COVID-19: Plan for Minimizing IT and Data Center Risk
Published on 22-Mar-2020 11:00:00
Introduction
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, Central China, and has since spread globally, resulting in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Till preparation of this document (22 March 2020), total deaths due to this virus is tolled to 266073 & Total infection Number is 11184 around the world. In Bangladesh 27 Infected and 02 death recorded till date by COVID-19. COVID-19 is a pandemic. In situations such as this, mission critical facilities face particular challenges, due to both the risk of unavailability of key staff through illness or quarantine and other long term impacts that might affect the ability of the operator to maintain continuous availability. Fortunately, preparedness is in the industry’s DNA; thanks to their focus on performance, efficiency and reliability tested through prior experience with power blackouts, wildfire, adverse weather and other potentially disruptive events most data centers owner/operators have contingency plans in place that can be adapted to the challenges of the current pandemic. As the virus spreads, more organizations are moving from updating their response plans to implementing them. Each organization is different, and responses vary based on site environment, the number of COVID-19 cases in the area and government-mandated restrictions. One thing all companies hold in common, though, is their priorities:
- The health and safety of their staff, partners and customers;
- Business continuity; and
- Compliance with the guidelines and regulations issued by public health and government agencies.
This report reviews the status of the data center industry’s response to the pandemic and details recommendations and possible next steps.
Prepare the Business
A first and essential step is to be prepared. This includes the following components:
- Develop a specific pandemic preparedness plan. If a pandemic specific plan is not in place,use another emergency plan that may have been prepared for civic emergences, etc. The plan should incorporate a tiered response, clearly identifying the actions to be taken at each level and the circumstances that would trigger implementation of the next level. Most organizations have a three to five-level contingency plan, ranging from taking reasonable precautions through lights-out operation and, in worst cases, a complete site shutdown with transfer of critical applications and operations to backup sites. The plan should consider situations in which staff may be unable to access or leave the site on short notice.
- Confer with insurance companies and legal advisors on relevant items, such as cleaning requirements, service level agreements (SLAs), notifications, etc.
- Consider IT service (client) impact. Responses to COVID-19 may affect internet traffic, workloads and availability requirements for some clients. Operators should confer with clients, internal and external, to discuss any impact, especially if upgrades or migrations are planned or new capacity is being added and delays to those projects may impact business unit operations or projects.
- Maintain communication with staff, customers and partners. This is a dynamic situation, so frequent — daily or even twice-daily briefings may be appropriate as the conditions change and may affect business operations.
- Share news updates and links to public resources to keep staff informed of the current status of the pandemic and best practices for maintaining a safe and healthy work environment (see Appendix).
- Provide clear guidance to staff on company policies (and regulatory policies) related to symptoms (personally or in family members), cases of possible exposure, self-quarantine parameters and duration, and implications for sick leave/paid time off limits, insurance coverages, etc.
- Keep employees updated on a regular basis of current response level and its effect on daily activities.
- If activities such as operations and maintenance are outsourced, collaborate with partners to set and align policies.
- Anticipate supply chain disruptions. In addition to resources core to business functionality, procure an appropriate supply level of products that reduce the spread of infectious agents: disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, noncontact thermometers, the appropriate cleaning products for different types of equipment etc. Also, consider potential long-term disruption to the supply chain for critical spares and consumables. Components made in China or other areas impacted may not be readily available for months. (Note that several major manufacturing plants for heating, ventilation and air conditioning [HVAC] equipment are located in Italy.)
- Avoid unnecessary risks. Consider postponing or cancelling projects or activities that may increase the risk of infection, cause cash flow exposure (if this is a concern) or put strain on suppliers/ partners/staff (see Consider factors that raise risk).