Supporting IT through an emergency

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Kelsey

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#78600 4-Mar-2011 22:20

Hi Team,

I work for an emergency service in CHCH. I have some stories to tell in regards to supporting an emergency service though such a huge emergency,

1st tip, You will NOT have enough spares, Laptops, Desktops, Phones, cellphones chargers, patch cables, network capacity, desk space, people. Never enough!

2nd tip, If you build it, they will come! Set up gear for a certain team, everyone will want to use it (see tip 1!).

3rd tip, Know where everything is coming from and going to. You thought you didnt have enough kit before. It will disappear. If you have an ability to track it through reporting back software or any other way ensure it is set up.

4th tip, While you build it, you will not sleep. If you have to move as we did you will have some fun quickly building new infrastructure!

Anyone else have anything else? I can and will add to this but it helps to get the ball rolling!

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#445676 4-Mar-2011 22:22

Good post... Although it might look like a joke, reality is those are finite resources and requirements will expand until everything is being used...

Kelsey

12 posts

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#445685 4-Mar-2011 22:35

So true, on a second look. This isnt a joke and I do hope that myself and any other techs in CHCH or supporting companies can help with some insights or advice.

As we are an emergency service we have had a number very specific requirements and thankfully the rest of the team from around NZ have been great in helping us out.

Another tip, Take the help that is needed. If someone else can do something for you, let them. It was so much easier having the guys up in Auckland taking care of somethings for us like interacting with suppliers.

insane

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#446155 7-Mar-2011 00:22

I can agree with you on never having enough spares. With the number of businesses needing rack space in our Christchurch DC our seemingly inexhaustible pile of power cables and patch leads is running out pretty fast.

Yay for awesome staff though who are willing to drive kit down from Auckland, and setup racks etc over the weekend for what's going to be a crazy Monday now that people have had access to their buildings again.

my tip: Make sure you've got good supply chain relationships for when everyone is scrambling for the same resource.