11 things executives should ask about their organization's crisis plan

Here's a checklist from CDW Corp. of topics and questions for non-technology executives and administrators to review with their management teams and (IT) departments to prepare for significant facility shutdowns – regardless of the cause:

1. What functions and specific positions in our organization are compatible with remote work, even if they are not performed remotely today? Some jobs just can’t be phoned in, but evolving technology is enabling remote performance of more and more positions. It is important to know exactly which are telework-capable, before a crisis occurs, and to reassess regularly with all departments and functions.

2. What percentage of our associates in remote-capable positions is equipped and authorized to work remotely today? You may be further ahead on this than you think – but you may not. The answer to this question will define your crisis redeployment challenge.

3. How well can our telephone and messaging systems support a redeployment plan? Today’s unified communications and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony technologies can support workers remotely via the same phone numbers and messaging systems they use while in the office. However, many organizations have not adopted those technologies yet, in which case employees will have to use mobile phones, home phones, or other means to transact business remotely. Whatever your case, have your communications team plan and instruct employees on how they should handle voice calling requirements during a crisis-driven redeployment.

4. What is our standard telecommunications bandwidth (capacity), and will it be sufficient if we redeploy all remote-capable positions in a crisis? If your bandwidth cannot support large scale remote work, your telecom manager will need to invest in backup capacity, which is a different kind of business relationship with your service provider. It may, in fact, require a different service provider.

5. How many telecommunication access points do we have into our IT network? Some redundancy is essential in case you lose your primary access point for reasons beyond your control. The best data systems in the world are useless with no access to them.

6. How well can we manage our data centers remotely? IT staff are affected by crises just like the rest of the organization, but remote management of servers and data centers is routinely available today. However, few organizations make full use of remote management, so you should ask.

7. Do our data systems have adequate backup power to support them through an extended power outage? Can the power systems also be managed remotely? If the redeployment is due to a storm or other natural disaster, you many not be able to count on utility-supplied power.

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