COOP in DoD – Part #5 of 10 – Continuity Strategies

Click here to download COOP in DoD – Part 05 of 10 now!

This is the fifth paper in a set of 10 on Department of Defense (DoD) Continuity of Operations (COOP) targeted to the oft-overlooked smaller program; this paper’s topic addresses Continuity Strategies. Written as part of the Master’s program in Information Assurance (IA) at Norwich University in 2011 and subsequently submitted to the Federal IT Institute, they provide a complete roadmap to create and operate a compliant, cost-effective, and reliable COOP program throughout DoD.

Within the federal government and the Department of Defense (DOD), the Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program finds its equivalent in a Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program. The COOP Program exists to ensure that continuity of government (COG) can occur even in the face of a national disaster. Federal, DOD, and Army policy all reflect this emphasis on what must be done to ensure that our government can continue to provide leadership and direction to the nation and the world regardless of the circumstances.

This paper, the fifth in a series of ten, analyzes how a small Army Program can define appropriate continuity strategies as part of the larger COOP Program implementation. Such continuity strategies must ensure that the Army Program can accomplish its mission and provide the guidance necessary for the COOP Practitioner to create the COOP Plan. This paper provides concrete recommendations and prepares the way for the practitioner to identify the specific planning documents that make up a complete continuity response.