DedicatedIT Designs Networks that Avoid Pandemic Exposure27 Apr
Washington Post: Mexico Raises Swine Flu Death Toll to 149
MEXICO CITY, April 27 — The suspected death toll from the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico rose Monday to 149 people as health authorities canceled all schools across the country until May 6.
The anxiety over the virus has vastly altered the rhythm of Mexico City, with millions of people staying home and many of those who venture out doing so wearing masks. On Sunday, Catholic Masses across the city were canceled. One of the most popular Mexican professional soccer teams played a game in an empty stadium that can seat more than 100,000 people. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said he might have to shut down all public transportation if the crisis worsens.
Is your company ready for a pandemic?
A 2007 survey of 215 CIOs, chief security officers and IT managers found only 35% had plans in place to deal with pandemics like the Swine Flu hitting Mexico (and parts of the U.S.)
76% of companies would allow telecommuting
- Allow employees to work from home (76%)
- Use their current business continuity/disaster recovery plans (72%)
- Geographically disperse their operations (38%)
- Outsource their operations (13%)
Battle plans seldom survive the first bullet
An IT employee answered the “Is Your Company Ready?” question posed by Computer World by writing,
NO, IT is not very ready for this. In my workplace, there were rumblings about “planning” when the Avian flu was in the news several years ago. These included squishy emails on how we were supposed to go out and get ourselves set up for work at home, but no subsequent instructions OR support for this. Then it was forgotten.
When was the last time you saw a blue tarp?
We Floridians know how hard it is to keep our hurricane plans up to date, even though we’ve experienced plenty of storms in the last decade. Focusing on a pandemic is even harder, because we haven’t faced one since 1918. Our whole culture has changed, so the old models don’t fit. In 1918, we were primarily an agrarian society, and few women worked outside the home.
Pandemics and Hurricanes: Prepare for one level higher than predicted
We were at Pandemic Level 3 (few human infections) when I started writing this. The World Health Organization just raised the Pandemic Alert Level to 4 (Sustained Human to Human transmission), below Phases 5 and 6: “Widespread Human Infection.”
Craig Fugate, former Florida emergency management director and Obama-appointed FEMA administrator, said that he always planned for a storm one category higher than what was predicted.
“If it looks like it’s strengthening, it probably is,” he said. “It’s probably a layman’s way of looking at it, but the computer models haven’t improved.”
What would happen if 25 to 40% of your workers didn’t or couldn’t get to work?
Unlike hurricanes and earthquakes which destroy buildings, pandemics impact humans: your workers, your vendors, their families, the daycare they depend on, the guy in the Brown Truck that makes your deliveries, the guy who pumps your gas and the refinery worker who provides it to him.
Even if your employees aren’t sick, they may have to care for others who are. They may be quarantined. They may be afraid to come to work. They may not be able to get gas; public transit may be curtailed.
What can you do to prepare NOW?
An Australian site has some good suggestions.
- Share critical information/filing and general knowledge management.
- Share passwords/keys to critical information sources.
- Identify backup personnel (2 or 3) for key positions.
- Plan in advance how you will scale down your operations at various absenteeism levels, and at what point you will suspend operations.
- Conduct exercises to see how staff loss affects your business. (Normal cold season is a good time to test this. If a person sneezes or coughs, send them home and see how it impacts your operation.)
What can you do to minimize the spread of disease?
- Telecommuting should be allowed for as many staff as possible.
- Meetings are kept to a minimum, and then in the largest rooms possible, with people sitting at least three feet apart. Consider holding meetings outside, or open windows to increase ventilation.
- Workplace mixing should be kept to a minimum, using natural barriers or organizational units to keep staff segregated.
- Encourage use of stairs, and decrease the number of people allowed in elevators.
- A “one meter distance rule” between staff (and customers where possible) should be maintained.
We’re going to allow employees to work from home. What should we think about?
- If you send your employees home, are their home computers prepared to allow them to perform 100% (or close) of their job?
- If everybody is stuck at home and using the Internet for work, information and entertainment, the internet service providers may not be able to keep up with the demand.
[Shameless plug: Citrix Application Virtualization takes less than 20-25% of the bandwidth of a VPN connection, and it won't propagate viruses from unchecked home computers. Your office VPN link may be capable of handling three simultaneous connections, but 30? Even if the Internet link to your home has the bandwidth, your office connection may be bottlenecked.]
- Consider wireless cards for your laptops to backup DSL/Cable connections. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: buy connectivity from multiple vendors for redundancy. TEST the connections where you think you’ll use them. Coverage areas vary.
- Sign up (or reimburse) your key employees for business-level service with their ISP. Commercial accounts get faster speeds and (allegedly) enhanced support. If ISPs have to throttle back service, they may hit consumer accounts first.
- Don’t wait until the last minute to test your system. Have your employees try to connect from home while you have the time for handholding. You’re going to be busy enough with other problems in the midst of a disaster.
If you’re depending on outsourced companies, ask them some tough questions.
- What happens if they lose commercial power?
- If they have a generator, how many days can they run without being resupplied? Do they have alternate suppliers lined up?
