Category: Tech

Belfast based Thrive launches rapid deployment internal comms app to fast track employee communication with frontline teams. #Thrive

Belfast based Thrive, a leading provider of employee communication and engagement software, announced today the launch of its newest self-service, rapid deployment Thrive.App. This brings together the key features needed for businesses to power up their internal communications for their frontline employees, and can be set up and launched within hours. Thrive’s platform and apps are already used by over 250,000 employees, across the public sector, healthcare, manufacturing, food production, transport and retail, Thrive’s clients include SGN, Fairchild Medical Centre, An Post, Children’s Health Ireland, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Air France KLM.

James Scott, CEO of Thrive comments,

“Our newest Thrive.App will help many companies manage the complex work required to move comms from noticeboards to mobile phones. It’s engineered to make the setup, sign off and success of introducing a digital communication channel easier than ever before, taking the risk and worry away from launching a new solution. 

Using Thrive.App, organisations can now set up an employee comms app within hours, with predefined content templates, drag and drop functionality, customised themes to suit their brands and best practice guidance from our team.

One of the key benefits is that companies can see their employee app come to life immediately, with their own content in the app. They can also get crucial feedback from key stakeholders, business leaders and most importantly their employees with no upfront commitment.”

In this new world, in the wake of Covid-19, business transformation is happening everywhere and each organisation is relying on technology more than ever before. With over 80% of the world’s workforce being deskless, employee communication apps are playing key roles in keeping front line teams informed, engaged, supported and recognised.

James Scott, CEO of Thrive adds,

“We take pride in the guidance we give to people who are thinking about deploying an app. The rapid deployment of Thrive.App will help businesses even further in making their decisions quicker as well as fast tracking their way to better communications.

We are extremely excited about the launch, especially during this time of uncertainty, when effective communication is vital. We hope this launch will enable more people and organisations to see the benefits of moving to a digital communications channel during this challenging time.”

Thrive’s technology has been used actively throughout the Coronavirus period across its client base, with Thrive reporting an all-time usage peak – some as high as 200%. One of Thrive’s client’s is Children’s Health Ireland and Trevor Murphy, Director of Human Resources comments: “With our programme for change in preparation for our move to the new children’s hospital and the current health crisis we are facing, there has never been a more important time for us to ensure our colleagues are connected, sharing and receiving important information and feel fully supported and recognised.

A massive and sincere thanks to all the Thrive team for ‘the can do’ attitude in assisting us in launching our employee app. It is hugely welcomed by all as a great support for communicating key and important updates, information and support for our staff at this very difficult time.”

The initial feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive and we are excited to roll it out to our staff across all our sites, in particularly those who are working remotely due to the current guidelines on physical and social distancing.”

Using the Thrive.App clients can quickly remove the reliance on notice boards and allow front line teams easy access to critical information, gather feedback, encourage two-way communication and social communities via user generated content, celebrate success through recognition, build stronger teams and build stronger businesses.

Barnardos announces extension of partnership with Dell Technologies. #Dell #Barnardos #CodeWorkClub

Barnardos has announced today that Dell Technologies has committed to extending its partnership by a further two years helping the organisation to continue its vital work to support vulnerable children and families in Ireland. Dell Technologies first formed a partnership with Barnardos in 2017 to support the good work and continued vision of Barnardos. The partnership involves the provision of financial support as well as the sharing of employee expertise, skills and the volunteering of time.

Over the course of three years the Dell Technologies teams in Dublin, Cork and Limerick have volunteered their time to support the organisation’s National Collection Day, hosted various fundraising initiatives on their campuses and in recent weeks have supported the organisation as they transitioned their services to virtual settings. Employees at Dell Technologies are always on hand to provide digital support to Barnardos but in recent weeks this has evolved to respond to the current environment and the team has been sharing expertise in managing teams remotely, organising virtual meetings, ensuring the organisation remains secure while the team operates remotely and general technical training.

Throughout the partnership, the team at Dell Technologies has also helped to create and deliver ‘Code Work Clubs’, a new initiative for the organisation hosted at regional Barnardos Homework Clubs in Cork, Limerick and Dublin. The Clubs were set up with an aim to deliver digital skills to the young people participating who might not have access to technology on a day-to-day basis.

