Continuity of Information Systems and Services

The following provides a summary of what is and what is not within the scope of this service offering:

• A high-level operational plan to respond to and recover from scenarios where designated information systems and/or technological infrastructure are physically damaged and/or require relocation due to; fire, flood, electrical, personnel, terrorist attack, or some other harmful events.
• An emergency response protocol for responding to and recovering from major incidents that cause critically important information systems and supporting technological infrastructure to become unavailable.
• Information systems refer to software applications and network services under the centralized management of the University’s Information Technology Services organization. Technological infrastructure refers to the cabling, servers, networking equipment, and management systems used to maintain the availability of information systems. This service is exclusively designed to restore these University assets in the event of a harmful event or major incident as described above.
• Note that business continuity goes further, including everything beyond the recovery and restoration of information technology to keep specific University operations functioning following a disaster. This may include; telephones, alternate sites for employees, procedures for keeping in touch with employees, students, and suppliers in the event that normal operations are disrupted for extended periods of time. These and other measures consist of provisions for maintaining continuity of operations and minimizing the impact of any loss and/or disruptions. While prudent, they are beyond the scope of this particular service.

The individuals with designated authority to notify the necessary personnel, escalate the priority to an emergency response, and declare a major incident are identified within the documented Major Incident Plan.

This service provides the organization, procedures, and overall planning and coordination needed to:

• recognize and respond to a major incident;
• assess the situation quickly and effectively;
• notify the appropriate individuals and organizations about the incident;
• organize the company's response activities, including activating a command center;
• escalate the company's response efforts based on the severity of the incident; and
• support the business recovery efforts being made in the aftermath of the incident.

The qualifying criteria for activating this service are provided within the Major Incident Response Plan.

Click on “Request Assistance” from this web page to request consulting, planning and coordination assistance in preparation for a possible harmful event or major incident or to document the occurrence of one.

• Framingham State University Information Security Program
• Major Incident Management Plan
• Emergency Response Protocols

Response within 1 hour. Recovery time objectives as specified within the Major Incident Management Plan.