- What is their pandemic (or other disaster) plan for continued service, if 25-40% of their employees don’t show up?
- How are they going to support me, if they can’t travel because of quarantines or other restrictions?
Remote Offices Powered by Citrix XenApp and Microsoft OCS
When I read advisories like these, no matter how precautionary they are, it makes me very comfortable knowing that my employees will not be exposed unnecessarily. My entire staff can (and does) work from home.
How do we do it?
Currently, we use a mix of Citrix XenApp, Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS), Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server and a blend of Cisco/Asterisks to provide Voice over IP service. Our employees have full capabilities no matter where they are, as long as they have an Internet connection.
Our remote office expert consulting team and some of these technologies are available as part of our free network upgrade promotion.
To learn how we can help your business, please contact us:
Telephone: 561-491-5750
Email: sales@DedicatedIT.com
Or for immediate help, Chat with a Solutions Expert
4 Responses to “DedicatedIT Designs Networks that Avoid Pandemic Exposure”
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Article on IT’s role in the swine pandemic and what you should be thinking about: http://bit.ly/vVvTB
Interesting theory from someone who suggests that actually contracting the flu is a good thing:
“So there is a small chance that if you get the current relatively safe version of swine flu, your immune system may be far more capable of fighting off a more lethal variant that could turn up later. In effect you might get just enough of an inoculation through contact with this first virus to save your life should the pandemic strain turn nasty.”
http://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2009/0428.shtml
Dr. Mehmet Oz (Oprah Show Health Expert) on CBS News:
He explains the basics of how to keep yourself protected and at one point poses the same questions as in the above article: Are you ready? What will you do if suddenly you cannot go to work or school?
My wife IM’d me from the other room (that way she doesn’t disturb me while I am working… love her thoughtfulness) to tell me about it. She said, “Thankfully you work from home already”.
Before I started with DedicatedIT I had worked from home for almost 5 years. During that time, I was granted the luxury to be here during her pregnancy with our son and then watch him grow for the first few years of his life (our bond is amazing, something most working parents don’t get these days). When I had to go back to an office environment, it was tough on him and I but it also opened me up to catching the flu and a cold or two that I hadn’t had to experience in a long time. Now, timing couldn’t have been better. My wife is now 37 weeks pregnant with our daughter and I am thankful that we (as a company) work remotely so I may experience the first years of our daughter’s life along with all of those other ‘firsts’ (first laugh, first crawl, first step, first cold, etc.) that I was able to be there for with our son. It also allows me to be self-quarantined from these dangerous and potentially deadly diseases that spread like wild fire in closed, close-nit environments like an office, bus or train.
I remember that the old days of VPNs and Remote Terminals or LogMeIns/GoToMyPCs was such a hassle. Now with Citrix it makes my work life so much easier. The old adage of “no matter where you go, there you are” rings true each day as I launch all of my needed applications from home (or even the hospital during those ‘false labors’).
If you have/want this capability or if you know of someone that would benefit from it like I have all these years, reach out to DedicatedIT and let them (us) make it a reality. Just think of the travel time, downtime and money (at the very least) that it will save you and your company in the long run.
Blah, blah, blah.
There has only been one confirmed case of someone in the United States being killed by Mexican influenza.
What About Regular, Seasonal Influenza?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 13,000 people have died from plain old everyday seasonal flu so far this year. That’s right, folks, it is regular flu that is going to kill you. About 36,000 people will die this year from the regular flu.
When You Hear Hooves, Think Horses, Not Zebras
Every minute your company wastes thinking about Mexican influenza is a minute it isn’t thinking about actual, real daily problems:
These are the questions you should be asking yourself.
Mexican influenza? SARS? Hurricanes? Who cares?
What I Learned from the 2004/2005/2006 Hurricanes
Clients understand natural disasters. Suppliers understand being without power for a couple days.
The company for which I was IT Director went offline for about 11 hours after the 2005 hurricanes. After that we operated with reduced staff on generator power. We still had phones and an internet connection but we weren’t quite as crisp as we were with a full staff.
Guess what? Our clients didn’t mind. They had their own hurricanes, ice storms, mud slides, wild fires or earthquakes to worry about. They recognized the situation was temporary and, for the most part, outside our control.
On The Other Hand, Local Problems Embarrassing
When an entire town is offline, clients understand.
When the sky is blue, the birds are chirping and your entire company can’t get email, that is when your company looks bad. That is the situation you need to protect against. That is a far more common problem and annoyance than employees out sick or dead.
Look at the Odds and Plan Accordingly
Money for technology infrastructure is finite number. In fact, for many companies right now, it might be an imaginary number.
After the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, a lot of people ran out and bought gas masks, duct tape and plastic sheeting. That was a waste of time and money.
Before wasting money on the technological equivalent of duct tape and plastic sheeting, a company really needs to figure out if it is worth protecting itself from something so unlikely.
Corral the Horses, Let the Zebras Run Free
There are plenty of good reasons to implement a virtualized, hosted, SAN-based, redundant, super fancy IT infrastructure but Mexican flu and hurricanes are so far down the list as to be irrelevant.
Cheers,
Matt