Wireline Issue 48 - Summer 2020

“Our strategy already was to head for an anytime/anywhere mode of operation, but COVID-19 will probably accelerate plans for that."

may never have logged in remotely and need to know what to expect.” There are of course opportunities to be seized during this time, particularly as modern workplace IT concepts have now been brought to the foreground of every business. Alan notes: “COVID-19 will hopefully strengthen the benefits of IT as no longer conceptual, but based on real experience,” he explains. “We will continue our drive to simplify and where possible make services that we offer accessible from a multitude of access methods. Embracing newer technologies and challenging the way that IT is delivered has been essential to providing the offering we have, and we’ll continue with this approach into the future.” David is similarly optimistic, and hopes that the past few months will spur action on Premier’s standardisation program: “Our strategy already was to head for an anytime/anywhere mode of operation, but COVID-19 will probably accelerate plans for that. More

within industry, including cyber security best practices together with HSE principles could be a route for building greater knowledge amongst personnel — particularly as home working looks set to become the norm for the foreseeable future. Planning for the future With these initiatives now rolled out, IT managers are also reflecting on lessons for future scenarios. David Edwards of Premier was emphatic around the benefits of planning as far in advance as possible, adding: “Get more notice! Having one ‘practice’ day was crucial; two or three would have been better though.” Beyond practice, also make sure your IT support is adequately supported. David adds: “Stay close to your service desk—ours did a brilliant job dealing with a huge spike in low-level/simple calls but were unnecessarily concerned they were failing to meet expectations. The thing to expect is that a large proportion of your staff

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