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As I write this article today, I’m sitting in my home office coughing and having some difficulty breathing. Being right in the middle of a potential pandemic hot-zone of Washington State can help bring things into focus when it comes to planning for the worst-case scenario when it comes to planning for an incident to impact your business. Taking the right course of action in a timely manner can help to protect the business, but most importantly, the community at large as well. Epidemic Tracking Right now, we are concerned with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and the potential impact it may have on the population since it was an unknown virus to the human population just a few months ago. When the emergence of this virus started, I started to keep track of the numbers that we were seeing and how it was spreading. As part of my IT Security role, I have a responsibility for Business Continuity Management within the company. Therefore, I keep an eye out on these sorts of things, as they have a potential to turn quickly if we are not looking. I believe that this is what happened here, and I believe that China for the most part has not provided accurate information to the world at large. No matter what the epidemic is, planning to take action as a business or other organization should be the prudent move here. Planning for what the company may do if faced with a certain situation allows for calm and calculated planning to occur instead of being reactive to what is going on around them. Any decisions that the business makes will have an impact on the company, and ultimately the work force that you employ as well. Epidemic Impact No matter how you plan, the decisions you make or plan for will always change. Flexibility is the name of the game here. Have several different levels or ways to address an issue as it arises and plan on meeting those changes as they occur and not be reactive to them. Being cautious and taking, an aggressive approach at the onset may help prevent more of an outbreak than waiting on what the state, national, or global authorities may suggest. We are seeing this play out in Seattle and in King County, Washington, as the local authorities have suggested that employees work remotely if they can for a length of time in order to prevent a further spread of the virus. Businesses in the county will have to determine how they plans to address this issue. Will they take the steps that have been requested by the local government, or will they side on their own best interests in order to preserve their business? The impact of an epidemic is not just a personal one, but also a monetary one for the company that has to make those choices. This is one of the crucial aspects of the planning process that seems to be left out for most businesses, pandemic insurance or emergency funding in case it is needed. While organizations will focus on business operations for emergency funding, pandemic funding or planning for the potential impact of it should also be in consideration as well. "The suggestion is to have at least 3 months of operating capital on hand in case of a pandemic." - Erich Barlow Developing a Plan The first course of action should be to establish and develop a Pandemic Response Plan that will be implemented in case a pandemic or epidemic is declared. This plan should have the following areas:
Plan Testing One of the core issues that plans sometimes have is that they aren’t tested as often as they should be. This will lead to plans that are out dated or inaccurate and with personnel not knowing their particular role in the plan when it is activated. It is recommended that at least once a year a tabletop test be performed in order to validate the planning process. Testing your plan is one of the best ways of making sure that it will be there when it is needed in case a pandemic hits where you are located. Summary While there are a lot of different areas that need to be addressed when planning for a potential pandemic, the time that is taken in planning for it will pay off if it ever has to be implemented. This is what we are seeing play out right now with those organizations in Washington State that have not planned for such an event. While most businesses will have plans for fire, flood, or even an earthquake. Pandemic Response Planning is one of those areas that are not really planned for. Taking the proper steps in developing a robust response plan before you have to need it will go a long way in helping the company recover from a potential outbreak. Whether it is suggesting working remotely or limiting social interaction within large groups, it is important to address these issues ahead of time. Reader’s note: Due to the rapidly changing situation and the impact that the current epidemic is having on the community in which I live. I plan to update this article through the next few weeks as we deal with this outbreak and how we are going to react to it. Working from Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Blog Update May 23rd, 2020 After two months of working from home (and changing jobs in the process) it has been a huge change for me and those that I work with. While I saw most of my friends be laid-off or fired due to the impact of the virus, a large majority have been able to keep working. Essential Workers While a lot of jobs were declared “essential” and we saw that they were able to keep working (although with some modifications) and were still able to earn a paycheck. While the government was able to determine who was essential and who was not, this designation was not applied equally across the board and those folks that we all depend on everyday lost their jobs because the government decided that they posed a risk to our health. Pandemic Mental Health Like most of the people that I work with, I have been impacted on a personal level with the restrictions that have been imposed on me “for my health”, but it is my belief that our mental health has been impacted in ways that we don’t fully understand. Whether it is our kids that we are now all homeschooling or those of us who are social beings, we have had to change the way that we function in the world around us. Being able to go to the gym for a good workout and helping to relieve stress has been off the table of things I have been able to do (which I have seen some weight come back) for the last two months now. Additionally, being able to practice my faith have been prevented as well, which like a lot of people, has been a great source of comfort before the outbreak, and it still is, but the practice of it has had to change. Technology Work Changed Forever
While there are a lot of issues that we all have had to endure over the last couple of months, there are some bright spots. One of them is that working from home, or at least the ability to do so has become the norm and not the rarity that it once was. While there have been some difficulties in the adjustment to it, I think that it will become the way business is done in the future, even after being able to return to the office. More and more people are seeing the benefit of working remotely (not to mention the savings we get from not being in rush hour traffic). While a lot of companies were not sure about how they could make working remotely work, they were able to figure it out. Now with that infrastructure in place and working efficiently, why dismantle it when the pandemic is declared over? I think that we are going to see more businesses adopt the model and keep on working this way, or at least have it as a full option for workers if they choose to do so. Security at Home One of the biggest issues that companies have had with going to the work from home model of business, is how do you enforce security on personnel when they are not in an office? Businesses have quickly learned that the use of encryption for communications and network connections are an important aspect of those security measures. Additionally, making sure that employees are adhering to IT Security best practices has also been an important issue that has been addressed. Providing IT Security information to the end user has been a focus of the IT Security teams around the globe that are supporting the work from home business model. Additional Updates While I live in the Pacific Northwest, the Governors here are continuing to restrict business operations and the abilities of the people to go about their normal lives. The area that I live will be under these restrictions until at least the end of summer, if not later. So, I will be posting updates as we continue to deal with the pandemic in hopes of preventing its spread. Also, updates on what are considered best practices during this unprecedented outbreak will also be posted to this blog. |
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