Building Resiliency through Engagement in North Texas

Welcome to the North Texas Chapter of the Association of Continuity Professionals (ACP). ACP is a non-profit professional organization, which provides a forum for the exchange of experiences and information, for business continuity professionals, throughout a network of local chapters.

Founded in March of 1986, the North Texas Chapter is one of the oldest continuously meeting chapters, and the largest ACP chapter by membership, serving the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and North Texas region.  Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month unless the first Tuesday coincides with a holiday week.  We invite you to attend our next meeting either in-person or virtually. 

For anyone who would like to join our chapter and/or attend our meetings, please contact our Membership Director at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.for more information.


 

April Meeting

Date/Time: Tuesday, April 2, 2023   Noon - End of Day

Location:  UT Dallas, School of Management Building Virtual meeting option available

Topic:  Lessons learned to improve resiliency and create a more cyber-resilient organization

Presenter:  Roberto (Rob) Zegarra, MBCP, CCRP,  Director of Education for DRI International

 

*** Registration for the 03/28 DRI & UTD Collegiate Conference Series - Details here ***


 

Attendees should anticipate a 90-minute monthly meeting, with the understanding that some meetings may last up to 2 hours.  Please join us for our next meeting!

Our meetings (unless indicated) are also available to attend virtually.  Please attend in person if possible.  Virtual meeting information will be provided with each meeting registration.

Anyone interested in hosting an event or speaking at an upcoming meeting, please contact our Programs Director.

Note: Additional information for regular meeting locations can be found on the Events page.

 


 

ACP North Texas Members,

Recently some of my industry peers have been restructured out of their company resiliency roles. In fact, some did not even see it coming. That made me wonder WHY them? I realize it happens to others, but not in our industry. I thought maybe it was just a financial decision by the company as they were possibly making too much salary (I doubt it). As I continued to ponder other reasons, it led me to the real possibility that their company and leadership did not recognize the true value in dollars they bring to the organization.

In talking to many, as resiliency professionals, we have been taught to speak “Resiliency”. But let’s be honest, the staffing decisions are driven by the business and even though we should be working with staff and business leaders directly, we are not their highest priority unless they need us. Let me ask you this question: How high up in your organization’s leadership chain would someone take your call because they value how you contribute to the success of their business model?

Coming out of the pandemic, I believe many companies feel they are well prepared, heck, they made it through a 100-year Global Pandemic, so they must be in good shape to recover from anything, right? So, what else can you do to change that mindset?

When I was in corporate America, I had to document my annual accomplishments during the dreaded review process.  I took the opportunity to enhance it by adding a section each year that was never required. I made it my mission to justify at least twice my compensation each year. I learned to document throughout the year the cost savings or cost avoidance my team delivered. Granted some of it was soft dollars, but as I started in Resiliency, I began to document what the company WOULD have lost (staff hours, sales, etc.) during an incident. I developed a template to track and calculate what losses would have occurred but were AVOIDED, by working with the business to have backup plans or services in place already. I turned what they never realized into a quantitative business number they could relate to.

It is important that leadership and business can articulate your value at all times. But I would also ask you who in the business would go to bat for you to stay off “the next restructuring list”. Don’t wait until it is too late to demonstrate your business value!

 Regards,

Chet Bojarski thumbnail1

Chet Bojarski, MBCP

 North Texas Chapter President         


 

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