COVID-19: What Can IT Managers Do To Help?

The World Health Organization has officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Now countries and cities around the world can start more drastic preventive measures to protect the community at large.

The truth is that a virus, any virus, and particularly a pernicious one like COVID-19, will do what a virus does: Propagate and replicate itself in as many hosts as possible. That's all a virus knows to do. That, and mutate into sometimes even more lethal versions of its original version.

Even before the WHO's declaration of a pandemic, several industries had felt the brunt of the outbreak's impact, particularly the airline industry, the cruise industry, entertainment, restaurants, concerts, and more.

All in all, not a pretty picture, but the alarming thing is that most experts agree that the worst is yet to come based on the rapid upwards curve of new infections.

IT Managers: What Can You Do To Help?

As a small business owner and I.T. manager, you are in a unique position to contribute towards helping your community slow down the impact of this outbreak. It's a rough time for a lot of industries and a particularly nightmarish time for people who are ill or have ill relatives. But don't let a sense of paralysis set in, there are things that you, as an I.T. manager, can do right now to help your community.

Join the "#StayTheFxxxHome Movement"

There's no cure for COVID-19 and no vaccine. The best thing we can do right now as a community is self-quarantine and social spacing.

The idea behind self-quarantine and social spacing is to help prevent overwhelming the hospitals. Just stay home in order to help slow down the contagion curve so that the sickest in your community get a fighting chance to receive the proper care.

A simulation using Tokyo as an example showed how staying home significantly slowed down contagion.

Let Your Staff Work From Home

One advantage that I.T. managers have is that when push comes to shove, you can move most (if not all) of your operations online. Web-based PSA systems offer several options to keep you working remotely.

Use Remote Assistance

Web-based PSA systems also offer remote assistance, so you and your team can make virtual I.T. video calls into your customer's computers to fix any issues they may have.

Use Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

SherpaDesk offers NinjaRMM integration, so you and your team can continue to monitor your customer's servers from the safety of self-quarantine as all-new server alerts sync with SherpaDesk.

Reduce Travel Or Better Still, Don't Travel

Please take advantage of cancellation fees being waived by the airlines and cancel all business travel, particularly I.T. conventions. Some of the larger outbreaks in the U.S. have been traced to conventions, so don't hesitate to cancel and move meetings to the cloud, or any other virtual meeting tools.

We have the tools to protect our workers and our community without significantly affecting our livelihoods by working remotely, so let's try to help each other by following some simple rules that, at the end of the day, could save lives.