Web Planner Questions & Answers
Why Web Planner instead of other
Why is simplicity and ease-of-use so important?
What makes Web Planner’s use of SharePoint so special?
Why do I want a web-based
What about costs, where am I saving by using Web Planner?
Explain why you offer several versions of Web Planner?
Can Web Planner support multiple of my organization’s locations?
What other features of Web Planner might be of interest to me?
How do I learn even more about Web Planner to see if it is right
for me?
What are the Web Planner databases and what is their significance
for me?
How do I update information in these databases?
Can I generate reports from information in these databases?
What if I want a document included in a particular database?
Can I secure data on Web Planner databases?
Why do I need document management in my
What kind of document management does Web Planner offer?
How do I keep track of when documents are updated?
What are these framework plans that are included with Web Planner?
What types of plans are included?
Aren’t bulky DR plan documents where a thing of the past?
But what about tailoring the documents to my needs, and updating?
Can’t I just generate some reports from Web Planner instead?
What types of reports are available with the Web Planner Companion Tool?
How do I navigate through this quantity of reports easily?
Does it take long to produce a report?
What report output formats are available?
Why is the Companion Tool a workstation tool?
How does current data get from the Web Planner site to the Companion Tool?
How many licenses do I get for the Companion Tool?
What if I need reports not available in the Companion Tool?
What is a Services Bundle and what is it used for?
What’s the advantage of using Services Bundles compared to regular
consulting engagements?
What type of person provides the Services Bundle consulting?
What do I get with the hosted version of Web Planner?
What’s the difference in function between the hosted and template Web
Planner products?
How many site users can I have?
How much data can I store on Web planner?
What skills do I need to administer Web Planner?
Can I copy the Web Planner site to my internal SharePoint environment?
Do you have a disaster recovery capability for the hosted site?
In what type of hosted infrastructure does Web Planner reside?
Web Planner - Template Product
What is provided with the template version of Web Planner?
What’s the difference in function between the template and hosted Web
Planner products?
How hard is it to install in my SharePoint environment?
Am I limited to the number of times I can install the template?
Can I convert from the template version to the hosted version?
What is the managed service for Web Planner, and why would it be used?
How is it priced, and am I locked in long-term?
What do I need to do if I use this offering and can I also do site updates?
Can I also use Services Bundles?
What is the value proposition for my organization?
What browsers can access Web Planner?
What are the Companion Tool software requirements?
What do I need to install the Web Planner template for self-hosting?
For exporting data to a worksheet using Web Planner, what version of Excel is
required?
What Word version is used for the framework documents supplied as part of Web
Planner?
What other kind of documents can I upload to Web Planner?
Do I need to install SQL Server or other database system to use Web Planner
databases?
Why Web Planner instead of other
Affordability, flexibility, capability, and ease-of-use jump right to the top of
the list.
Web Planner has all the capabilities that you need for your business continuity
program including databases for all of your key information, well organized
libraries to manage all of your key BC/DR documents, report generation with the
Companion Tool, surveys to collect information, blogs to discuss business
continuity, and much more.
And, Web Planner can be easily adapted to your organization’s needs…it takes
only a few moments for example, to create a new database or document library.
And, since Web Planner is based upon the ubiquitous SharePoint platform (100
million+ users), there is a good chance that your users already know how to
navigate the product, and if not, takes only an hour or less to learn through
one of our web training sessions.
Web Planner is offered at a price point substantially less than any other
planning tool, and in most cases the one-time cost of Web Planner is less than
the annual maintenance fee of competing products.
Why is simplicity and ease-of-use so important?
Compare Web Planner to other products and you will find that its highly
intuitive navigation and clean look and feel are not only appealing to you, but
will be equally appealing to participants in the business continuity program.
That translates into people actually wanting to use the tool and to keep their
portions of the plan updated so that your organization is ready to respond.
Unfortunately, it is so often the case that other
What makes Web Planner’s use of
SharePoint so special?
SharePoint is a strategic Microsoft product, and has evolved to become a
ubiquitous platform for collaborative applications with more than 100 million
end-users. A recent study reports that approximately 90% of surveyed companies
either use SharePoint actively or plan to use for production apps (such as Web
Planner) motivated by its functionality, flexibility, and ease of use.
