Playbook: PCL - Introduction

Introduction

InThe lightCOVID-19 pandemic forced many organizations to support remote work or remote learning with very little lead time. This playbook collects planning points that were useful then and are still useful for any event that pushes users offsite for an extended period.

Some of thethis recentpreparation Covid-19can virus,be belowdone areahead someof considerations,time; some of whichit mayonly bebecomes actionedurgent now,once butdisruption somestarts. areEither forway, planning for future (hopefully non-existent) events.

Certain aspects of this situation have led to working methods that were not previously considered necessary in some environments.  The biggest for some will be the idea of working from home and this may be a large challenge. Being prepared though withhaving a plan ofis action,a shouldlot helpbetter streamlinethan thisimprovising effort.when everyone is already at home.

Considerations

ThereStart arewith manythe considerations, some of which may already be too late to action, however many may still be put in place depending upon your current country's situation.

The allowance of working from home provides various challenges, which include:basics:

• Are there relevant resources to allow users to take home, such that this is viable

Do users have devices and accessories they can actually take home?

Do they need access to accessoffice-only resources thatsuch as file shares or internal web apps? Can FileWave still manage those devices once they are only accessible from the office, network shares for example offsite?

How will devicesteachers, bestudents, managedstaff, externally,or where previously Firewalls, etc, may have prevented access

Cross communication betweenother teams orstay teachersin andcontact students

day to day?

OptionsCommon forareas considerationto couldreview include:

VPN

A VPN iscan a great way to providegive users an experience as if they were in the office, despite being offsite.  This could allow for all of the above features, management, access to network shares, internal resources,resources etc.while they are offsite and can reduce the amount of special-case remote access you need to build.

External Device Management

ForIf serversyour thatFileWave haveserver beenwas designed tofor be internal-only accessibleaccess, internally,decide anotherhow option can be to provide Firewall rules, to allowoffsite devices towill becheck managedin. whenThat theymay aremean offsite,exposing wherethe acorrect VPNports isexternally, notusing insplit-horizon place.DNS,  Thisor reliesrevisiting onserver havingnaming an externally available server, such thatso devices can check-in, receive updates, etc.  Since devices can only be configured to communicate with one server,reach the externalsame name could be set to matchaddress internally and externallyexternally. (Split Horizon DNS).  However if the configuration is for an internal domain name, that may not be used externally, this will add to the complexity and additional changes will be required.  PleaseReview the KB on port requirements. before making those changes.

Updates

ManyOS updates,and beapplication that for the OS, Applications or otherwise,updates can be very large.  ManyIf devices are still on-site, consider pre-downloading content that you expect to deploy later so users maydo not have adequate bandwidth to copepull witheverything this.over  Anyhome pre-planninginternet that can take place before devices leave the building would be beneficial.  By the use of Fileset Association options, additional software could be pre-downloaded, which may not be required today, but if later is required, may then just have the state changed from downloaded to activated, reducing bandwidth requirements.connections.

Bandwidth

WillDo thenot businessjust bandwidththink copeabout withhome-user requirements?bandwidth.  TypicallyCheck networkwhether usageyour considersown theinternet bulkconnection, ofVPN concentrators, identity providers, and file services can handle many more remote users beingthan in-house.  Take into account the amount of users that may be attempting to access internally stored data from outside the corporate network.usual.

Controlling Devices

ThereRemote are manysupport tools help, but they still depend on the user's network connection and the permissions the operating system allows. Plan for remotesituations management to assist users, indeed FileWave haswhere a built in tool for computers.  Yet, with Apple's Catalina, some settings require the user selfmust allow; force viewing a usersapprove screen issharing notor anlocal option.prompts themselves.

Documentation

Have yourGive users beenshort, providedeasy-to-find aninstructions easy to view document or video to assist guiding them throughfor the requirements of working from home, e.gbasics: how to useconnect to VPN, how to enablereach screenfile viewing for remote management,shares, how to accessapprove fileremote-control shares,prompts, etc.and  Additionallyhow thereto get help. If you want a general remote-work checklist outside the FileWave KB, GitLab's remote/work-from-home starter guide is anstill externala documentuseful that may be useful, to guide students and staff in to the experience of working from home: 

https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/remote-work-starter-guide/reference.

Classroom

Apple'sApple Classroom App reliesdepends on proximitylocal ofnetwork devices;proximity, thisso it is not a toolsubstitute for workingfully fromremote home.teaching.  WhatMake sure your remote-learning plan uses tools couldthat bework used instead?offsite.

Hardware Failure

If devicesa fail,device howfails, arehave usersa goingplan to receivefor replacement hardware?shipping, pickup, or loaner equipment.

Device Purchasing

HasKeep equipmentspare-device beenplanning procuredin formind. futureIn expectations,any additionalwide devicesdisruption, forreplacement usershardware can take longer to besource ablethan to take home where it is impractical to take home office computers or for replacement spares.  This is one that is possibly too late to action now in the light of Covid-19.  As hardware manufacturing closures occur across the world, surplus device stock is being depleted.  This is something that may have somewhat of an effect in the aftermath, until production lines are back in action and device shipping is resumed, with backlog of orders being fulfilled.usual.