From the Director
The Great Flood of '72 (Agnes), Three Mile Island in 1979, the Blizzard of '93, and 9/11/2001--these events in Pennsylvania and beyond have forever shaped and changed our consciousness toward disasters and catastrophes. Some of us have experienced these first-hand.
I managed the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN) during Agnes and had to provide 24/7 communication and data support to all law enforcement agencies state-wide during this most trying time. I was the IBM Senior Systems Engineer assigned to the Hershey Medical Center in 1979 and helped plan for the imminent evacuation of all patients and staff since we were within the NRA (Nuclear Regulatory Agency) 15-mile radius. (My family lived within the 20-mile radius.) I was stranded in Atlanta and “Survived the Blizzard of 1993” (still have the t-shirt), along with about 300 of my closest Higher Education executive friends who were trying to enjoy an IBM Higher Education Conference (great planning). Wow, the common thread through all of this is......well, me--not something I want to dwell on.
We all were, and continue to be, deeply affected by the events of 9/11, aren’t we? In AIS, we were just beginning to renew our efforts to build and maintain a reasonable disaster recovery plan and capability, and 9/11 was a wake-up call and a catalyst to increase the urgency of our efforts. Please read the feature story below to gain an understanding of the results of our efforts since that fateful day--to improve the University’s ability to survive and continue to operate if ever faced with such an event.
Feature Stories
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Services
by Ken Schroyer and Steve Strickler
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Services are vital to Administrative Information Services (AIS), both as services provided to other Penn State units, departments, and campuses and as a way to protect its own services.
Please click on the "Read More" link below for both parts of the story.
Personnel Notes
Reclassifications
Susan Matty has accepted our offer of Programmer/Analyst, effective October 12, within the Business Information Systems Development group. Congratulations, Susan!