What this means to you is pretty clear…you are in good company and your Web
Planner
Why do I want a web-based
Apps of all kind, including
Why? Look at a typical
Web Planner is by design web-based; all you need is a browser. No software
installation hassle, no maintenance hassle, just start using the product. Start
adding up the costs of traditional software, and you will soon opt for a
web-based
What about costs; where am I saving by
using Web Planner?
Well, there is the basic cost of Web Planner…in most cases Web Planner is an
order of magnitude (factor of ten) less than other
Now that you’ve saved all this money by using Web Planner, use it to enhance
your organization’s risk mitigation capability, or build great BC/DR plan
content, or just be a hero by getting rid of that huge
Explain why you offer several versions
of Web Planner?
We standardly offer Web Planner as a hosted product. Why? In addition to all of
the SaaS benefits mentioned before, if you have a disaster you can access your
DR planning information 24/7 from wherever you can get to Internet access.
We also offer Web Planner as a template product for organizations that have
SharePoint in-house (usually in some manner of high availability) and want to
host Web Planner internally. The hosted and template versions of Web Planner are
identical in functionality.
And, for SMB organizations we offer Web Planner as a managed service, where one
can essentially outsource the tasks associated with its business continuity
program to us. You get the hosted Web Planner and a regularly scheduled
allocation of Services Bundles provided by a
Can Web Planner support multiple of my
organization’s locations?
Yes, you can support any number of locations from the same Web Planner site.
A Web Planner site by default consists of what is called a top-level site which
for example might be your headquarters location. Then you might want to add a
couple of more sites, and each site would be known as a sub-site, each can have
its own look and feel or could be a clone of your top-level site, and each can
have separate access permissions, or can inherit permissions from the top-level site.
If you are self-hosting Web Planner you can provide a separate and distinct
top-level site for each additional location if you desire using the Web Planner
template. There are no added charges or licensing required.
What other features of Web Planner might
be of interest to me?
If you have international locations, then that location’s sub-site can be
language-specific…there are more than 30 languages from which to choose. No
customization, no added charges, just select the language you desire when adding
a Web Planner sub-site. Comment est-ce que son?
Another useful and standard feature is the ability to search the entire Web
Planner site for a specific term. For example, if you want to find all
occurrences of Widgets, just type it into the search field and click. In a
moment all documents and databases where Widgets occurs are listed and can then
be accessed.
There all also surveys and discussions available to all Web Planner site users.
You can easily create a survey that could collect information enabling you to,
for example, conduct a knowledge survey or obtain business unit specific
information important to disaster recovery. You can start a discussion to have
folks participate in the business continuity program, for example, to identify
threats to the environment that help you fine tune your BC/DR program.
How do I learn even more about Web
Planner to see if it is right for me?
You are encouraged to continue viewing the Q&A and make a list of what you think
are positives and negatives compared to your current state and other
Then contact us for a web demo of Web Planner which takes about 45 minutes where
your questions will be answered, and as they say, one picture is worth a
thousand words.
What are the Web Planner
databases and what is their significance for me?
Web Planner databases, also known as information lists, or lists in the
SharePoint vernacular, provide an easy to use mechanism for maintaining data
relating to your business continuity program. Databases cover the entire
spectrum of key information management for personnel, suppliers, external
resources, incident response, emergency actions, teams & roles, applications,
servers, voice and data networks, etc.
Web Planner databases offer compelling views of your business continuity data,
and you can easily establish relationships between different items such as
linking key business processes with application systems that support those
processes. Of course, you can generate more than 200 reports from these databases
with the included Web Planner Companion Tool.
How do I update
information in these databases?
For periodic update of specific items of data, let’s say an application’s RTO,
or a key suppliers new phone number, or an employees role on a team, you would
use the form view for data. Just click the item that needs updating and then you
are presented with each field in a clean form, along with detailed descriptions
of each field. Just do the editing for that item.
You can also update information in a worksheet view which is preferred by many.
The worksheet view is the way to go when adding a lot of information…just copy
the data from the external source and paste in right into the database.