Over the past three years the support provided by the Dell Technologies team in Ireland through fundraising and voluntary activities has led to:

  • Growth in the support of Barnardos National Collection Day by over 90%
  • Introduction of three Code Work Clubs in Cork, Limerick and Dublin delivering 150+ hours of training
  • Close to 7,000 hours of time volunteered by employees to the organisation
  • Through fundraising activities hosted by employees the money raised has meant that Barnardos could provide:
    • 15,000 hours of family support
    • 500,000 meals for children
    • Support to 1,000 children in Barnardos programmes.

Suzanne Connolly, CEO, Barnardos says of the partnership: “The impact that the Dell Technologies partnership has had on the Barnardos and ultimately the lives of children and families in Ireland is phenomenal. Thanks to the support of Dell Technologies team members in their fundraising efforts, skills sharing and awareness building over the last three years we have made a difference to the children of Barnardos. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together in the next two years, as we continue to provide support to those most in need, working to close the digital divide among communities across Ireland and provide much needed help to the most vulnerable children in our society.”

Commenting today, Denis Lucey, Vice-President of Commercial Support Services EMEA and Site Leader, Dell Technologies Cherrywood: Commenting today, Denis Lucey, Vice-President EMEA Support Services and Site Leader, Dell Technologies Dublin: “Since first joining forces in 2017, we’ve been truly inspired by the life changing impact Barnardos has on children and families in communities throughout Ireland. This has struck a chord with our own team members who over the years have come together to support the children’s charity. This support has been particularly evident in recent weeks as the team has worked to ensure the organisation has the digital skills and capabilities to manage teams remotely and to continue providing the vital supports to families and children across the country. In addition to the company’s financial contributions our employees donate their time and creativity in order to help Barnardos to continue their valuable work. We’re delighted to be able to extend the partnership for a further two years and continue to support the great work that Barnardos does.”

Irish Tech Company First to Market with Social Distancing and COVID-Compliance App for Hospitality Sector #Ordee

A tech duo from Waterford have launched a GPS-based app that will allow pubs, restaurants, gyms and other social and recreational outlets to open and do business in the new COVID-era.

The innovative technology, which is the first of its kind in the Irish marketplace, allows business owners to easily document and broadcast their venues’ compliance standards and the availability of space on their premises, to their customer base. This in turn equips patrons with the knowledge they need to make informed, real-time decisions around where they can go to socialise safely.

In its first week, 200 businesses signed up to arrange a demo of the software, and it is expected that take up of Ordee is likely to soar in the coming months, as Ireland gears up for a phased reopening.

Speaking of the new product, Ordee Co-founder Anthony Cronin,

“Publicans, restaurateurs and so many other business owners throughout the country are chomping at the bit to get back to work, but they are struggling to see how they can maintain compliance standards and still operate their business, while keeping costs down. With Ordee we have basically taken these key obstacles that businesses are facing, developed solutions to address them, and centralised the solutions in one easy to use app. It’s critical that venues can re-engage with their customer base – and Ordee will allow them to do this efficiently, cost effectively and safely”.

 

Mr. Cronin went on to outline how the app also addresses concerns from a consumer perspective,

“When the time comes, people will be itching to get out and socialise again – but there is a consistent air of concern amongst the public as to how they can do this safely. People are cognisant of the fact that they don’t want their behaviour, or the behaviour of others, to put themselves or others in jeopardy. The Ordee app is designed to go some way to alleviating these concerns”.

“Ordee” allows publicans, restauranteurs and other service providers and retailers to put their energy into their core business, while ensuring that their venue is compliant with “Return to Work Safely Guidelines”.

So How Does Ordee Work?

  • The business signs up to the program and is then listed as a venue on the app and shown on the live map to users. Businesses can segregate online bookings for space and for walk-ins
  • The user downloads the app and can check a list of venues in real time to see which venues currently have available space. They can book based on availability and join a queue
  • Once the user chooses a venue and arrives at the location, they receive a notification to confirm they are there and how many people are in their party, in which case the app will update the venue’s status accordingly. If the patron him/herself does not have the app on their person, then the venue itself can “clock a person/ persons in” manually through the admin section of the programme
  • The user can also use the app to order and pay for drinks, food etc.

