Disaster Recovery Journal Spring 2025

ROO is defined as ‘The period of time between the occurrence of a technology application disruption and the functional return to service of that technology without associated historical data.’ “

n Faster return to service of the technology application. n Reduced reliance on contingency processes. n Reduced likelihood of accumulating information backlogs. n Improved DR workload management. n Reduced IT staff overtime. n Lower stress data recovery period, reducing errors. Continual improvement of DR business processes supports business unit operations in maintaining mission-critical functions, enhancing the principal resource of every business organization — its reputation. v ity management, disaster recovery, vendor risk manage ment, customer service delivery, supply chain operations, and financial management. In her current role, Garrett created and secured adoption of a university business continuity management policy. She supports six main cam puses, including the largest in Columbus, Ohio, and five regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster. In support of enterprise risk management, she works directly with the chief risk officer to verify and validate risk tolerances and ensure mitigation efforts align with the university’s strategic direction. She has served as a global change agent, driving cultural transformation and the adoption of best practices for business continuity man agement in the pharmaceutical, medical, and manufactur ing industries at Cardinal Health, one of the largest Fortune Global 500 healthcare companies. Garrett also served as senior manager at Nokia Telecommunications, where she developed a best-in-class enterprise risk management and business continuity program. Her financial management expertise has helped achieve significant reductions in past-due payables and receivables, resulting in cost sav ings and improved negotiations. “ Vella Garrett, CBCI, AHPCP, is associate director of business continuity and enter prise risk management at The Ohio State University. She has more than 35 years of experience in crisis and business continu

Business Advantages of ROO First, we must remember ROO may not be universally applicable. Some applica tions rely on the availability of historical data in combination with new information for the proper and accurate production of new calculations or information. In these situations, the proper ROO period will be “not applicable,” and it can be dismissed from consideration. Secondly, from a business continu ity perspective, the loss of availability of a critical technology application means a temporary contingency process must be invoked to retain a determined level of performance of the essential business pro cess. Rapid recovery of operability of the affected application reduces the amount of time necessary for utilizing a workaround process and the amount of data that will need to be restored. In high transaction volume or frequency uses, especially when the contingency activity may be limited to only a portion of business-as-usual capac ity, this can quickly generate a formidable processing backlog. Third, the additional time needed for backup data restoration as part of an RTO recovery process has downtime cost effects on both the operating busi ness unit and the information technology disaster recovery team. By divorcing the backup data restoration component from the RTO recovery period, this can shorten the functionality recovery period, reduce the upfront workload on both staffs, and help control recovery costs. This offers the potential advantage of scheduling this activity during work periods after the dis ruption impacts have reached a point of homeostasis.

Finally, performing the RTO backup data recovery after ROO return to service balances event response and recovery workloads more quickly, creating a less intense and shorter elevated stress period for all. Such a work environment supports more focused work activity and reduces the likelihood of errors. Integrating ROO into Business Continuity Management Processes 1. Secure agreement with the IT organization regarding its use, name, definition, and interdepartmental responsibilities. 2. Deliver an introductory presentation to institutional BCM staff explaining the principles and benefits of ROO. 3. Work with BCM staff to develop parameters for including ROO into BIAs. 4. Implement ROO design elements into BCM program materials. 5. Train BIA and BC plan owners on ROO. 6. Conduct exercises to validate ROO applicability and performance outcomes. 7. Coordinate ROO data into BCM/DR reporting mechanisms and workflows. Summary Business continuity management pro grams can benefit from adding recovery operability objective to their technology resilience strategy. ROO is defined as “The period of time between the occurrence of a technology application disruption and the functional return to service of that technol ogy without associated historical data.” ROO offers many benefits, including:

Greg Christian, CBCP, is business conti nuity program manager at The Ohio State University. With years of risk management experience in occupational safety and health consulting and physical security man

agement, he transitioned into business continuity manage ment following the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina. Christian earned his business continuity certification in 2009 and spent the next 15 years managing and leading business continuity programs in high-tech manufacturing and software development companies in Silicon Valley. In 2024, he joined Ohio State as business continuity manage ment program manager, where he is responsible for matur ing the business continuity program across the university’s main campus academic and business units, five regional campuses, and the Wexner Medical Center.

34 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SPRING 2025