There are also a variety of techniques that can be used to synchronize external
information with SharePoint through its Business Data Catalog, or using an
Access database.
Can I generate reports
from information in these databases?
Yes, of course. You can produce more than 200 different reports using the Web Planner
Companion Tool which is provided standardly with any Web Planner product. More
information about the Companion Tool is a few pages down in the Q&A.
What if I want a document
included in a particular database?
With Web Planner, that’s easy, and highly recommended. Just go to the database
item that you want to attach a document to, and then identify the document and
click. That’s it.
You would attach documents to a database item for a number of reasons. For
example you might want a restoration script attached to server, or you might
want detail role activities attached to a particular DR team member. Every data
item in every Web Planner database can have one or more attached documents.
There are two ways to move database information out of Web Planner and into a
worksheet. One option is to simply select the database and click on the export
to worksheet button…that’s it. Another way is to export data from the Web
Planner Companion Tool which contains already downloaded Web Planner data.
Can I secure data on Web
Planner databases?
Yes, just apply permissions to a particular database (information list), or even
a certain item in the database. For example, you may want to limit access to a
certain key supplier’s information that might contain some payroll access code,
or you may want to limit access to certain employee information.
Document Management
Why do I need document
management in my
Consider that a typical business continuity program comprises a lot of
individual documents. An IT person may have created a restoration script for a
particular server. The HR department may have some safety procedures. Your
building manager may have a standard evacuation process. There might be contract
documents or testing procedures from your backup service provider. The list goes
on and on.
Now, isn’t it logical to have all of your business continuity related documents
in one place instead of being scattered to the four winds on network shares or
individual laptops or who knows where?
Web Planner is the perfect repository for documents of all kind that relate to
your business continuity program and offers proven and sophisticated management
tools to ensure that these documents are easy to find, update, and use.
What kind of document management does
Web Planner offer?
Web Planner provides a set of easily identified document libraries, and each
library has a set of equally well identified folders for documents. We provide a
basic structure, and of course you can change the names and descriptions of
these libraries and folders, add your own, or delete what was provided. It’s
your call entirely.
Any library, folder, and document in Web Planner can have permission set to
restrict access, perhaps to extremely confidential information. Documents can
also be checked out for update and checked back in when updates are completed so
that multiple updaters do not tread on each other’s work. You can update
documents right in the browser, or download, update, then upload. You can use
versioning so that multple copies of a document are retained. You can even
have an email alert sent to you or to a group of people when a library, folder, or
document has been accessed or changed.
There are numerous levels of security provided in the form of permissions.
First, you probably don’t want to let the whole world have access to the Web
Planner site itself…generally site access permissions are granted to those with
a need to know, such as department heads and their backups, those with roles to
play in business continuity, the IT staff, various subject matter experts, etc.
You can then set permissions for individual document libraries, or folders in a
document library, or documents in a folder. You can restrict access period…that
is, only those with permission can see the contents, or you can restrict
document update ability to a selected few. You can also create permission
groups. So, you might create a group called Executive Team and link executive
users to this group. Then maybe you have a document that has board member
personal contact information, and you would simply grant permission to
view/update that document to the group called Executive Team.
How do I keep track of when documents
are updated?
In Web Planner you can set an email alert for a document folder or individual
document. You can set an alert up so that when anything changes in a folder or a
particular document is changed you get an email with the details, you can set up
an email if a document created by you is changed, etc. You can even identify
when you want to receive email alerts, maybe right away, maybe weekly, etc.
Framework DR Plans
What are these framework plans that are included with Web Planner?
Web Planner includes framework disaster recovery plans that are an ideal
starting point for organizations that are starting from ground zero, or for
DR-savvy organizations that want to streamline their plans or want to
incorporate some of our best practices content into their existing plans.
For those just starting out in business continuity, the value proposition of Web
Planner framework plans (AKA planning templates) is to help you avoid starting from a blank sheet of
paper when building your DR plan.
What types of plans are included?
Web Planner includes a variety of plans and documents including emergency action
plans, business unit BC/DR plans, global documents, BIA templates, etc.
Aren’t bulky DR plan documents where a thing of the past?
