Joseph Ficarra

**** ********** **. 203-***-****

Charlotte, North Carolina 28226 nap4zy@r.postjobfree.com

Summary of Qualifications

A skilled and certified (CBCP) business continuity professional with 25 years of experience providing direction and assistance in the preparation, development, testing and execution of business continuity programs for banking divisions and individual corporations. A strong business background developed through line positions in the banking and insurance fields compliment a broad knowledge base in technology Previous accomplishments include the design and testing of the disaster recovery plans for Bank of America and Wachovia Corporate Investment Bank as well as a recovery plan for Standard Chartered which was implemented following the World Trade Center event and restored critical business and technology operations the same day.

Professional Experience

Business and Technology Continuity Planning (freelance) 2010-Present

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Consultant providing direction, guidance and education in the preparation and establishment of business continuity programs.

Demonstrated and led business partners in the preparation of a business impact analysis and risk assessment.

Identified internal and external dependencies and performed a gap analysis.

Explained the rational for recovery teams and coordinators and provided guidance in their establishment.

Provided the key components in a business continuity plan.

Defined the scope for the plan tests, results review and gap resolution.

Bank of America 2006-2010

Enterprise Resiliency LDRPS Engineering (2009 –2010) develop, define and implement the actions and processes required to facilitate the Bank’s migration to LDRPS 10.

Identify and define the data fields for use within the recovery document..

Determine information available from various systems or record.

Coordinate the systemic extract and import of data from defined systems of record.

Review and examine workflow tool completion with line of business representatives and coordinators.

Submit and validate system enhancement requests.

Verify system components complies with Bank and internal Governance directives.

Perform detailed testing and validation of tool capabilities.

Provide direction and assistance in the development of line of business training programs.

Corporate Business Continuity Consultant (2006 -2009) provided business continuity subject matter expertise to multiple business and/or technical units in all phases of the continuity program.

Disseminated continuity policies and standards to constituent business and technical units.

Maintained current knowledge of industry and Bank best practices in continuity planning.

Participated with line of business recovery coordinators in the preparation of Business Impact Analysis and work area recovery plans.

Directed various lines of business in the identification and evaluation of risk mitigation and recovery strategies.

Reported on the compliance of business continuity processes, readiness, events and exercise results.

Provided direction to constituent divisions during live events.

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Supported businesses in relationships with audit (internal and external) and government regulators on business continuity issues.

Directed and assisted lines of business in the migration and setup of business area and technical recovery plans to Sungard’s LDRPS 10.

Defined and managed integrated recovery exercises across various lines of business groups and application platforms.

Ensured all aspects of the recovery strategy were adequately exercised, objectives defined and issues identified and resolved.

Wachovia 2003-2006

Sr. Business Continuity Planner directs all aspects of the design, documentation and testing of the recovery plan for the Corporate Investment Bank sector of Wachovia.

Performed business impact analysis capturing key information regarding the day to day operation for each business division.

Designed a recovery strategy to ensure business resumption in accordance with regulatory, corporate and business requirements.

Validated recovery actions to ensure recovery capability against specific events

(Hurricanes, ice and snow storms, floods, mass transportation outages, terrorist threats).

Developed, coordinated and monitored recovery exercises with internal and external support partners and technology groups.

Prepared and documented exercise results highlighting successes as well as actions for those items requiring adjustment.

Established, configured and executed an automated staff notification system which contacted and instructed more than 300 employees in less than 60 minutes.

Prepared and implemented a staff awareness program advising personnel of roles, responsibilities and recovery actions.

Provided overall site management for seven work area recovery sites.

Standard Chartered Bank 1999–2002

US Head of Information Technology Service Delivery & Business Continuity Planning managing a budget of $8mm and a staff of 27.

Directed disaster recovery planning to meet all service requirements, deadlines and targets for the VAX Data Center which processed $65B in cash transactions each day.

Managed outsourced AS400 relationship, ensured service level agreements were successfully met and directed Disaster Recovery testing with vender.

Defined service level agreements and documented contingency and recovery plans for all production, financial, sales and staff divisions located in the United States.

Analyzed and documented business process workflows, risks, completed impact analysis, developed recovery strategies and prepared contingency plans to mitigate loss.

Tested successfully, business procedures for both in-house and outsourced systems twice yearly and monthly for critical business continuity processes.

Established a new recovery site for VAX, LAN and Lotus Notes operations and developed new business continuity capability within 8 weeks of the September 11th event.

Liaised across functional lines of business to ensure all continuity plans were coordinated, integrated and maintained in accordance with internal audit requirements.

Managed projects such as Business Continuity Planning, Y2K compliance, conversion to Microsoft NT and the installation of internet access and firewall on schedule and under budget.

Coordinated the establishment of the Crisis Command Center for Y2K activities.

Mitigated risk and system downtime by implementing all changes through the approved change management process.

Ensured that the appropriate level of security was applied and maintained on all IT supported platforms in accordance with risk management and audit standards.

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Chase Manhattan Bank 1985–1999

Operations Manager (1995 -1999)

Managed the Production Support Department for Letter of Credit Operations.

Managed the relocation of the combined Chase and Chemical Letter of Credit Division on schedule and without adverse impact to production.

Updated the plan and coordinated business continuity testing for joint bank operations.

Processed all incoming applications, documents and electronic messages within agreed

timing with the highest level of accuracy.

Ensured end of day proof completed and reconciled on schedule.

Completed daily foreign currency reconciliation, A/R and A/P write-off.

System Liaison (1993 - 1995)

Coordinated data center operations and system enhancements for the Division.

Examined and evaluated offsite recovery options for business contingency purposes.

Directed business continuity planning and testing for the Letter of Credit Division

Led a TQM process team responsible for implementing an enhanced workflow between production units, which reduced processing time by 15%.

Data Center Manager (1985 – 1993)

Managed a three-shift data center operation for the Letter of Credit Division. This operation was the largest WANG facility in the New York area.

Negotiated reciprocal agreements for data center recovery and business contingency.

Designed and tested Data Center and Business recovery activities allowing for a successful recovery following a site outage.

Successfully implemented and executed data center disaster and business recovery operations for a period of one week.

Education

BS, Marketing - St. John’s University, 9/1966 – 6/1970

MBA, Executive Management - St. John’s University, 9/1973 – 6/1976

Professional Certifications

Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP)

Professional Associations

Contingency Planning Association of the Carolinas (CPAC) – 2003-Present

Active member in this professional peer group with a purpose to share information, education and resources in contingency planning in North and South Carolina

Community Activities

Chief Judge for Mecklenburg County Board of Elections

Seabrook Island Club Communications Communications Board

Chairman - Communications Committee for the Summer Wind Community on Seabrook Island

Carolina Chapter Coordinator for St. John’s University Alumni

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