Larstan Business Reports NewsFlash.

WASHINGTON -- Larstan Business Reports:

Federal Government Unprepared for Inter-Agency Collaboration in
                    Emergency, Says Larstan Report

              by John Persinos, Larstan Business Reports

In the wake of a terrorist strike or other disaster, continuity of operations (COOP) in the federal government is crucial, especially to maintain inter-agency collaboration. However, wide swaths of the pubic sector are unprepared to maintain COOP for collaboration in an emergency, reveals a new survey from Larstan Business Reports.

The vital importance of secure, resilient COOP is made abundantly clear by the 9/11 Commission Report: "The attacks on 9/11 demonstrated that even the most robust emergency response capabilities can be overwhelmed if an attack is large enough. Teamwork, collaboration and cooperation at an incident site are critical to successful response."

According to the Larstan survey of 533 government IT professionals, 34% in civilian agencies disagree that they have implemented a COOP plan for those efforts. Meanwhile, when asked whether the agencies with which they collaborate have a COOP program, respondents cited low percentages. Only 19% of civilian, 19% of intelligence/military combatant, and 25% of military/non-combatant respondents reported that 75-100% of their collaborating agencies have COOP in place. (To download a free copy of the entire survey and report, "Continuity of Operations Strategies in the Federal Government: Secure, Resilient Collaboration," go to: http://www.larstan.net/coop.htm)

The Larstan report reveals that agencies need better integration and closer collaboration with partner agencies, to bridge the gap between recognizing the importance of COOP and acting on it. The most commonly cited solution is secure, intelligent, standards-based IP networks that allow communications and information sharing across and within agencies.

"From a crisis management standpoint, agencies need to be able to connect to response teams - whether those teams are part of different federal agencies or even within state and local governments," says Bruce Klein, vice president, federal sales organization, Cisco Systems, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of IP-networked solutions. "There are four areas around which the solutions are built: network, applications, communications, and workforce. We offer multiple solutions in each of those areas, and all of them are covered with an integrated security solution."

To view the entire Larstan report: http://www.larstan.net/coop.htm. For a full range of Larstan reports: www.larstan.net.