They certainly are. Who wants to try to wade through a 500 page document that
weighs 10 pounds? That’s why the Web Planner business unit plan for example, is less than 10 pages
in length. Short and to the point! Details such as technology restoration
scripts or DR team task details or similar are in separate documents and usually
attached to a Web Planner database item. Of course, the framework/template documents are heavily
hyperlinked so that navigation through the contents is a breeze, whether viewing
within Web Planner (browser) or offline using Word.
Importantly, the Web Planner philosophy on keeping disaster recovery plans slim
and usable contrasts sharply with some other
But what about tailoring the documents to my needs, and updating?
Certainly you can make the DR plans your very own, with your content, with your
procedures, etc. The documents flow in a logical manner so it is completely
obvious where you would want to make changes to adapt the content to your needs.
Word tables contain all of the variable information (such as employee names, or
team members), and it’s a simple copy from a Web Planner database into the Word
table to keep things current.
Remember that you can have us do the tailoring for you using Services Bundles,
or coach you through the tailoring process.
Can’t I just generate some reports from Web Planner instead?
Yes, as the Companion Tool can produce more than 200 reports, that can for example,
show everything a department or business unit needs to know relative to
notification, recovery locations, key supplier contacts, applications that the
group needs access to, the business unit critical business processes, etc.
Companion Tool Reporting
What types of reports are available with the Web Planner Companion Tool?
More than
200 reports are available, based upon the Web Planner site content as
contained in the databases.
Reports span all information categories including personnel, departments,
remotely located employees, key suppliers, incident response, emergency actions,
application systems, servers and telecom, teams & roles, business impact
analysis, risk metrics, application rehearsal tracking, inter-component
relationships, etc.
How do I navigate through this quantity of reports easily?
Simple…just select a report category (such as emergency actions), then choose
the report from that category that fits your need. Descriptive information is
displayed about the selected report so you can verify it is what you want before
production.
There is even a report of available reports that you can review.
Does it take long to produce a report?
The time to produce a report is measured in milliseconds after you make the
selection. The report is previewed so that you can then decide its output
disposition.
What report output formats are available?
PDF, Word, Excel, XPS, and others. PDF is the most commonly used, Word (RTF) is used for
markup purposes by perhaps end users, and Excel (rarely used) is used for
tabular report output only for certain reports.
Why is the Companion Tool a workstation tool?
Simplicity. Just download a copy of the Companion Tool from the Web Planner site
to your desktop and you are ready to generate reports. No server-based database
or application is required and there is no hassle with administering a central
report server.
How does current data get from the Web Planner site to the Companion Tool?
Just click a button on the menu of the Companion Tool to download current data
from a Web Planner site. The complete download takes between 30 and 60 seconds.
Then you are ready to generate reports.
Note that only Web Planner site users can download data. If there are employees
that are not site users that want to generate Web Planner reports then a site
user can do the download, and then provide a copy of the Companion Tool to
non-site user employee for report production.
How many licenses do I get for the Companion Tool?
Unlimited within your organization. You may freely distribute the Companion Tool
to as many individuals in your organization as required.
What if I need reports not available in the Companion Tool?
No worries…just let us know what you need and we’ll create a report for you.
Many such requests are handled in short time span so there is often a minimal
charge if any, if you are using the hosted version of Web Planner. Complex
reports may require that you procure a Services Bundle, or part of a Services
Bundle. You can also create your own reports if you have certain Microsoft
Access prerequisite skills.
Services Bundles
What is a services bundle and what is it used for?
A Services Bundle is a very affordable batch of consulting hours…a single bundle
is 4 hours.
Use the Services Bundles for any task relating to Web Planner such as adding
your content to DR plans, building out your Web Planner databases, training your
end-users on Web Planner, permission management, periodic capability audit,
anything you require.
What’s the advantage of using Services Bundles compared to regular
consulting engagements?
Cost predictability and flexibility are the main advantages. We can help you
estimate the number of Services Bundles that your particular project may
require, which gives you a general budget estimate. Then at the conclusion of
each Services Bundle we provide a time accounting and you can then decide
whether you want to move forward with the next bundle. You only pay for services
that are actually rendered…if we finish faster that expected then you are not on
the hook for the other bundles.
