{"id":40487,"date":"2020-06-11T09:14:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T16:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=40487"},"modified":"2020-06-12T08:35:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T15:35:54","slug":"expecting-the-unexpected-covid-19-added-new-wrinkle-to-emergency-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2020\/06\/expecting-the-unexpected-covid-19-added-new-wrinkle-to-emergency-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Expecting the Unexpected: Dealers Evaluate Their Reaction to COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fires. Floods. Earthquakes. Economic downturns. Recessions.\nBackup and disaster recovery plans have contingencies for just about every\nimaginable event, for the lack of a better word. They\u2019re geared toward helping\nbusinesses pivot and resume normal business activities as quickly as possible,\nin a manner that is opaque to the customer. Chaos may reign in the back office,\nbut client-facing activities must continue unimpeded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When COVID-19 became an official pandemic on March 11, it\nadded a new wrinkle to the recovery plans of dealers, resellers and all other\nproviders within the office technology network. With little time to react,\nbusinesses embarked on their next phase of business continuity through remote\noperations. The particulars of this process have been well documented, but as a\npart of our modified May\/June State of the Industry report, we asked dealers to\ngrade their performance on the pandemic pop quiz. Additionally, we wanted to\nknow if dealers were able to take anything away from their experience that will\nbe beneficial moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Debra Dellaposta, Doing Better Business<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Doing Better Business of Altoona, Pennsylvania, gave itself\nstrong marks for its level of preparedness. The company was positioned well\nfinancially and from a technological standpoint. Working from home was nothing\nnew to employees, who frequently telecommuted prior to the pandemic. Having\nfour warehouse locations also ensured the company had redundancy in the event\nany staff members contracted the disease (which has not been the case).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like we\nwere very prepared and very proactive,\u201d noted President Deb Dellaposta. \u201cWe\nknew with school closures the exact impact this would have on our finances and\nalso on our productivity. We furloughed 60% of our team members, have 35%\nworking from home or in the field and 5% operating three of our warehouses. We\u2019ve\nbeen holding weekly meetings with our Select Dealer Group to share information\nand best practices. We have been communicating with our clients via email,\nwebsite, social media and the telephone and have processes and procedures\ndocumented to ensure everyone\u2019s safety. We continue to deliver and install\nequipment in home offices and essential businesses with these new\nprocedures.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest\ndrawback, she notes, is not having answers readily available for employees. The\ncompany is communicating more often and utilizing its own technology more,\nwhich has been helpful in creating solutions for clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brian Gertler, LDI Color ToolBox<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Not having a pandemic playbook created a unique set of challenges\nfor LDI Color ToolBox, but the Jericho, New York-based dealer leveraged its\nvast expertise in critical technology sets to quickly pivot in serving the\nclient, according to Brian Gertler, senior vice president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a technology company, we entered with a unique\nskillset and expertise in managed IT, Pro AV and video conferencing to handle our\nown remote communications capabilities and the requests of many of our clients\nand prospects,\u201d Gertler said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pivotal\nInvestments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, the\nleadership core of CIO Doug Gamache, CTO Frank DeGeorge and Vice President of\nManaged IT Patrick Layton\u2014in concert with their respective teams\u2014paved the way\nfor the dealer to weather such a unique disruption. According to CEO Frank\nCucco, the trio of executives strongly influenced him in making significant\ntechnology investments in the years leading up to the pandemic, and their\ncounsel has been validated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Frank Cucco, Impact Networking<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been meeting\nmonthly for years, strategizing on what technologies should be introduced into\nthe company and constantly upgrading and fine-tuning our systems,\u201d Cucco said.\n\u201cThis pre-planning allowed us to flip a switch and have 600 employees work from\nhome without a glitch. With that said, I feel this team of experts had us 100%\nprepared to take on this challenge and continue to operate at a very high\nlevel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the pandemic struck, St. Cloud,\nMinnesota-based Marco\u2019s IT services strategy, built over decades, was affirmed.\nCEO Jeff Gau noted that since the company utilizes its own managed services,\nits IT acumen provided insight into the remote worker\u2019s needs. In fact, the\ndealer\u2019s own roster of 1,300-odd employees were working from home within four\ndays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jeff Gau, Marco<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Certain types of equipment were tough to come by\nin the early stages of the quarantine, according to Gau. The company was also\nmindful of the network security issues in terms of breaches, and Gau has\nwitnessed how it has hampered a number of his dealer friends who have been\nattacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hired a CISO and started a really robust security strategy about 18 months ago,\u201d Gau said. \u201cIt\u2019s still playing out, but it\u2019s been very helpful. With things like dual authentication and changing your password to one that is 16 digits\u2026sometimes it seems like it\u2019s too much. But a lot of the things we\u2019re doing and were thought of as overkill got tested, and in fact, they\u2019re not overkill. That\u2019s been my biggest takeaway. You err on the side of being over-prepared, and in the unlikely event that you need it, you\u2019ll be glad that you did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoiding Excess<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Loffler, Loffler Companies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Inventory can be a tight rope to walk in the time\nof a pandemic. Jim Loffler, founder and CEO of the Loffler Companies in\nBloomington, Minnesota, noted that while it is great to take advantage of\ndiscounted manufacturer pricing by carrying excess inventory, it\u2019s certainly\nnot a position a company wants to be in when belts are tightened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, you want to be doing just-in-time\ninventory rather than buying a two- or three-month supply,\u201d Loffler said.\n\u201cMaybe as we get back to normal, we\u2019ll resume buying a lot of inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Crunk, RJ Young<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the end, however, the pandemic proved to have characteristics that were unlike any other. