Coronavirus (COVID-19)

With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continuing to develop in the UK, FluidOne Ltd are closely monitoring the information provided by the UK Government and World Health Organisation (WHO), and have put in motion our ISO 22301 certified Business Continuity plan to ensure any impact to services is appropriately minimised, or mitigated entirely.

FluidOne’s Crisis Management Team (CMT) have been assembled to make key preventive and reactive decisions based on the information made available, with these considerations categorised into the following sections:

Preventive Measures

All staff are being actively encouraged to adhere to best practice guidelines for minimising the transmission of infectious diseases in the workplace, with guidance including but not limited to:

• Conducting all meetings using conference and video call facilities where possible
• Avoiding handshakes and other close contact with others
• Self-isolation following travel from a known high-risk area
• Best practice hand washing techniques with soap and water

Alcohol hand sanitizer has also been made available to all staff and visitors at entrances and communal areas, with personal hygiene guidance clearly displayed throughout all office locations.

Service Continuity & Supply Chain

As a business entity FluidOne are entirely location independent, with all staff capable of working from home with immediate notice. Core business functions are also not reliant on a physical location or the ability to travel. Those staff who do not regularly work from home are currently undertaking testing days at home to ensure readiness.

Services are, however, reliant on our supply chain and their respective continuity practices. Due to this reliance, and in addition to standard supplier management procedures, we have obtained up to date confirmation from our key suppliers that suitable measures are in place for a potential COVID-19 outbreak and the risks posed to service availability.

Datacentre locations housing our core network and colocation services have all confirmed direct access and/or remote hands capability will be maintained throughout any quarantine, disinfection or restricted travel scenario. In addition, faulty hardware replacement services are in an assured state from our suppliers, however these could be impacted in a Force Majeure scenario. Where possible we are deploying spare hardware to key datacentre locations to attempt to mitigate this risk.

The provisioning of any service-related hardware is also subject to business continuity plans. However, due to manufacturing shutdown in China, and following discussions with key hardware suppliers, we believe there will be some disruption to global supply chains over the summer and autumn periods. We are stockpiling equipment so far as we can, but customers should be mindful of this risk.

Ongoing Crisis Management

FluidOne’s CMT are closely monitoring the situation and reviewing guidance issued by the aforementioned sources, with regular meetings scheduled to continually assess the risk level and ensure appropriate measures are in place to minimise the potential impact to our services.

Whilst the situation can be considered relatively unpredictable at this stage, FluidOne has full confidence in the preparedness of our supply chain and the maturity of our Business Continuity Management System, which has undergone regular testing, development and assessment since first achieving ISO certified status in 2014.

If you have any specific questions relating to your services received from FluidOne, and how the Coronavirus outbreak could affect them, please contact your FluidOne account manager who will respond or redirect your query accordingly. Equally, if you need advice on your own business continuity plans, including how to gear up for remote working, then please get in touch and we will engage the appropriate staff to discuss with you.