Contrast the Services Bundle approach with fixed-price engagements offered by
others, and you will quickly see the benefits.
What are the qualifications of a person that provides the Services Bundle
consulting?
Services Bundles are rendered only by a Waypoint Advisory employee, fully
knowledgeable of Web Planner, and
Web Planner – Hosted Service
What do I get with the hosted version of Web Planner?
You get the Web Planner site setup and customized for your needs. You get comprehensive hosting of Web Planner at a high
availability data center for six months. You get the Companion Tool for
reporting and analytics. You get installation and usage documentation. You get
site administration services and usage support for as long as you are a hosted
customer.
What’s the difference in function between the hosted and template Web
Planner products?
The functionality of Web Planner is identical in every respect regardless of
whether you use the template or hosted version.
The hosted product relieves you of all infrastructure hassles and is available
24/7 irrespective of what may occur in your data center. The template product is
self-hosted by you.
How many site users can I have?
The standard allocation is 100 site users. The next level is unlimited users (add a few more dollars each month).
Typically an organization would have between 10 and 50 authorized site users
encompassing BC/DR team members, department heads, the IT staff, and similar
subject matter experts.
A site user can have any type of permission that you desire (read only, content
update, web part design, or administrator). There is no added charge of any kind
irrespective of the type of permissions desired.
How much data can I store on Web Planner?
The standard allocation is 5 GB which is typically more than sufficient for
most business continuity programs. Additional storage (up to 25 GB) can be
acquired at a modest additional charge.
Yes, data is backed up daily and stored offsite.
What skills do I need to administer Web Planner?
Nothing extraordinary, and certainly no high tech skills are required. If you
really want to administer the site (note that we do this for you as part of the
hosted service), then let us know and we will provide a web training session to show
you what you need to know.
Can I copy the Web Planner site to my internal SharePoint environment?
Yes, at any time. Simply save the site as a template, copy it to your desktop,
then install in your SharePoint environment. We can help you through this one
minute process.
One reason to do this might be to have an internal copy of the production site
that you can use for training, sandbox and testing, audit demonstrations, and
similar activities. Another reason might be if you decided to migrate from the
hosted version of Web Planner to a self-hosted environment, which can be done at
any time at no added cost. We will even refund any pre-paid hosting fees.
Note that the maximum template that can be created is 50 MB, so if your site is
larger than that some additional work would be required.
Do you have a disaster recovery capability for the hosted site?
Yes. If the primary disaster experiences a disaster, then a backup data center is brought online and backup data restored to that environment. In addition, you can actually create your own backups of the site right on your desktop using a free tool from Colligo or similar vendor, or use Office 2010 SharePoint Workspace (available in Office 2010 Professional Plus).
In what type of hosted infrastructure does Web Planner reside?
Top of the line infrastructure in every respect. SAS-70 Type II. Power density to 350 watts per
square foot, ISO-9001 power company fed, dual substation power feeds, multiple
N+1 to 2N+1
Web Planner - Template
What is provided with the template version of Web Planner?
You get a production Web Planner template, customized as you have requested as
part of the included Services Bundle, which might also include training. You get
training/sandbox template that contains extensive sample data that you can use
for examples of content, usage training, etc. You get the Companion Tool for
reporting and analytics. You get installation and usage documentation. And, you
get three months of usage support services.
What’s the difference in function between the template and hosted Web
Planner products?
The functionality of Web Planner is identical in every respect regardless of
whether you use the template or hosted version.
The hosted product relieves you of all infrastructure hassles and is available
24/7 irrespective of what may occur in your data center. The template product is
self-hosted by you.
How hard is it to install in my SharePoint environment?
Not hard at all, any SharePoint administrator can install in minutes and we
provide installation instructions.
If you are installing Web Planner as a sub-site under another top-level site,
then it’s simply a matter of uploading the Web Planner template and creating a
new site under the top-level site.
If you want to install Web Planner as a top-level site, then the STSADM tool is
used (used by the server-side SharePoint administrator).
Am I limited to the number of times I can install the template?