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can ever truly prepare for something like this. Anything similar is going to have a unique set of circumstances that go along with it,\u201d noted Chip Crunk, president and CEO of Nashville, Tennessee-based RJ Young. \u201cThe challenging question is, when this is all over, what is business going to look like? I think we\u2019re going to see a lot of volumes change and not be there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of clients are going to start using more of the home office and doing the staggered shift approach, which is going to affect volumes long-term. I think our whole business model is going to have to change to adapt to that.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fires. Floods. Earthquakes. Economic downturns. Recessions. Backup and disaster recovery plans have contingencies for just about every imaginable event, for the lack of a better word. They\u2019re geared toward helping businesses pivot and resume normal business activities as quickly as possible, in a manner that is opaque to the customer. Chaos may reign in the back office, but client-facing activities must continue unimpeded. When COVID-19 became an official pandemic on March 11, it added a new wrinkle to the recovery plans of dealers, resellers and all other providers within the office technology network. With little time to react, businesses embarked on their next phase of business continuity through remote operations. The particulars of this process have been well documented, but as a part of our modified May\/June State of the Industry report, we asked dealers to grade their performance on the pandemic pop quiz. Additionally, we wanted to know if dealers were able to take anything away from their experience that will be beneficial moving forward. Doing Better Business of Altoona, Pennsylvania, gave itself strong marks for its level of preparedness. The company was positioned well financially and from a technological standpoint. Working from home was nothing new to employees, who frequently telecommuted prior to the pandemic. Having four warehouse locations also ensured the company had redundancy in the event any staff members contracted the disease (which has not been the case). \u201cI feel like we were very prepared and very proactive,\u201d noted President Deb Dellaposta. \u201cWe knew with school closures the exact impact this would have on our finances and also on our productivity. We furloughed 60% of our team members, have 35% working from home or in the field and 5% operating three of our warehouses. We\u2019ve been holding weekly meetings with our Select Dealer Group to share information and best practices. We have been communicating with our clients via email, website, social media and the telephone and have processes and procedures documented to ensure everyone\u2019s safety. We continue to deliver and install equipment in home offices and essential businesses with these new procedures.\u201d  The biggest drawback, she notes, is not having answers readily available for employees. The company is communicating more often and utilizing its own technology more, which has been helpful in creating solutions for clients. Not having a pandemic playbook created a unique set of challenges for LDI Color ToolBox, but the Jericho, New York-based dealer leveraged its vast expertise in critical technology sets to quickly pivot in serving the client, according to Brian Gertler, senior vice president. \u201cAs a technology company, we entered with a unique skillset and expertise in managed IT, Pro AV and video conferencing to handle our own remote communications capabilities and the requests of many of our clients and prospects,\u201d Gertler said. Pivotal Investments For Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, the leadership core of CIO Doug Gamache, CTO Frank DeGeorge and Vice President of Managed IT Patrick Layton\u2014in concert with their respective teams\u2014paved the way for the dealer to weather such a unique disruption. According to CEO Frank Cucco, the trio of executives strongly influenced him in making significant technology investments in the years leading up to the pandemic, and their counsel has been validated. \u201cWe have been meeting monthly for years, strategizing on what technologies should be introduced into the company and constantly upgrading and fine-tuning our systems,\u201d Cucco said. \u201cThis pre-planning allowed us to flip a switch and have 600 employees work from home without a glitch. With that said, I feel this team of experts had us 100% prepared to take on this challenge and continue to operate at a very high level.\u201d When the pandemic struck, St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Marco\u2019s IT services strategy, built over decades, was affirmed. CEO Jeff Gau noted that since the company utilizes its own managed services, its IT acumen provided insight into the remote worker\u2019s needs. In fact, the dealer\u2019s own roster of 1,300-odd employees were working from home within four days. Certain types of equipment were tough to come by in the early stages of the quarantine, according to Gau. The company was also mindful of the network security issues in terms of breaches, and Gau has witnessed how it has hampered a number of his dealer friends who have been attacked. \u201cWe hired a CISO and started a really robust security strategy about 18 months ago,\u201d Gau said. \u201cIt\u2019s still playing out, but it\u2019s been very helpful. With things like dual authentication and changing your password to one that is 16 digits\u2026sometimes it seems like it\u2019s too much. But a lot of the things we\u2019re doing and were thought of as overkill got tested, and in fact, they\u2019re not overkill. That\u2019s been my biggest takeaway. You err on the side of being over-prepared, and in the unlikely event that you need it, you\u2019ll be glad that you did.\u201d Avoiding Excess Inventory can be a tight rope to walk in the time of a pandemic. Jim Loffler, founder and CEO of the Loffler Companies in Bloomington, Minnesota, noted that while it is great to take advantage of discounted manufacturer pricing by carrying excess inventory, it\u2019s certainly not a position a company wants to be in when belts are tightened. \u201cRight now, you want to be doing just-in-time inventory rather than buying a two- or three-month supply,\u201d Loffler said. \u201cMaybe as we get back to normal, we\u2019ll resume buying a lot of inventory.\u201d In the end, however, the pandemic proved to have characteristics that were unlike any other. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can ever truly prepare for something like this. Anything similar is going to have a unique set of circumstances that go along with it,\u201d noted Chip Crunk, president and CEO of Nashville, Tennessee-based RJ Young. \u201cThe challenging question is, when this is all over, what is business going to look like? I think we\u2019re going to see a lot of volumes change and not be there. \u201cA lot of clients are going to start using more of the home office and doing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":40488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40487"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40509,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40487\/revisions\/40509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}