We did a very preliminary Pandemic Flu Exercise today.  Normally, I wouldn’t be too much worried about things like this when it comes to IT security during a pandemic–we just close out the lights and if the servers die, we’ll fix them after the dust has cleared.

But my organization has a difference from the average IT service provider:  we support the first responders from the US Government who need their IT systems up and running in order to get the knowledge shared and the cure to the right places when it’s needed.  It’s such a different business driver from normal that I had to pause and think it over the first time I heard it.

So today we did a partial VPN and telework test from another facility.  All told, it involved about 30 people.  In a couple of weeks, it’s “Global Work-From-Home Day”.  One lesson learned:  It’s the little things that will get you, like laptop screen real estate and network cables.

Now those of you who know me realize that I’m not that squeamish.  However, I did have a 30-second bout of panic when I thought about mass death where everyone in my apartment complex dies out in a pandemic flu.  Then I got over it. =)

Like I told my boss, it’s just like the consolidate and reorganize task that the infantryman trains on–restaff key positions and weapons systems, deal with the wounded and dead, communicate to higher, and continue the mission.  Now that I can handle.

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