Financial Support

Developers at Ordee say that because the app is deemed an ecommerce solution, businesses that want to sign up might be able to avail of the LEO Trading Online Voucher to do so – provided they meet the criteria.

Mr. Cronin commented,

“Cashflow is tight, to say the least, for most businesses at the moment and compliance with COVID-protocols is going to incur additional costs. To offset these, the Government have put in place supports – one of which is the Local Enterprise Trading Online grant and businesses can use it to sign up for Ordee.  If your application is accepted, LEO will fund 90% of the cost of the Platform for your business. There are a few T&C’s but the process is very simple and effective”.

Since launching last week, there have been almost 200 businesses nationwide that have requested demonstrations.

Mr. Cronin concluded,

“Interest has been huge. Even more than we envisaged. Our team are working round the clock to ensure that we get to everyone who has requested a demo as quickly as possible”.

BearingPoint//Beyond expands operations & opens new technology centre in Dublin, creating 50 new jobs. #IDA #Jobs #BearingPoint

BearingPoint//Beyond, a rapidly growing SaaS-based digital platform solution provider announced that it is expanding its operations with the opening of a new Centre of Excellence in Dublin. The new centre will draw on Dublin’s diverse and highly skilled technology talent base to create 50 new jobs over the next three years.

The aim of BearingPoint//Beyond’s expansion in Dublin is to support its growing sales and to improve support for new and existing BearingPoint//Beyond clients in the Nordics, Europe, Americas and Asia. The company intends to enhance its capabilities in engineering, quality assurance, customer engagement and service delivery management.

Companies in the Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) and also Automotive sectors, use BearingPoint//Beyond’s digital technology platform to create partner ecosystems that accelerate innovation, launch and monetise new services and grow revenue at speed.

 

BearingPoint//Beyond’s telecom customers include Irish quad-play service provider Eir, BT in the United Kingdom, Austrian telco A1 Austria, Australian ISP iiNet, and NTT Group in Japan.

Commenting on the news, Barry Keane, COO of BearingPoint//Beyond, said: “During such uncertain economic times due to COVID-19, it’s important to support enterprise growth wherever possible. Around the world, communication service providers and blue-chip tech companies are turning to BearingPoint//Beyond to help them grow revenue and transform their operations to better compete in the digital economy. Ireland is a globally recognised source of skilled and talented technologists who are a perfect fit for BearingPoint//Beyond and our culture of collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation. We’re excited to establish our new Centre of Excellence in Dublin and look forward to seeing the positive contribution it makes to our company.”

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD, said: “I warmly welcome this announcement by BearingPoint//Beyond to create an additional 50 high quality jobs. Companies like BearingPoint//Beyond choose Ireland because of our skilled and talented workforce and our innovative culture. As we begin to reopen our economy, announcements like this one show that Ireland remains an attractive location with much to offer investors. I wish them every success with this expansion.”

Martin Shanahan, CEO IDA Ireland commented: “It is great news that BearingPoint//Beyond are expanding their operations with the opening of their new technology centre in Dublin. This is a time of innovation and growth for BearingPoint//Beyond, and this Centre of Excellence will play an important role in the company’s global operations. I wish them continued success and growth here.”

Dell unveils new XPS 15 and XPS 17. #Dell #XPS15 #XPS17

Dell has today unveiled the redesigned XPS 15 and introduced an all-new XPS 17 with larger screen sizes, beautiful new designs and the latest in technology innovation.

New XPS 17

After a near 10-year hiatus, the XPS 17 returns as the most powerful XPS laptop ever and also the smallest 17-inch laptop on the planet. The virtually borderless, 4 sided InfinityEdge display makes it smaller than 48% of 15-inch laptops available today, putting the XPS 17 into a class of its own.

