The Basics of Business Continuity Planning
The Basics of Business Continuity Planning In the last few years, there has been a consistent push within companies to formulate a Business Continuity Plan
Continuing Professional Education Program
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CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION (CPE POINTS)
Continuing Professional Education (CPE Points) Program
Certified members are required to submit CPE points annually. The deadline for submitting CPE Points Record Form for any given current year is on March 31st of the following year.
BRCCI ‘s Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Points Program ensures all certified professionals continue to maintain, enhance, and develop their personal knowledge and skills in the business resilience profession once they have achieved certification. All certified professionals are required to comply with the CPE Points Program by actively participating and engaging in development activities and periodically submitting proof of such activities. Activities must be directly relevant to the field of business resilience.
The CPE Points Program is based on a CPE Points system. This system requires professionals to obtain at minimum 10 CPE Points annually. CPE points must be reported annually and must be earned by participating in various activities across multiple categories as defined in the CPE Category and Points Schedule. There are many activities that qualify for CPE Points. CPE Points are awarded for active participation in activities that:
- Enhance and develop personal knowledge and skills, such as attendance in courses and seminars, and full-time or part-time enrollment in a in a diploma or degree program;
- Contribute to and promote the business resilience profession, such as preparing articles and papers and conducting research and development of business resilience education; or
- Validate business resilience related programs and processes, such as conducting audits, tests, and reviews.
As an example, CPE Points may be awarded as follows:
- Up to 8 points awarded for attendance at a conference, training course, workshop, seminar, or lecture (1 point per hour of attendance to a maximum of 2 points per day);
- Up to 4 points awarded for preparation and publication of an article or whitepaper (length of paper greater than 1 page and less than or equal to 6 pages);
- Up to 5 points awarded for participation in BRCCI working group and/or committee.
CPE General Rules
The following general rules will apply when assigning CPE Points:
- CPE Points must be earned from more than 1 CPE point category. For example, not all 10 points may be earned from attendance at an academic course.
- When authoring a publication, it must be published in a business resilience related website or publication.
- If more than two professional designations are earned in any year, only 1 may qualify for CPE Points.
- CPE points must be submitted during the year following the year in which certification is granted.
- No points may be carried over to subsequent years.
CPE Activity Reporting Period
To comply with the CPE Points Program requirements, all certified professionals are expected to submit a CPE Points Record Form for each CPE Activity Reporting Period. The CPE Activity Reporting Period is a full calendar year and commences the year following the year in which certification is granted. Supporting documentation of activities is not required unless specifically requested by the Certification Committee. Professionals should keep a copy of the CPE Points Record Form along with supporting documentation for a minimum of 3 years.
The deadline for submitting the CPE points is March 31 st following the CPE Activity Reporting Period.
Validation of CPE Activity Reporting
BRCCI’s certification committee is responsible for verification of CPE activities undertaken by professionals. Although all professionals are required to submit their activities, not all submissions can be verified. The Certification Committee will intermittently conduct audits to verify the validity of CPE activity submissions.
CPE Categories and Points Schedule
| CPE Category | Description | CPE Points Value | Maximum Points / Year |
| 1 | CONFERENCES/INSTRUCTOR-LED COURSES Attendance in a conference, course, workshop, seminar, or lecture directly related to business resilience. Certificate of completion, course outline and description must be kept for reporting purposes. Minimum 6 hours of attendance for a 1 day event. Minimum 3 hours of attendance for a ½ day event. | 1 points per hour of attendance to a maximum of 2 points per day | 8 |
| 2 | SELF STUDY COURSES Attendance in a course of online study or self study in a business resilience discipline. Certificate of completion, course outline and description must be kept for reporting purposes. | 1 points per hour of attendance to a maximum of 2 points per day | 6 |
| 3 | DEGREE/DIPLOMA PROGRAMS Attendance at a business resilience related degree or diploma program at a public or private college or university. Programs related to the following disciplines qualify: · Business continuity and disaster recovery · Information systems security and management · Audit · Risk management · Emergency response management · Project and business management | 2 points per day of attendance | 8 |
| 4 | AUTHORING/PUBLICATIONS (1 page to 6 pages) Authoring and publication of a business resilience related literary work, minimum 1 page and maximum 6 pages, such as an article, research report, survey, newsletter, or paper. Must be published in a business resilience related website, journal, or other publication where it is formally recognized and/or distributed. | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | AUTHORING/PUBLICATIONS (7 pages or greater) Authoring and publication of a business resilience related literary work 7 pages or greater, such as a book (including specific chapters), journal, or paper. Must be published in a business resilience related website, journal, or other publication where it is formally recognized and/or distributed. | 8 | 8 |
| 6 | AUTHORING PRESENTATION/SEMINAR (maximum 1 day) Authoring of a business resilience related literary work such as a presentation or seminar (maximum 1 day) May be part of internal organization training or a formal education program.Outline and description must be kept for reporting purposes. | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | AUTHORING COURSE/WORKSHOP | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS Achieving business resilience related professional designation. Certificate of professional designation must be kept for reporting purposes. | 4 | 8 |
| 9 | BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND RESILIENCE PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT, MAINTANANCE, AND EXECUTION ACTIVITIES Professional work conducted in order to establish, maintain, and execute a business continuity and resilience program. A professional may perform activities related to development, implementation, management, execution, and/or support of business continuity and resilience programs. Activities may be from one of the following:
Signed letter listing the above activity and extent of work conducted from a supervisor, manager, or direct report must be kept as supporting documentation for reporting purposes. | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | ASSESSMENTS Assessment and investigative activities such as risk assessments, business impact analyses, audits, and tests.
