The survivability and continuity characteristics of the IT infrastructure for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) are the subjects of this case study.

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Introduction

The Case Subject

The survivability and continuity characteristics of the IT infrastructure for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) are the subjects of this case study.  On the agency website, IEMA publicly states its mission:

To protect the State of Illinois through integrated approaches of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to prepare for, respond to, mitigate against and recover from emergencies and disasters, or acts of terrorism.

IEMA has 15 facilities located around the State, and 4 mobile command posts, which provide communications resources and meeting facilities.  In addition, the infrastructure includes connections with 6 nuclear power plants around the State.  The agency has around 260 employees, the majority of which work in the Division of Nuclear Safety.  

Case Study Focus

This case study first examines the current systems with respect to survivability and performance characteristics of the overall IT infrastructure, and then considers potential improvements to that infrastructure.  For manageability, our study is weighted towards functions of the Division of Nuclear Safety.  IEMA’s Division of Nuclear Safety monitors 11 nuclear power reactors at six nuclear stations licensed to generate electricity in Illinois; inspects and escorts spent nuclear fuel shipments; and ensures public safety through inspection, licensing, accreditation and certification of medical professionals, radiation-producing equipment and facilities. 

In this case study, IT infrastructure documentation, and information regarding “critical agency functions” and “critical applications to support those functions” was made available.  This access to information is critical to a successful, accurate assessment, and cannot be over-valued.  

Current Issues

1) The merging of two agencies, and IT infrastructures, into one agency and IT infrastructure.  On July 1, 2003, the former Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety became a division within the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.  

   

2) The construction of a new, state of the art, State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Springfield, Illinois.  Listed as “key budget Initiative” in SFY05 budget document.

3) The need to upgrade IEMA’s Remote Monitoring System, which electronically monitors nuclear facility critical safety functions.  Also listed as a “key budget initiative” in the SFY05 budget document.  

Case Study Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of this case study are:

  • To evaluate the current level of fault tolerance and survivability of the IT infrastructure with concentration on the critical applications and processes.

  • To present a plan to improve the overall continuity characteristics of the infrastructure.

Metrics

A general note about metrics for this study:  For a government agency providing services related to protection of life and property, “downtime” might be measured in danger to the public, i.e. damage to property or even, loss of life.  Alternatively, the private sector generally measures downtime as a monetary loss per hour.  This comparison points out the difficulty to quantify downtime losses from a government services perspective.  Thus, in order to determine the level of fault tolerance necessary for critical functions, the approach quite naturally often becomes “doing the best you can, with what you have, or can afford”.  Regarding, what it can afford, IT spending in Illinois government is not expected to increase from current levels any time soon.  In fact it is projected to decrease from $20 million in SFY05 to $10 million in SFY06.   These funding limitations, coupled with seemingly increasing responsibilities and accountabilities, make the necessity for good IT spending decisions even greater than normal.

 The remainder of this report provides information regarding the methodology and approach used for the analysis, the results of the analysis, and then concludes with recommendations based on those results.  

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Methodology:

Steps Used to Analyze the Problem

Our processes began by meeting with IEMA IT personnel.  For our work to be successful, we need to foster an environment of open communication with the key players in the current handling of your IT infrastructure.  Our success depends on our ability to fully understand the systems under review and, more specifically, how the subsystem functions affect your business processes and overall flow of information.  Access to documentation of existing infrastructure, and to personnel working with the infrastructure is imperative and without that access the time required to thoroughly analyze ...

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