What is continuity of operations planning, or COOP?
Continuity of operations (COOP) planning allows for the continuation of the essential functions of government departments or agencies during any incident or emergency that may disrupt typical, normal operations. Continuity of operations planning addresses the recovery of critical and essential government operations in the event of an incident or emergency which disrupts service. This can be on a short-term basis, like a power failure, where having a backup capability (systems, personnel, processes, files, and etc.) can quickly resolve the situation. It can also be longer term such as in the case of a major hurricane or earthquake type of event where services are impacted for several days or in some cases weeks. For this long-term denial of service government organisations will need to plan for relocation to an alternative facility. How does COOP compare to ‘continuity of government’ (COG) Continuity of government typically addresses the succession of leadership. Like business continuit