| 4 | 8 |
| 11 | EDUCATION DELIVERY (minimum 2 hours and maximum 1 day) Business resilience education and training delivery such as presentations (minimum 2 hours and maximum 1 day). | 2 | 6 |
| 12 | EDUCATION DELIVERY (1 day or longer) Business resilience education and training delivery activities such as course instruction (1 day or longer). | 4 | 8 |
| 13 | BRCCI PARTICIPATION Participation in BRCCI promotion, development, and other activities including participation in committees and/or working groups. | 5 | 5 |
| 14 | Non-BRCCI PARTICIPATION Participation in non-BRCCI organization activities including committees and/or working groups or volunteer groups. | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | MEMBERSHIP Example organizations are: ACP, DRIE, ISC2, ISACA, IAEM, ISSA, IIA, NFPA, BCI, RMI, PMI | 2 | 4 |
| 16 | MEETINGS Example organizations are: ACP, DRIE, ISC2, ISACA, IAEM, ISSA, IIA, NFPA, BCI, RMI, PMI | 1 per meeting | 4 |
CPE Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is the deadline for submitting the CPE Points Record Form?
The deadline for submitting CPE Points Record Form for any given current year is on March 31st of the following year.
2) What is the CPE Activity Reporting Period? The CPE Activity Reporting Period is a full calendar year and commences the year following the year in which certification is granted.
3) I just achieved my certification, when should I submit my CPE points?
You must submit your CPE points for the year following the year in which you obtained the certification.
4) Is there an annual certification maintenance fee for the year in which certification is achieved?
No, the annual certification maintenance fee for the year in which certification is achieved is waived. The annual certification maintenance fee commences the year following certification.
5) I achieved my certification in March of 2007. Should I submit CPE points for March to December of 2007?
No. You must submit CPE points for January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008.
6) I submitted my certification application and/or wrote a certification examination during December 2007, but achieved certification in January 2008. Do I need to submit my CPE points for 2008?
No. You must submit CPE points for January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009.
7) I am a consultant and often times I am busy helping organizations to create and establish business continuity and resilience programs. Is there a CPE Points category for consulting professionals like myself?
Yes. The category “Business Continuity and Resilience Program Establishment, Maintenance, and Execution Activities” is available for both consulting and non-consulting professionals who are involved in development, implementation, management, and/or support activities.
8) What is the requirement for maintaining my certification once I have achieved it?
There are two essential requirements to maintain certification:
- Submit the CPE Points for each CPE Activity Reporting Period
- Submit the annual certification maintenance fee.
9) When does the annual certification maintenance fee need to be paid? What is the amount if I have single designation? What is the amount if I have multiple designations?
Certification fee is due on the 31st December of each year. You only need to pay one single fee whether you hold a single designation or multiple designations.
BRCCI – Business Resilience Certification Consortium International (www.brcci.org)
We are thankful to the author for allowing us to post this insightful article on our website. BRCCI provides a comprehensive training and certification program in business resiliency, continuity and IT disaster recovery planning:
1. 3-day CBRM (Certified Business Resilience Manager) is a comprehensive, all-in-one, 3-day Business Continuity Planning and Management Training and Certification course which is designed to teach practical methods to develop, test, and maintain a business continuity plan and establish a business continuity program.
2. 3-day CBRITP (Certified Business Resilience IT Professional) is a comprehensive training on how to assess, develop, test, and maintain an information technology (IT) Disaster Recovery Plan for recovering IT and telecommunications systems and infrastructure in the event of a disaster or business disruption. The training provides a step-by-step methodology to ensure a reliable and effective IT disaster recovery and continuity plan consistent with the industry’s standards and best practices.
3. 2-day CBRA (Certified Business Resilience Auditor) It provides 2 days of intensive, Business Continuity Audit training to enable students to determine the effectiveness, adequacy, quality and reliability of an organization’s Business Continuity Program. Students will learn an audit methodology to evaluate compliance of Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery Programs with the current industry’s best practices and standards including:
- ISO 22301: Business Continuity Management Systems – Requirements
- NFPA: Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs
- ITIL: Information Technology Infrastructure Library
For information on the above program, please contact BRCCI (www.brcci.org, 1-888-962-7224).
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