Frequently Asked Questions

These FAQs will be updated on a regular basis. If you have a question that is not addressed in this list, please reach out to RiskServices @ucmerced.edu

Question / Answer
What is the project timeline? / The UC Ready Enhancement Project is currently underway. The data migration from the old system to the new system will occur between March 9th and April 15th. Following April 15th, Risk Services continuity planners will be configuring the tool for the campus. Workshops, interviews and/or training sessions with system end-users will start in May and continue over the next six months, at the discretion of Risk Services continuity planners.
What can I do to prepare for the transition? / Risk Services continuity planners will manage the campus transition and keep you informed of any important developments or actions you need to take. Please stay on top of communications from the continuity planners and take action as needed.
What is the new tool called? / Although the underlying software platform is changing, the name of the tool is not changing and it will still be called UC Ready.
Why the change to this new tool? / In early 2014, The UC Ready Enhancement Project was established to improve the functionality of the UC Ready tool. The project’s goal was to identify the key enhancements necessary to continue to grow UC continuity planning efforts. In conjunction with this project, a decision was made to shift the strategic focus of continuity planning from the departmental-level to the campuswide level. The enhanced UC Ready tool will incorporate all of the previous tool's functionality and include key enhancements that enable this important strategic shift to include campus level continuity planning efforts.
What are the benefits of the new tool? / The new UC Ready tool will incorporate all the functionality of UC Ready plus support campus level planning by enabling continuity planners to conduct Business Impact Analyses; quantify dependencies across departments; specify and track “best practices”; and roll up data for reports at any level of the organization. The new tool will enable staff at each location to achieve a new level of campuswide preparedness.
Why do I need to use this new tool to create a business continuity plan? / Your unit plays a unique and essential role in sustaining the University of California’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. Departments around campus depend and rely on your continued service and functionality in order to be successful and efficient.
What will happen to my current UC Ready plan? Are we going to have to start over? / Prior to rollout, your existing continuity plan will be transferred into the new UC Ready tool. While the content of your plan in the new software tool will be similar to your plan’s current content, there will be a need for you to edit and update your plan after the rollout. Some questions will be new; some will be asked differently; and some will require data to be re-entered by you because certain items could not be automatically transferred due to structural differences. The Risk Services continuity planners will guide you how to do this, and when to begin.
I was a “Gatekeeper” in the old UC Ready system, what will be my role in the new UC Ready system? / Your role in the new system will be similar, but will be called Plan Owner rather than Gatekeeper. While the former UC Ready system allowed multiple Gatekeepers, the new system provides for only one Plan Owner per plan. If your UC Ready plan had multiple gatekeepers, the Risk Services continuity planners will work with you to identify the primary point of contact for your unit’s continuity plan.
Why aren’t the old plans available and why can’t I update them? / Your former plan is still available as an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document. If you have not saved that document previously, the Risk Services continuity planners can furnish it. Updating will be done using the new UC Ready system; data edits in the former system were “frozen” as of March 9 to ensure a stable dataset for the migration.
How many people are allowed access to my UC Ready plan in the new system? Will I able to grant them access? / Plans are most effective when widely shared within your unit. Our experience with the former UC Ready system showed that UC Ready was used online by (typically) one person in a unit, occasionally two, and rarely more. The majority of persons given online access to their unit’s plan never used that access. In the new system, the emphasis will be on sharing the plan within your unit using the PDF version of the plan, which you can email or print. Nonetheless, online access can still be granted to a limited number of others in addition to Plan Owners; contact the Risk Services continuity planners to arrange this.
How will the new UC Ready software differ from the former UC Ready? / The new software will differ in many ways. Some of them are:
·  Workflow: Plans are created on a single primary screen rather than on many screens.
·  Templates: The new UC Ready will offer eight different planning templates (sets of questions). Each unit will use the template most suitable for it.
·  Enterprise-level plans: The new tool will enable the creation of campus-level and medical center-level plans as vehicles for executive strategy and executive action.
·  Coordination across departments: The new UC Ready tool will do a better job at identifying & tracking dependencies (situations where departments depend on other departments or on specific resources).
·  Prioritization based on severity of impacts: The new tool uses a process called “impact analysis” to suggest the units and functions whose disruption could have the greatest impact on the campus mission, hence merit particular attention in the planning process.
·  Best Practices: Departmental best practices are suggested, based on type of department.