1. Selecting a Business Continuity Planning Tool
Katina Blue
Director of Business Continuity
and Disaster Recovery

2. DO YOUR RESEARCH Use search engines on the Internet
Obtain referrals from colleagues
Request demos
Test for a period of time; don’t be anxious (6 months)
Research the experience of the company; age of company and tool

3. AUDITING THE TOOL Compare Functionality and Flexibility
Proprietary software vs. non-Proprietary software
Ease of use
Compare strengths and weakness to other tools
Avoid persuasion from other colleagues
Is it buggy?
Stability of database

4. COST FACTORS Based on license Enterprise discounts
Inflation over years
Maintenance license

5. INFRASTRUCTURE Type of platforms the system operates on
Type of database; is it proprietary?
What type of Technical Support does the vendor offer

6. APPLICATION ADMINISTRATION
Requires a system administrator
Local installs versus web based
Frequency of patches and updates
Require vendor technical support or in-house administration
Mitigate risks if you can!

7. SECURITY Web based security infrastructure Personalization of screens
Uses Login ID and Password
Security module to restrict plan access