Designed to be the most powerful XPS laptop ever made, the XPS 17 features the latest 10th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics with Max-Q design. Packing this much performance into a laptop of this size requires engineering ingenuity to keep the system performing smoothly. Under the hood, Dell has packed a unique thermal design for increased fan airflow4 to fuel demanding projects.

Redesigned XPS 15

With the latest 10th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics with Max-Q design and up to 25-hour battery life6, consumers can easily stream their favourite shows, edits photos for Instagram, render 4K videos or create original sounds and textures on your DAW.

New Webcams & Surround Sound 3D Audio

Dell has developed its smallest ever HD webcam for the XPS which is discretely hidden at the top of the display, ready for video meet-ups and virtual get-togethers. Consumers can enjoy improved audio thanks to top-mounted mics with advanced echo cancellation and noise reduction technologies. The XPS 15 and 17 are the first-ever laptops7 featuring Waves Nx® 3D audio for speakers tuned by multi-Grammy Award® winning producer, Jack Joseph Puig.

XPS Sustainable Packaging

In line with its commitment to use 100% sustainable packaging by 2030, Dell has eliminated foam and single use plastic bags with the new XPS family. The XPS packaging box now contains recycled ocean-bound plastics, locally recycled plastic, sustainable materials and recycled corrugate.

For further information on Dell’s new XPS range, see the latest blog from Donnie Oliphant which can be access here.

Availability

  • XPS 15 will be available in Ireland on the 14th May with pricing to be announced.
  • XPS 17 will be available in Ireland and other European states this summer.

Google to roll out support links for business profiles. #Google #Business

As you we all very aware now, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on local businesses throughout Ireland and it has been a challenging time and there is a long road ahead yet.  To make it easier for businesses to keep customers fully informed during this time, Google has recently added a range of tools and features which allow them to add extra information to their Business Profiles

From today, Google will be rolling out support links for businesses which they can post directly to their Business Profiles on Google, allowing them to add such features as donation or gift card links to their profile. As part of this initiative, Google has partnered with PayPal and GoFundMe for donations, allowing merchants to link directly to the relevant page on their website or to their gift card offerings with one of Google’s eligible partners, which include Square, Toast, Clover and Vagaro.

Businesses will also be able to share personal messages in their posts to inform customers how their donations will be put to use.

As many businesses around the world currently require financial support, the initial launch of new features will begin with a subset of businesses to protect against misuse, with plans to expand to more countries, merchants, and partners in a safe and responsible way over the coming weeks.

The support links will be available to customers later this month. Google will not charge merchants or consumers any fees, however there may be partner processing fees associated with campaigns.

For more information on Google support links please visit https://support.google.com/business/answer/9872059

First look and unboxing. The TCL 10L. #TCL10L

TCL recently announced a slew of devices and we have one of them here that will offer good value and new features for money with a quad camera set up on the rear that looks well and moves apart from the trend like what Samsung and Huawei offer with the square hump. A full review of this device will be up soon but we have unboxed and took a look at what is inside so you can check it out below and if any questions please feel free to ask and we will answer in our review..

Immerse yourself in an upscale entertaining experience via the NXTVISION 6.53-inch FHD+ Dotch™ display with a 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. Featuring a dedicated display engine, overall visuals will be enhanced in real-time to produce images that incorporate adjusted brightness, greater contrast and true-to-life details. With comfort also in mind, the TCL 10L implements features such as Adaptive Tone, Reading Mode and Eye Comfort mode to assist with preventing eye-strain. 

 

To keep fun and games going, the TCL 10L provides you the chance to connect up to 4 devices (headphones or speakers) through the integrated Super Bluetooth Multi-streaming audio solution.

THE CAMERA FOR EVERY MOMENT

NXTVISION CAMERA

With the TCL 10L, rest assured that the magic of the moment will never be lost.

Superior quality images will set your creations apart via the NXTVISION AI powered 48MP quad-rear cameras, 16MP selfie camera and 4K recording functionality. From producing brighter images in extreme low light conditions, to packing more into the shot with the flagship-level 118° super wide-angle cam, the TCL 10L brings versatility to the game with a macro lens for exquisite micro world shots as close as 3.7cm and natural artistic bokeh portraits.

