The Resilient Credit Union

Much like achieving good health is to our body (result of decisions we make and actions we take every day), resilience is to the organization.  It’s built up over time. Just as a strong immune system helps the body fight off germs and viruses, a strong continuity and recovery program helps the organization resist and respond to threats that could disrupt normal operations.

Resilience  \ri–’zil-yən(t)s\ noun “The operational and technological readiness that prepares an organization to make day-to-day operations efficient and cost-effective,  and to resist, absorb and recover from or successfully adapt to adversity or a change in conditions.”

An operational risk is any incident or event that results in a partial or full disruption to one or more processes producing a measurable impact (loss).  Examples include power outage, server malfunction, service disruption, software error, security incident, severe weather, flooding and fire, to name a few.

These incidents can occur in many forms including:

  • Interruption of IT services or loss of data
  • Disruption in the workplace
  • Reduction in the workforce
  • Disruption of a service from a third-party vendor

The impact from these incidents can range from minimal (affecting only one product or service or a single branch) to major (affecting multiple products or services at all branches) across multiple disciplines (Operational, Reputational, Financial, and Compliance).  Regardless of the impact, organizations must be ready to respond. For each type of event or incident, the response must be quick and it must be effective. The only way to achieve this level of readiness is to plan carefully and to practice regularly.

Strict security, disaster recovery and business continuity requirements are a reality facing credit unions and financial institutions today. A static plan is not enough. Developing and implementing a Business Continuity Management (BCM) program that results in a repeatable process focused on continual improvement is the new standard. Resilience starts when business continuity stops being a series of separate activities, is embraced as a business process, and becomes part of day-to-day decision-making and operations.

The success or failure of the BCM program rests on the shoulders of the board and senior management.  As stated in the FFIEC IT Examination Handbook, they are accountable for the oversight and governance of the Business Continuity Planning process, which includes:

  • Establishing policy by determining how the institution will manage and control identified risks;
  • Allocating knowledgeable personnel and sufficient financial resources to properly implement the BCP;
  • Ensuring that the BCP is independently reviewed and approved (annually);
  • Ensuring employees are trained and aware of their roles in the implementation of the BCP;
  • Ensuring the BCP is regularly tested on an enterprise-wide basis;
  • Reviewing the BCP testing program and test results on a regular basis; and
  • Ensuring the BCP is continually updated to reflect the current operating environment.”

Resilience begins with defining the mission, setting the policy, rolling up our sleeves, and never looking back. The good news is that a field-tested roadmap (framework) has been developed to build and maintain a robust BCM program.

planning

Next Steps

CU*Answers offers professional and managed services to help you meet and exceed your recovery objectives. Contact a CU*Answers Continuity Consultant today to discover in-network solutions that best meet your business objectives.

 

AdvantageCIO

Professional Services available include:

  • Business Continuity Planning and Resilience Testing
  • Information Security Risk Assessment
  • Comprehensive Information Security Program (CISP)
  • Staff Security Training
  • IT Examination and Audit Preparation
  • IT Strategy Consulting
CU*Answers Network Services

Managed Services available include:

  • Network Management and Monitoring
  • Continuous Data Protection (CDP) including off-site data storage
  • Virtual Branch / Virtual Office
Updated
February 11, 2015

Reminder: Network Maintenance Scheduled for Sunday, February 6th

Reminder: Network Maintenance Scheduled for Sunday, February 6th

As a reminder, CU*Answers will be performing our next CU*BASE high-availability (HA) rollover on Sunday, February 6th.   That same morning, teams will be rolling over online and mobile banking systems to servers at our secondary data center. These rollovers are in preparation for a maintenance project at our production data center that will include… Read more »

Feb 3, 2022

Don’t Forget: The Next HA Rollover is This Weekend – We Need You to Perform a Connectivity Test!

Don’t Forget: The Next HA Rollover is This Weekend – We Need You to Perform a Connectivity Test!

Twice each year, CU*Answers tests our ability to redirect CU*BASE core-processing from our production data center to our high-availability (HA) data center.  The next HA rollover is scheduled for Sunday, February 6th. This rollover will enable support teams to perform planned network maintenance at the primary production data center without disrupting core processing.  The rollover… Read more »

Feb 2, 2022

[The Pulse] 2022 Business Continuity Plan Now Available

[The Pulse] 2022 Business Continuity Plan Now Available

CU*Answers Business Continuity Plan: 2022 Release Now Available As your core data processor, we continue to invest in high availability and recovery strategies to ensure that the products and services you count on us for are there when you need them. Implementing those strategies and responding when uncertainty happens requires a well-designed and thoroughly tested… Read more »

Jan 31, 2022

January 28 is Data Privacy Day – View Resources Available from CU*Answers

January 28 is Data Privacy Day – View Resources Available from CU*Answers

January 28th is observed as Data Privacy Day for all industries, including credit unions, to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices.  Much attention has been gained by the frequency and scope of recent data breaches and by privacy concerns on social media platforms. This attention to data privacy is paving the… Read more »

Jan 28, 2022

Network Maintenance Scheduled for Sunday, February 6th

Network Maintenance Scheduled for Sunday, February 6th

As previously announced, CU*Answers will be performing our next CU*BASE high-availability (HA) rollover on Sunday, February 6th.   That same morning, teams will be rolling over online and mobile banking systems to servers at our secondary data center. These rollovers are in preparation for a maintenance project at our production data center that will include… Read more »

Jan 27, 2022

The Next HA Rollover is Coming February 6th – We Need You to Perform a Connectivity Test!

The Next HA Rollover is Coming February 6th – We Need You to Perform a Connectivity Test!

Twice each year, CU*Answers tests our ability to redirect CU*BASE core-processing from our production data center to our high-availability (HA) data center.  The next HA rollover is scheduled for Sunday, February 6th. This rollover will enable support teams to perform planned network maintenance at the primary production data center without disrupting core processing.  The rollover… Read more »

Jan 14, 2022