Getting Help with Mission Continuity

Access information is provided on the About Shadow-Planner page in the Planning Tools section of this website.

Training requirements are described on the Training page in the Getting Started section of this website.

Browser requirements are detailed on the About Shadow-Planner page in the Planning Tools section of this website.

A last name search is easiest if the name is not overly common. For instance, searching for last name “Mullock” finds a grand total of two people at a Penn. For more common last names, the best workaround is to check the online Penn Directory and use the exact name as shown in the “First Name Middle Initial (and period, if there is one) Last Name” format.

If you still have questions or issues related to the “Call List,” please contact askmc@lists.upenn.edu for assistance.

Personal data comes from the Penn Community database, so there is no need to re-enter this info. However, access to personal contact information is temporarily disabled as additional security and privacy protocols are being put into place. Once the security rules are finalized, you will again be able to see this information in Shadow-Planner.

While individuals cannot be manually deleted from Shadow-Planner, you can remove someone from an incorrect group by right-clicking your mouse button on the name of the person you want to remove from that group.

The key to using Shadow-Planner is establishing consistency, but that does not mean that your Actions Plans need to be exactly the same as those of other departments. As long as you use the Action Plan format built into Shadow-Planner, the system will help insure that the structure of Mission Continuity plans is consistent across campus.

Your plan data needs to be entered into the Shadow-Planner Action Plan format to make use of the features of the system and to be consistently usable across campus. Some departments have chosen to upload PDF copies of certain material in addition to their Action Plan, for example, specific graphical information that would be a useful additional resource.

The number of Action Plans needed varies from area to area. For instance, the Library contains “Building” Action Plan templates for partial, single, and multiple building incidents. If your area of responsibility consists of space in one specific building, there would be no need to complete the multiple building section of that Action Plan.

It may be helpful to:

• Look at individual pieces of your existing plan
• Consider what Shadow-Planner category (BETH3 trigger) might apply
• Enter that section of your existing plan into Shadow-Planner as part of an Action Plan in that category
• Think of Actions as short, defined “Headlines” for the activity
• Enter detailed information for each action as a Procedure

Procedures are re-useable, so you can easily reuse them in other categories after the initial entry. Also, how many Action Plans you have in each BETH3 category is entirely dependent on the needs of your area. Use your existing BCP plans to determine whether you need to enter one, none, or many Action Plans within a given BETH3 category.

It may be helpful to see how the contents of your plan appear as a printed document. At this time there is one, basic (full) report template in Shadow-Planner. Other versions are being developed to provide summary and “tri-fold” reports.

The BIA Module is the Business Impact Analysis Module, an extensively detailed tool for systematically identifying unit processes and priorities. Due to its complexities and potential level of effort, the BIA is not currently used at Penn except in very limited cases. Instead, your first goal should be to construct and enter a foundation plan – a mission continuity plan based on the BETH-3 model (see BETH-3 in the glossary for more information). It is recommended, however, that you complete the Pre-Planning Questionnaire before constructing your foundation plan in the BETH-3 structure. Completing the questionnaire will help you gather the information you need in order to complete a useful mission continuity plan.

Crisis management planning deals with immediate responses to a specific crisis, e.g., shelter in place or evacuation procedures in the face of terrorist attack. Disaster recovery deals with recovering technology infrastructure, e.g., systems when they go down for any reason or a network that becomes unavailable and disrupts communication. Mission continuity planning deals with how your unit will continue to perform its critical functions after a crisis has occurred, e.g., arrangements for working off-site if that is necessary. All three kinds of plans can be loaded into Shadow-Planner. However, each should be in a separate Action Plan. A crisis can be a Trigger in a mission continuity plan, e.g., evacuation of a building can be a Trigger within the Buildings portion of the BETH-3 structure (see BETH-3 in the glossary for more information).

If the person will execute part of your Mission Continuity plan and does not already exist in Penn Community, you may enter their contact information manually into Shadow-Planner. In a future version of Shadow-Planner, a list of third-party suppliers Penn commonly uses will be loaded so they can be selected for use in a plan. Until the new version is released, they should be added manually.

Only full- and part-time Penn employees are loaded from Penn Community into Shadow-Planner. If others in your organization will execute part of your Mission Continuity Plan—for example, students or contractors—you may enter their contact information manually into Shadow-Planner so they can be selected for use in a plan.

Refer to the updated Mission Continuity Representatives page.

An Action is like a headline; it is a general statement of what should be done, such as, “Inform School staff that building cannot be used” and is often comprised of several Procedures. A Procedure is a specific and reusable item that is a component of an Action, such as “1. Notify Dean’s Office via e-mail listserv that building cannot be used; 2. Notify faculty via e-mail listserv that building cannot be used; 3. Notify students via e-mail listserv that building cannot be used.”

You need to create a new folder within the briefcase.

When accessing Shadow-Planner, your username is your complete Penn e-mail address. You set your own password; it is not your PennKey password. If you need to have your password reset, from the Shadow-Planner login page you may click on the link: “Forgotten password? Click here”. If you continue to experience a problem accessing Shadow-Planner send a request to askmc@lists.upenn.edu.