Mission Assurance - Gov't Needs To Manage Risk Differently in Face of New Operating Realities
New operating realities have prompted government agencies to rethink integration of practices to meet security and performance needs.
"There is an emerging awareness that a new approach is needed to link stove-piped assurance activities to address critical national security and global security issues," said Booz Allen Hamilton Vice President Chris Kelly, who spoke at a Mission Assurance Summit held in Washington, DC. "Mission assurance is enabling government agencies to integrate security with continuity and risk management practices to develop a day-to-day operational model that focuses on safeguarding employees and managing business risk."
Booz Allen Senior Vice President Mark Gerencser and Vice Presidents R. James Woolsey and Don Vincent also spoke at the February 12, 2004, summit.
Kelly described the Booz Allen-sponsored summit as a step towards creating a professional community of mission assurance leaders and practitioners from across the federal government. "This summit was designed for individuals who are living the problems of the different assurance domains as well as individuals who have fought to integrate them," he said. A series of panels provided participants an opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned and to discuss the agencies varying approaches to mission assurance.
The ultimate goal of mission assurance is to create a state of resilience that supports the continuation of an agency's critical business processes and protects its employees, assets, services, and functions. But before that goal can be achieved, agencies must first integrate physical security, cyber security, personnel security, and contingency planning into a cohesive approach to protect its ability to perform mission-critical processes. "It's time to leverage the excellence our clients have been building in individual domains and drive at an integrated approach," he said.
Mission assurance provides a basis to address risks in a uniform and systematic manner across the enterprise. "The objective is to have the business processes and infrastructure to support the delivery of your services assured," said Kelly. "You need to go from the business back, not the discipline back. And when you go from the business back, you need to start to link and integrate the other assurance domains together."
Mission Assurance Summit II
Booz Allen will sponsor a second Mission Assurance Summit on April 27, 2004, at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, DC. The summit will feature preparations for Forward Challenge 04 as well as sessions on mission assurance community best practices and implementation approaches.
story posted March 8, 2004
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