In this time of mission-critical networks, a closed office doesn't mean a closed network-In fact, for many, the holidays can be the busiest time in terms of network activity.
The holiday season is here-the busiest time of the year. And that's often because holiday time is disaster time. Our Global NetCentre (remote network management facility) handles more calls and faults in between 15 December and 15 January than a "normal" month, as our customers shut down their offices and IT staff take a well-earned break. Unfortunately, in this time of mission-critical networks, a closed office doesn't mean a closed network.
So to make your life easier, we'll take a break from documenting the usual network calamities and give you (with thanks to Ashley Filkin, our MIS Manager) the Ultimate Holiday Checklist to make sure your holiday break doesn't turn into an IT disaster.
Holidaying notebooks. Most employees will take their notebook computer home-then leave it on the kitchen bench while they go for their week away up north. Fortunately Moore's Law ensures notebooks are increasingly cheaper to build. Unfortunately the same law means that the average notebook has 4GB of data that isn't easy to replace.
So encourage employees to leave notebooks at work, or make a New Year's Resolution to have each notebook backed up.
Do the doors know it's Christmas? As with notebook theft, the greatest threat is from inadequate physical security. Does the security system know that Tuesday 25 December is a public holiday, and not a normal working day? This includes the front door, lifts and alarm system. And on a similar note, how about your staff security policy. Does everyone know what to do when they lose their access card during the holidays?
The holiday gifts you don't need. Christmas and New Years are two of those "trigger dates" where previously hidden viruses and worms activate their payload. Not to mention the many hoaxes that multiply around the holidays, generating more much-needed e-mail traffic. Ensure that all gateway e-mail scanning software is up to date and servers have the latest patches. Also, refer users to www.snopes.com to check the veracity of the latest hoaxes before it fills up the mail server.
Expiring maintenance contracts. When do your hardware maintenance contracts expire? If your network (or Web site) is critical over the holiday period, do you have the right level of support? Some maintenance contracts are based on calendar years (expiring on 31 December), or on the anniversary date of the purchase date, which may be overlooked if the network was implemented at the end of a previous year. Many support contracts incorporate Service Level Agreements that provide very basic response times on public holidays-don't expect a quick response if the network goes down. Check the various contracts if you need a high level of support.
Who's looking after the network? While networks and Web sites run every day of the year, 24x7, there is usually the benefit of IT staff around to keep an eye on the various components. If most (or all) IT staff are on holidays, have you implemented some form of remote management or monitoring? This is especially critical with your security infrastructure (firewalls or intrusion detection systems). Make sure you have a strategy to monitor key security hardware and respond quickly if there is any signs of abnormal activity.
Any unpaid bills? If you're closing down for a few weeks over Christmas, and are relying on contractors or outsourced support, it would be wise to take care of all the unpaid bills while the people who can sign the cheques are around.
Enough capacity on the mail server? If the company is closing down over the holidays, the mail server is going to accumulate every employee's mail for up to two weeks. Is there enough hard disk capacity? Is the server being monitored so that any problems can be rectified? Are you prepared for the worst? Last but not least-are you prepared for a worst case situation? Bushfires can be a real risk for companies in suburban/rural locations. Or storms that cut power and telecommunications lines. In fact, the biggest risk in these situations is loss of power-have the UPSs been serviced and checked in the last 12 months? Generators tested and fuelled? Disaster recovery procedures updated (and communicated to relevant staff)? Has a full back-up been made and stored off-site? Do you know where key IT staff are over the holidays?
So enjoy the holidays, and before settling back into the long-awaited silly season, remember that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".
Oliver Descoeudres is marketing manager at network IP/Internet network infrastructure builder and solutions provider NetStar Australia. He can be contacted at marketing@netstarnetworks.com or on 02 9805 9759.
