Planning, prevention is not possible and prediction is fraught.

When you raise this topic, your IT Manager will calmly tell you that they were never given the authority to properly do their job and buy sufficient equipment to cover this contingency. They will also advise you that they are absolutely not responsible for the supply of mains power.

So what to do:

• Check, by careful interrogation, that all critical one way software upgrade operations cannot be compromised should there be an unexpected mains power fail mid upgrade
• Check, by planned demonstration, that the Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) are rated to provide sufficient operation to automatically shut down in a controlled manner. This will prevent any consequences of an unplanned shutdown which will leave the software in an unknown state on resumption of power.
• Check, by careful inspection, that the UPSs' battery packs are within their expected lifetime. If not, they may be useless when needed
• Check, by physical inspection, that all critical systems are provided with a UPS
• Check, by physical inspection, that all critical systems are electrically protected against the possibility of intermittent mains power cycles on/off damaging their power supply circuitry
• Check, by planned demonstration, that when each device is manually powered down for 5 minutes, automatically resumes the expected and correct operational mode when restarted
• Check, by execution from a "newbie" staff member, that the "check lists" used to manually bring equipment to an operational state are complete. If not, instruct the IT Manager to upgrade the instructions and repeat the test with a different "newbie"

So what next? Join us next month to learn more.

You can contact IVT on 03 9723 9399 and talk to our staff about your needs.