If you’re wanting to try your hand at video production, keep in mind that you will be able to film great, completely stable 4K videos, blending an intelligent low-light algorithm and a fun wide-angle for stop motion videos.

 

INTELLIGENT CAREFREE LIVING

A SMOOTH PERFORMANCE 

Looking for a smooth performance that doesn’t forgo efficiency? The TCL 10L combines 6GB RAM with a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™665 processor that comes with an AI engine and a long lasting 4000mAh battery, together these deliver lower power consumption so that you can concentrate on running various tasks all day.

 

EASY & SECURE ACCESS

Enjoy an intuitive user experience with the dedicated Google Assistant button. From launching the camera, setting reminders or receiving smart suggestions, the 

Google Assistant helps with everyday tasks. TCL 10L users will enjoy the latest Android versions with at least one guaranteed major OS upgrade, and also receive the latest security updates every 60 days. Combine this with the convenient and secured face unlock and fingerprint sensor, the TCL 10L keeps things safe & secure. 

 

AESTHETICS DESIGN

Comprised of an attractive holographic finish that shines iridescently in a tide of luminescence, the sleek 3D backing grants you a premium in-hand feel at an affordable price.

 

The TCL 10L is available now, starting from £399 and comes in the nature-inspired versions of Arctic White & Mariana Blue,both the 10Pro and 10L will be available to purchase in the UK in the first week of June and in Ireland from the last week of June.

Review – The Plantronics Voyager 3240. #Plantronics #Voyager3240 #Tech

Plantronics is a Brand Synonymous with call centres throughout the world in small office and reception areas and those that use telecoms equipment. The Plantronics Voyager 3240 is geared towards the office user rather than the full-time receptionist allowing connection to a variety of phones/laptops and telecoms equipment with an abundant of voice prompts to ensure clarity. This is suitable for those on the go in a busy environment, drivers, office staff that have to make/received allot of calls and require handsfree,

The unit comes with only 1 headset which allows you to be aware of your surroundings, most of us will be aware of people with 2 earphones shouting on a call unaware a full office can hear them unaware of their surroundings.

 

Main features

  • In-ear design provides a wearing style that’s easy to put on or take off
  • Precision tuned triple-mic with enhanced DSP delivers superior noise cancellation
  • Smart sensors answer calls by simply putting on the headset
  • Dynamic mute alert senses and alerts you when you begin to speak while muted
  • Up to 98 feet/30 meters of wireless range from supported Class 1 Bluetooth devices
  • Portable charging case provides up to 10 hours of additional talk time

 

Specifications:

  •         Listen/talk time Up to 6 hours plus up to 10 extra hours with charging case
  •         (available in select bundles); up to 7 days standby time
  •         Range Up to 98 feet (30 meters) with Class 1 Bluetooth enabled device
  •         Audio performance Triple-mic DSP noise-cancelling technology, mobile wideband
  •         compatibility up to 6,800 Hz; echo cancellation, proprietary DSP,
  •         A2DP, mobile wideband compatibility (HD Voice-enabled)
  •         Hearing protection SoundGuard®: Sound leveling for listening comfort and acoustic
  •         limiting for protection against sounds above 118 dBA
  •         Headset controls Call answer/ignore/end/redial, mute, volume +/-, smartphone
  •         VPA access, power on/off
  •         Weight 9 g/0.019 lbs
  •         Wireless frequency Bluetooth v4.1
  •         Smart sensors answer calls by simply putting on the headset. Automatically
  •         transfer calls between mobile phone and headset based on
  •         wearing state (enabled using Plantronics Hub mobile app)
  •         Multipoint technology Stay connected to two phones and answer calls from either one
  •         Streams audio Stream music, driving directions, podcasts, and more with
  •         Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
  •         Voice alerts Enhanced voice alerts announce talk-time, mute, connection
  •         status, and more
  •         Firmware Update firmware and change language settings using Plantronics
  •         Hub for iOS/Android

 Connection:

The connection is standard to most phones using the Bluetooth option to your phone/laptop with no issues found. The NFC option works easier and faster.

