Any IT person worth their salt will tell you that redundancy and backups are critical in today’s data-driven world. Having spare machines and parts, redundancy for critical infrastructure equipment, configuration backups, and batteries or generators help reduce the risk of major impact to your organization if something goes wrong. You need to be able to keep moving, even if somewhat impaired, while the problem is remedied.
It’s easy to focus on the technical aspects of reducing the risk of downtime, but it’s important to remember to back up your IT staff as well. In the era of COVID where no one is immune, can your organization or school afford to be out an IT staff member for weeks on end if they contract the virus, especially if that person is the only IT staff you have?
The reality is all sorts of things could pull an employee away from your organization for an extended period or even permanently. Accidents and illnesses come to mind, but even life events like having a baby or Jury Duty can pull employees away for an extended period. With technology staff members being so critical to an organization, having a solid plan and a backup person that can take over will often make or break an organization during this time, especially if the absence was not expected.
For the organization or school where there is only one technology person for everything, this plan and the designated backup person are even more critical. Technology employees have a specific skillset and knowledgebase that can’t be easily reassigned to other non-technical employees, and it is difficult to get a temporary replacement that understands your systems and setup.
Partnering with a company like LeadershipOne Technologies can often be the best solution to help you get your plans in order and serve as that backup. By contracting for even just a few hours a month, you reduce your risk dramatically with a second person who knows your systems and way of doing things, gain some extra assistance for your on-site staff with someone who has experience in their role, and save money over hiring and training an additional employee that may not otherwise be needed.
If your school or organization needs help developing a staffing continuity plan for your technology team, or is a one-man shop that needs a backup person, contact us today and let’s get the right solution in place so you can weather any storm!
