Another great story of an organization maintaining operability during a disaster through Telecommuting- Harris County, Texas.

I just read an article on business continuity through telecommuting and remote work. In this article it discusses how the Harris County Employees were able to sustain vital operations during Hurricane Ike utilizing a Citrix remote application recovery system. While the technology worked well, what is important to note is, “For a disaster scenario, an event during which people are confused or dislocated, having an application they can log on to — versus some new virtual private network we’re trying to push out at the last minute and get people trained on — was critical.” This shows the need for training ahead of time.

Too many organizations simply believe that when disaster strikes everyone will just be able to hop on their laptops and get to work. NOT THE CASE. Systems have to be tested and employees trained in their response.

Quick Question- Does your Business Continuity Plan count on employees taking their computers home with them every night? If so, what percentage actually do?

If you are like the many other organizations that mandate this, but only have the average amount of employees following-15%. Will the right people be able to respond appropriately? Probably not.

Take it from the Red Cross Ready Rating program I spoke at today on Pandemic Planning.

1. Make a Plan
2. Train Employees
3. Test Your Plan
4. Refine and Repeat

For more information on the presentation I gave today or on Remote Work and Business Continuity Planning, contact me below.

Brandon Dempsey
1-888-878-4832
Brandon@suitecommute.com