Charging:

The unit comes with a micro USB cable which is disappointing in terms on modern phones for the last number of years have migrated to USB C resulting in another cable to be carried around, it takes approx. 90 minutes to fully charge the headset.  The status of the charging can be seen/heard via voice prompt/headset LEDs / phone app,

 Charge case:

The charging ( open style ) case does as it states, charges the headset but as a design having the charging connection on the bottom leaves it prone to liquid ingress when placed on a wet surface, the case gives minimum protection when carried from place to place, ( whereas the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100 True Wireless Bluetooth Headset, aimed at music lovers case is ideal offering protection and charges the headset )  the belt type clip again leaves allot to be desired with little practical use. The charging case gives 10 additional hours on a single charge, giving you up to 16 hours of combined talk time between a fully charged headset and charging case.

 

 The app – Plantronics Hub

The Plantronics Hub has a variety of useful features but again is different to the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100 Blackbeat app. The manufactures appear to have 2 completely different designs and technology which would be great to have one standardised one. The app gives a clear view of the battery time left, allow you to locate a misplaced headset, customise calls, mute calls, auto-answer, headset sensors and a variety of other features to personalise your experience. This also has a reset option in case a mistake is made during setup. The app has got 4.3 out of 5 on the play store out of near 30,000 downloads which is good, the app worked as required and can’t fault.

 Voice alerts:

The unit has a variety of useful voice alerts

Voice alerts list

Following is a list of common voice alerts. You can use Plantronics Hub to customise some of

these alerts. Download Plantronics Hub at plantronics.com/software

  • “Answering call”
  • “Battery low”
  • “Redialling last outgoing call”
  • “Incoming call”
  • “Mute on/mute off”
  • “No phone is connected”
  • “Pairing”
  • “Pairing incomplete, restart headset”
  • “Pairing successful”
  • “Power on/off”
  • “Phone X connected/disconnected” (my personal favourite feature)
  • “Recharge headset”
  • “Smart sensors on/off”
  • “Battery high”
  • “Volume maximum/minimum”

 

Call quality:

The Plantronics Voyager 3240 as expected has excellent call quality, quoting noise-cancelling technology which is far superior to most headset tested in the last year.  This does not mask out all sound from the call as on tests walking close to a radio / TV, the caller can hear the sounds albeit lower than many other brands. When used to listen to Spotify / Google play music. / Amazon music quality is average been distracted with 1 earpiece and the highs and lows not as pronounced, again this is not designed for recreational music listening but will work perfectly on your voice frequencies.

 

Conclusion:

Plantronics is a great brand with quality products, with my favourites being able to connect numerous phones/laptops at the same time, and able to make or receive a call from any device. This is a feature not seen on many earphones. This Bluetooth multipoint technology enables you to pair and connect your headset to two different Bluetooth audio devices at once with audio prompts to advise what is connected.  The brand as an office technology has a compatibility guide which you expect to ensure if the connection to a specialised device the guesswork is taken out of the interface connection, this may include Desk phone, Softphone, Mobile Bluetooth, Mobile corded Gaming and Landline.

The headset when sitting on a desk can easily be seen to connect to a phone when lifted to your ear but states not connected ensuring when you decide to take a call you can use the headset or traditional holding your head to the phone. Over the years I have had numerous earphones connected via Bluetooth only to find the audio was via the earphone, not the phones when required.

Overall the unit is a lightweight, solid build, comfortable to wear for hours,  and allows you to be aware of your surroundings with superior call quality. There are a few niggles in the charger style given limited protection and micro USB charger while minor in the overall scheme.  The multipoint technology allowing multiple units connected at the same time is a must for those that carry 2 phones or take skype/teams calls from laptops etc.  The Plantronics Voyager 3240 has an abundance of features and personalise options in the app given a great experience overall.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-3240-Mono-Bluetooth%C2%AE-Portable-Charging-Voyager-3240/dp/B072KH8F9L/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2DUURS77EA6EJ&keywords=plantronics+voyager+3240&qid=1581770535&sprefix=Plantronics+Voyager+3240%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-4

Noel O’Grady, Rewriting the rulebook: Learnings from how the data centre industry has reacted to COVID-19

Noel O’Grady, Director of Irish operations at business risk and resilience consultancy Sungard AS.

