of the top educators in the world, and then being told the next day that all classes are moving online. Whether you are a student, faculty or staff, pivoting to an online learning environment is a disruptive experience. Often the outcomes are mixed. LAUSD just reported that a third of all Los Angeles high school students are not in regular contact with their teachers—much of this may be attributed to the digital divide or parental involvement.

Helen Norris, CIO of Chapman University and Board Member for EDUCAUSE, and Dr. Todd Britton, CIO at the University of LaVerne, will lead this session on how public and private universities rapidly moved to online teaching. Chapman is a top-ranked private university with a globally recognized film school and graduate programs that jumped this year in 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Helen and Todd will share lessons learned that apply to all industries, discuss how IT enabled the transition to online learning, and discuss the impact to the overall student and faculty experience. Educators, parents and IT leaders from our SCSIM membership are all welcomed to join this collaborative discussion.