Business Continuity in the Time of COVID-19 Insights
Explore how the Treasurer Offices of Illinois and Pennsylvania ensured business continuity during the COVID-19 crisis. From IT stress tests to operational snapshots and financial transactions, learn about their strategies and successes in maintaining operations amid the pandemic.
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Business Continuity in the Time of COVID-19 Joseph Daniels, Chief Information Officer Office of Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs PN Narayanan, Chief Information Officer Office of Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joseph Torsella
Before March 16, 2020 200 Users day to day 52 Laptop users (IT, Outreach, Senior Staff, Management) Average VPN users 5/day, Max Concurrent users = 50 After Covid -19 Emergency declaration Phase 1 55 additional (Total 107) Mobile users Average VPN users 107/day, Max Concurrent users = 250 Phase 2 25 additional (Total 132) Added additionally 1 gb bandwidth to handle the added strain on the network
How did we do it? Illinois State Treasurer has a Business Continuity/Disaster Recover Committee that test these plans annually in the event of a disaster In IT we stress test quarterly We are on a 3-4-year hardware refresh. We keep a bench stock of older mobile hardware for contingency operations Contingency machines are required to stay up to date on the network for rapid deployment. We designate a staging area for this Great Vendor Relationships for additional resources if needed Multifactor authentication is required. Engage HR, Legal, and Audit for simple, modified processes and procedures to deal with emergency without the added stress.
PA Treasury A Snapshot PA 529 Unclaimed Property 30M/ $110B $15Bn As of 3/28/2020: For Calendar Year 2019: Collected $355 million, Returned $180 million Payments worth more than $110 Bn last fiscal year. In State Assets Managed by IT Systems The PA College and Career Savings Program has 249,106 accounts and $4.9 billion in assets. Collected $299 million and returned nearly $209 million, generating nearly $90 million for the General Fund in FY 18-19. PA ABLE Savings Program has 3314 accounts and $25.3 million in assets. 6
PA Treasury Operations: March 16 - Mar 31 Business As Usual! ACH_COUNT 818,824 WIR_COUNT 94 ACH_AMOUNT $3,077,095,784.14 CHK_COUNT 176,743 CHK_AMOUNT $283,136,778.48 WIR_AMOUNT $1,647,766,209.94 TOTAL_COUNT 995,661 TOTAL_AMOUNT $5,007,998,772.56
PA Treasury - COOP Before March 16, 2020 134 Laptop users (Majority of Comptroller, Cash Management, TAP and IT team members) Average VPN users 10/day, Max Concurrent users = 5 After Covid-19 Emergency declaration Phase 1 86 additional (Total 220) Mobile users Average VPN users 200/day, Max Concurrent users = 165 Phase 2 for long haul 40 additional (Total 260) Call center support using Cisco Jabber Ramp up cost < $5000
How did we do it? PA Treasury developed a robust COOP plan since the modernization program initiated in 2011. After every hardware refresh, keep mobile devices for large scale emergencies. (No warranty) Start early: We started imaging the old laptops on Mar 2nd Load test VPN in advance Instruct users to test their long passwords in advance. (We use biometric) Take care of Wi-Fi connectivity and VPN-MFA authentications issues early. Configured Cisco Jabber for Call center. Engage HR and Legal for simple, modified processes and procedures to deal with emergency.
How did we do it? Make the whole process a production line for efficiency
Challenges - Anticipated Solutions Challenges 1. Helpdesk was well prepared for the onslaught. Issued handouts in advance. Made it available on their desktops, so that they can access even if they had difficulty in connecting. Different shifts, use outlook/webmail to avoid VPN. Use RDP to their desktop. Print to PDF. Fax: Reconfigured our printers to convert faxes into mail and send a resource folders. Trained users to leave the laptops connected to VPN overnight. Since the lease is for 8 hours, patches will be applied overnight. Also, Phased roll out of patches. 1. Workforce that are not COOP ready needed a longer hand holding. Received 250 helpdesk tickets in first 10 business days. 2. VPN licensing 3. Bandwidth 4. Faxing and Printing 5. Patching systems 2. 3. 4. 5.
Challenges - Unanticipated 1. The suddenness of crisis declaration. We thought we had the week of Mar 16-Mar 20 when we went home on Friday the 13th. 2. Unemployment claims volume 3. Building quarantine
Communications 1. COOP task force assigned HR and Comm team as the central hub for Employee engagement during Covid-19 duration. 2. HR started their communication as early as March 9. 3. Communication team updated the Intranet with special Covid-19 page which are set as home page in all browsers. Hence, all remote users can access Treasurer s message and HR information very easily. 4. Treasurer and Chief of staff encouraged all the senior staff to stay in touch with their team member regularly. 5. IT is working on a WebEx solution that will enable Treasurer and HR to communicate directly with all Treasury staff in an prolonged shelter in place situation.