The data centre industry is arguably facing its largest ever crisis with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In-house teams have had to quickly build out their ability to support remote workers on a scale never seen before. Commercial providers have had to tighten access to facilities globally, decide which staff are essential to keep onsite, and reach for their pandemic contingency plans – if these even existed. 

Elsewhere, data centre managers have had to embark on mass disinfection of premises and assess access following both staff and visitors testing positive for the virus. 

The last few months have been a huge learning curve for many, and here are three key lessons we have learned.

Noel O’Grady, Sungard Availability Services
Photo Iain White / Fennell Photography

 

Lesson 1: Be prepared to scale quickly for remote working demands

As our worlds of work and play shifted from office blocks and business parks to living rooms and kitchen tables across the globe, society has been highly dependent on internet services and supporting equipment working as expected.  

 

Infrastructure teams with responsibility for making sure organisations and consumers stay online have worked hard to expand network bandwidth and computing muscle in data centres. The most frequent bottleneck created in many cases has stemmed from the overnight enablement of vast remote workforces. Many company networks simply weren’t set up to meet demand at such scale. 

 

Organisations need to provide staff with private, secure corporate network access from home. VPN capacity has had to ramp up and conversations about readying the infrastructure to support it have had to happen quickly. Companies must now prepare to ensure employees can access a company network from their own machines at home too – there will have been many cases where people hadn’t taken work equipment home with them, and IT were unable to access buildings to get it to them.  

Technical understanding of the expanded capacity to support remote application access became a boardroom issue overnight as well. This will only be a good thing for companies moving forward. Senior executives will have no choice to overlook infrastructure. They will have to understand and monitor it like never before. 

Lesson 2: Pre-define ‘essential’ staff

Evaluation of who was ‘essential’ was another thing organisations had to determine quickly, and this expanded to the data centre industry. Essential workers had to be divided up. Some kept onsite and others sent home to become reserves. There had to be no risk of cross-contamination between them.  

Some senior-level facility and site managers were asked to work from home as well, as they possessed knowledge and experience covering multiple types of lower-level employees, such as line engineers, technicians and operations staff. 

The outcome of this crisis will be that data centre organisations should now formally plan and document who is essential to keep onsite during such a state of emergency, and who are the backups that should remain at home. This should be clearly communicated at regular intervals, with tests run to confirm the process works as expected.

 

Lesson 3: Disinfect premises post-positive infection reports and have strict access rules

There have been some international reports of staff and visitors who have set foot in data centres testing positive for COVID-19 at a later date. In response, the affected facilities have had to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by a specialist cleaning contractor. Data centre operators will now have to be crystal clear about the measures they will take in the event of such an incident and what they will do if a member of staff or a visitor falls ill whilst onsite. 

In order to maintain effective social distancing, some facilities have made all non-essential staff work from home on a mandatory basis. Clients are also being actively discouraged from visiting and encouraged to use engineers to complete physical tasks wherever possible. 

All deliveries and visitors should be handled by isolated security staff following very specific guidelines. Employee health has to remain the priority and having these measures in place requires a high level of adaptability on behalf of workers, so the businesses and the industry as a whole needs to be very clear.

If a data centre facility does have to be evacuated temporarily, whether it can stay online without staffing depends very much on its design, and is something that must be accounted for in planning and operations. Those with a low level of redundancy face obvious risks if left unmanned.

Rewriting the rule book

Data centre operators around the world have been forced to make big adjustments in light of COVID-19, with some of the areas mentioned above likely to become a necessary standard post-crisis. 

Historically, most business continuity plans for data centres were based on local scenarios, where ‘acts of God’ wreaked havoc on one place. Rarely had many considered that one place being the entire planet. 

 

This pandemic has shown us the speed of disease spread and highlighted the importance of a quick response. For the most part, data centres across the world are still functional, with our increasingly digital infrastructure showing a considerable level of resilience. However, it remains to be seen which contingencies will become the new norm and which won’t result in any permanent changes.