IT CONTINGENCY CHECKLIST

With COVID-19 looming, it pays to plan for office shutdowns.

by Akiva Goldstein | February 27th, 2020

CORONAVIRUS IT CONTINGENCY CHECKLIST

Plan for office closures and remote employees with this handy interactive guide.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, every company needs to have a proper business continuity plan in place. Many companies and schools have already closed their doors, as employees and students attend meetings & classes remotely. Large events have been canceled, and commuting on crowded public transit has been discouraged. Is your business set-up to cope with these major changes?

Of course, every good plan needs a checklist. Answer the questions below to determine what you will need for your company to thrive in the event of a temporary office closure.

Does your business operation require a number of employees to be present in the office?

Does your business operation require a number of people to be able to access your systems from out of office at all times?

Do you have a schedule of employees who need to be available onsite and offsite to maintain your business operation?

Do your employees have all of the equipment they need to successfully work from home?

Will your employees operate on company-issued equipment or their own?

If they use their own equipment, is it dedicated to work? (or shared with other family members?)

Do they have all of the software necessary to operate from home available to them on their home PCs?

Does your employees’ equipment have a working VPN solution that has been tested to work?

Do they have an adequate anti-virus protection?

Will the employees be allowed to use public Wi-Fi/ internet access?

Does your business have reliable internet connection and enough bandwidth to handle the remote connection traffic from all of the employees required to work? (This includes essential employees and those who will be working remotely as needed)

Do you have the means and capacity to track your employees’ activities and work hours?

Do your employees need to answer phone calls?

Do they have company-issued cell phones?

Do they need to have the office phone numbers forwarded to them?

If your employees use their own phones, can they access internet communication systems, group chats, etc.…that they normally have access to?

GETTING STARTED

Any of the above protocol will require the help of an experienced tech team. OnsiteIn60’s IT Contingency Checklist can help you get started on your contingency plan and protocol, so that you’re prepared for when a shutdown occurs. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere any time soon. In fact, the goal of “social distancing” is just to slow the rate of infection, and to prevent healthcare facilities from being completely overwhelmed with cases all at once. With that in mind, spreading out the number of new cases over the next several months or years could mean extended workplace disruption. It makes sense to plan for both the short and long-term when it comes to data backups, cloud services, and managing a remote workforce.

Remember, snowstorms and hurricanes can also cause unexpected disruptions in business continuity, so a contingency plan is always relevant. If you have any further questions, go to our website and check out our Ask-A-CTO page.

If you’re interested in setting up a coronavirus IT contingency plan, you can submit your answers above, or simply call (877) IN-SIXTY to get a free quote, on the spot!

About the Author

As a 30-year veteran in all aspects of technology, Akiva Goldstein has developed long-lasting partnerships and provided onsite and remote IT support to hundreds of businesses. Some of those businesses have been loyal clients for 10-15 years.

As the founder and CTO of OnsiteIn60, Akiva knows how computer, network, hosting, data backup and email service initiatives are ultimately interconnected and impact one another. When making decisions for your technology plan, it is important that all components work together seamlessly in order to avoid problems when they interact.

Follow OnsiteIn60’s IT blog to stay on top of today’s important technology news. Articles are written by Akiva, as well as our own techs who actually work in the field. We know that our technicians’ day-to-day experience is an invaluable resource. We aim to keep you up-to-date on the top cyber compliance issues, emerging threats, and other cybersecurity issues.