You can install the Web planner template on as many SharePoint environments in
your organization as you required.
You might for example want your
Remember though that the template can support multiple locations by way of
sub-sites within the Web planner top-level site, so you might want to think
through widespread distribution of the template.
Can I convert from the template version to the hosted version?
Yes, but it is a qualified yes. If you are using the Web Planner template
unmodified, then the conversion is straightforward and usually accomplished in
an hour or so. We take care of this for you (you need only download the site as
a template and provide to us).
However, if you have heavily modified the template structure, or added code or
external add-ins, or have integrated with AD, or have an extraordinary amount of
data on the site, then we need to look at the migration in more detail for feasibility.
Web Planner - Managed Service
What is the managed service for Web Planner, and why would it be used?
The Managed Service consists of the hosted Web Planner offering, and a
collection of services provided up-front, for site and content customization,
and also provided periodically for site/content upkeep and related activities.
There are many mid-sized organizations that have neither the time nor
training to build out and manage a business continuity program. Instead of
passing around a business continuity hat, or hiring a new employee, or getting
formal (and sometimes expensive) training for an existing employee, the managed
service would be used for some period of time.
In addition to getting your program off to a fast start, on a bi-monthly basis
we undertake a follow up with designated subject matter experts to ascertain
business unit, departmental, or IT changes that trigger changes to the business
continuity program. We then go ahead and update the Web Planner site, produce
reports, and so forth. Then, on a semi-annual basis we conduct a comprehensive
audit of the program, identify open items and issues, conduct site usage
refresher training, and provide an executive report on the state of the business
continuity program.
How is it priced, and am I locked in long-term?
The Web Planner Managed Service has a one-time charge (like the one-time charge
for the Web Planner hosted version), and a monthly service fee. The monthly
service fee varies with the nature and needs of the organization. Your
commitment is a short as 3 months. Since we think you will be delighted with the
results, we would hope that you continue for a longer period.
What do I need to do if I use this offering?
In general, a person should act as your overall coordinator, information
provider, or liaison with designated subject matter experts with whom we would
interface for information collection. The service, of course, is intended to
minimize your workload. The Web Planner site is yours, and you can participate
in the update process whenever you like.
Can I also use Services Bundles?
Yes, if you find that you need more done than the standard managed service
provides, or you have some type of special out-of-scope project for BC/DR to get
done, then you can complement the managed service consulting with one or more
Services Bundles as required.
What is the value proposition for my organization?
Simply put, you save labor cycles and save money, while obtaining a
professionally crafted business continuity program based upon Web Planner.
Technical Questions
What browsers can access Web Planner?
Microsoft Internet Explorer IE8 and IE9 32-bit or 64-bit are used for
Web Planner development and support, and all use the full capabilities of Web
Planner.
Firefox and Google Chrome have used Web Planner without incident; if there is
any doubt as to whether your browser will work with Web Planner, then just
request access to one of our Q&A sites and shake it down.
What are the Companion Tool software requirements?
Microsoft Access is required to use the Companion Tool. To download data from
the Web Planner site you need Access 2007 or Access 2010. To generate reports (using
already downloaded data) Access XP or Access 2003 work just fine.
What do I need to install the Web Planner template for self-hosting?
You need either Windows SharePoint 2010, any edition. By special arrangement we
can provide a Web Planner version compatible with Windows SharePoint Services 3 (WSS3) or Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server (MOSS 2007).
For exporting data to a worksheet using Web Planner, what version of Excel is
required?
Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 is officially required and should be used in conjunction with Web Planner worksheet downloads.
What Word version is used for the framework documents supplied as part of Web
Planner?
All documents are created as Word 97-2003 documents. You of course can save
these documents as a more current version of Word, and can upload any documents
irrespective of their versions.
What other kind of documents can I upload to Web Planner?
Well, pretty much anything…Visio, PDF, PowerPoint, Text, Word, Excel, pictures,
video, whatever you like.
One exception is a file considered an executable such as a Microsoft Access
database. In order to upload these files they first need to be zipped.
Do I need to install SQL Server or other database system to use Web Planner
databases?
No, you only need your web browser. All database capabilities are contained
within Web Planner (hosted version).