There are proven strategies for companies to adapt to keep things going, no matter what the winter may throw at us, writes Adam Maguire

THE BEAUTY of last month’s snowy downpour was likely lost on many companies that were busy counting the cost to their bottom line. Employers’ federation Ibec put it at around €630 million a week, with €170 million of that coming from employee absences alone.

Isme, the Irish small and medium enterprise association, said many of its members saw up to 20 per cent of their total workforce absent, with those who did make it in generally coming in late and leaving early.

For them, the news of more snow and frost in the days ahead will be badly received. However, there are ways for companies to adapt to keep things going no matter what the weather brings. The most important thing an employee needs in order to work in most cases is their office computer, which houses the relevant files and applications. Accessing this as an afterthought can be awkward but if the company uses cloud computing it becomes relatively easy.

“Basically it allows you to access data on the go from any part of the globe once you have your internet connection,” said Aidan McCarron, managing director of cloud hosting provider Dediserve. “I was stuck working at home during the recent snow and I literally just opened the laptop and could get to work straight away.”

When a company hosts their files in “the cloud”, they are putting them in a remote location and accessing them through a secure internet connection. In terms of access, whether you log in from a computer in the office or in the home makes no difference. Companies can even go so far as to remotely host a user’s desktop, meaning they can access their actual office computer from any device and any place.

According to McCarron, once a company has the infrastructure in place, set-up is straightforward for the individual. A user can connect through a virtual private network (VPN) or a web-based login page after following a few simple instructions.

“Overall I don’t think the market is educated enough to utilise cloud computing just yet and it probably takes things like the freeze for them to look into it more and see the benefits it has,” said McCarron.

Of course, having access to your computer’s files is just one piece of the puzzle – albeit an important one. While many users rely on their mobile phones, others still use the landline, meaning they could miss important calls while sitting at home. Call forwarding is one option but a slightly more advanced alternative is the use of a virtual private branch exchange (PBX). This is effectively a replacement for a traditional office telephone system and is effectively the telephony equivalent of cloud computing.

“Because the phone system lives in a data network, you’re capable of accessing that from multiple locations. So rather than connecting to a box on the wall in your office, they connect via a quality internet stream,” said Joe Lavin, senior product manager at Magnet Networks.

All the end-user needs is an internet-connected phone or VOIP client on their desktop and the right connection details. Unlike call forwarding, this set-up means calls cost the same as they would from the office and extension-to-extension calls, among other things, are still possible.

“The great thing is how flexible it is. Let’s just say the receptionist can’t make it in. Within five minutes, I can set up an interactive voice response (IVR) system which then re-routes those calls to individuals who are in the office or at home,” said Lavin. “I don’t need to deploy someone who sits at the receptionist’s desk all day taking calls.”

A lot of companies made the switch following January’s snowfall and even more did so in light of the swine flu pandemic in 2009, he said. However, he pointed out that the change had to be made before a crisis if people wanted to see the benefit.

If an office is not formally equipped to allow for mass-remote working, ad hoc solutions are often unwise, according to Dermot Williams, managing director of IT security company Threatscape. The recent freeze had led to a lot of people doing things they would normally have avoided. “A lot of what I’d recommend is obvious but under stressful conditions a lot of the obvious gets forgotten,” he said.

This included transferring files to unencrypted USBs and laptops, attaching files to personal e-mail addresses and generally taking chances that could end badly.

He also warned companies against opening the doors too wide to people’s personal computers through VPNs as, in the wrong set-up, an infected computer could wreak havoc once given access to the company network.

However, companies do not just need to think of their staff when the likes of bad weather hits; customers are equally important.

Bulk SMS company Phonovation said it saw a 40 per cent rise in traffic on its service during the recent freeze as organisations and schools sought to update people with opening times and service delays.

“I think what’s happened over the last 12 months is the value of SMS has been proven,” said Gavin Carpenter, sales director with Phonovation. “A lot of people saw it as a social tool and not a business tool but things like this have shown people how much more instant it is than the likes of e-mail.”