All,
This question has arisen and I was wondering if I could request some
feedback from the community. We operate a 24x7x365 Command and
Control Centre that provides mission critical services (Security
Operations, Network Operations, and Enterprise Management) as does
many on this list.
How many on the list have sent all personnel home using work from home
practices and home many have opted to run skeleton crews while
implementing tight social distancing restrictions? How many are
operating status quo?
We are trying to find a balanced position and I was wondering what is
the communities position on this topic?
Scott
We're tiny - only a 3 person shop. But so far it's been the two
workerbees rotating between home (we have VOIP phones and VPN access)
and the office, and the boss is in or out on his own call. And we all
have boxes of gloves.
One of the workerbees does the majority of fiber hanging, and he'll
come in in the morning to do the day's worth of that if needed when
he's on his "home" week.
It's been working so far.
I think that several businesses already have a BCP in place that includes work from home and a pre-built VPN infrastructure. I can’t speak for business units I’m unfamiliar with, but for Engineering/Ops, this is status quo.
We are leaving it at everyone’s discretion where we can. We have a big open pair of GNOCs with nobody closer than 6 feet by far, and with one or two people in each while everyone else is WFH, it’s essentially the run of the place.
Anything that can be done at home is generally encouraged - even before this.
So it’s really only the very sensitive ops that are even noticing.
-Ben
We have data centers in two states, with a six-hour drive between them. Our normal practice has been to drive from the main DC to the satellite every few weeks to catch up on maintenance and non-urgent infrastructure changes such as server installs. For urgent things we have some part-time “remote hands” techs that are limited to cable changes, reboots, and diagnostic assistance. Everything else is done unattended using remote management.
But we do have a large customer install coming up in a few weeks that will be more of a problem. It can’t really be rescheduled, because the circuits involved are part of a larger critical network infrastructure. But there will be some racking and stacking that requires several people working in the same area. This project also requires a generator upgrade, which is outdoor construction work. I’m hoping the CV situation improves so that we don’t have to use some kind of lightweight hazmat gear.
-mel