CDW-G offers the following checklist of topics and questions for
non-technology executives and administrators to review with their
management teams and IT departments to prepare for significant facility
shutdowns – regardless of the cause:
1. What functions and
specific positions in our organization are compatible with remote work,
even if they are not performed remotely today? Some jobs just can’t be
phoned in, but evolving technology is enabling remote performance of
more and more positions. It is important to know exactly which are
telework-capable, before a crisis occurs, and to reassess regularly
with all departments and functions.
2. What percentage of our
associates in remote-capable positions is equipped and authorized to
work remotely today? You may be further ahead on this than you think –
but you may not. The answer to this question will define your crisis
redeployment challenge.
3. How well can our telephone and
messaging systems support a redeployment plan? Today’s unified
communications and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony technologies can
support workers remotely via the same phone numbers and messaging
systems they use while in the office. However, many organizations have
not adopted those technologies yet, in which case employees will have
to use mobile phones, home phones, or other means to transact business
remotely. Whatever your case, have your communications team plan and
instruct employees on how they should handle voice calling requirements
during a crisis-driven redeployment.
4. What is our standard
telecommunications bandwidth (capacity), and will it be sufficient if
we redeploy all remote-capable positions in a crisis? If your
bandwidth cannot support large-scale remote work, your telecom manager
will need to invest in backup capacity, which is a different kind of
business relationship with your service provider. It may, in fact,
require a different service provider.
5. How many
telecommunication access points do we have into our IT network? Some
redundancy is essential in case you lose your primary access point for
reasons beyond your control. The best data systems in the world are
useless with no access to them.
6. How well can we manage
our data centers remotely? IT staff are affected by crises just like
the rest of the organization, but remote management of servers and data
centers is routinely available today. However, few organizations make
full use of remote management, so you should ask.
7. Do our
data systems have adequate backup power to support them through an
extended power outage? Can the power systems also be managed
remotely? If the redeployment is due to a storm or other natural
disaster, you many not be able to count on utility-supplied power.
8.
Is our data backed up frequently, securely and accessibly, regardless
of where it originates or resides? Beyond ordinary data recovery
concerns, a mass redeployment risks dispersion of important information
across many remote desktops and laptops – or elsewhere. Even under
normal operations, your organization should ensure that data resides
only where it belongs, and your redeployment plan should as well.
9.
What remote access technology does your organization use (e.g., virtual
private network, dial-up), and will it scale up sufficiently when you
activate your redeployment plan in a crisis? What is adequate for
normal operations may fail if the number of users increases
significantly and suddenly.
10. How can we deploy sufficient
remote or mobile computing devices to support a crisis redeployment
without spending huge amounts of money? Consider all options, from
rapid-provisioning contracts with a trusted vendor, to routine
assignment of laptops to some functions, limited provision of home
desktops or thin client devices, and authorization of secure remote
access to your network from selected, employee-owned home computers.
As your organization replaces employee computers routinely, you can
increase capabilities for immediate and seamless redeployment.
11.
What remote access security tools do we use, and will they also scale
sufficiently in a crisis? How will you deploy expanded remote access
security on short notice without creating a bottleneck and losing
productivity? Consider differences between security practices within
your network and for remote access and eliminate them if at all
possible. Practices that are unfamiliar to employees are unlikely to
work well under pressure.
Source: CDW Government, Inc.
