COVID-19 Response

, Mar 24, 2020

The COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak has now quickly spread across the globe and into every region where Logicalis operates.  

Please find below the Logicalis actions to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which are in addition to our business continuity plan (BCP). This page will be updated as official guidance and our response changes (updated 24/03/2020).   

Logicalis regularly checks the WHO and Public Health England updates for advice, and have implemented the following travel restrictions, which are effective immediately:

  • International travel: All international (cross-border) business travel is suspended until 30th April 2020, except for business-critical travel, which requires the approval of the regional CEO.
  • Business-critical travel is defined as that which is essential to our continued operations and customers business.
  • Domestic travel for internal meetings: As per the recent government advice, Logicalis has taken the steps to temporarily close both our Slough and London offices. All office-based staff have been moved to a remote working model until further notice. Staff who are based at a customer site will adhere to customer regulations and follow their suggested security protocol. Our data centre is isolated from the rest of our offices, and visits to the data centre have been restricted to business-critical only. All staff still on-site have been asked to monitor their health carefully and to self-isolate if they feel unwell. All home-based staff will utilise Cisco Webex or Microsoft Teams to conduct any internal meetings.
  • Domestic travel for external meetings: Again, the use of Webex or Teams is preferred unless the meeting is considered critical, in which case, domestic travel should be approved by an Executive Leadership Team member.

Forms of travel

In addition to travel policies we are introducing the following travel rules:

  • Avoid peak hour train travel: Travel in non-peak time or drive to desired locations
  • Avoid London tube/bus: Use taxis where available if travel is essential. 

Events

To avoid the increased risk that large gatherings of people from across the organisation brings and in light of government advice, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone all internal and customers events scheduled to take place between now and the end of April. These decisions will be reviewed in-line with government advice as and when it is updated.

Employee Safety and Business Continuity Plans

Our Business Continuity Plan has been prepared to assist the organisation to manage a serious, disruptive crisis in a controlled and structured manner, and to limit the impact on both employees and customers.

We deliver continual training to our staff in relation to information security and best practices, and we have a range of remote connectivity and collaboration tools in place to ensure we can continue to work effectively and efficiently with each other, our customers, and our suppliers.  

The majority of our core business applications are SaaS-based, and our employees’ laptops have full encryption technology applied. We are confident that our business operations and service commitments to customers will continue as normal, and that we can operate all of our systems and processes remotely with little to no interruptions.

If any of our employees are experiencing any flu-like or feverish symptoms or believe they may have come into close contact with anyone else experiencing these symptoms, we will ask them to self-isolate and begin to notify anyone who may be at risk due to recent contact with that employee.

In areas of extreme concern, teams may be broken down into smaller cells to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

Our priority is to keep our employees in good health and there are some simple things that we can all do to reduce our risk. We have communicated guidance from WHO to all employees and are actively driving the following advice:

  • Wash hands frequently and for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap and water. 
  • Practise ‘respiratory hygiene’ to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard the tissue immediately into a closed bin and, in any event, wash your hands. 
  • Maintain social distancing, wherever possible, keep at least one metre between yourself and other people and avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth to limit transferring viruses from surfaces.

The health of Logicalis’ clients, employees and partners is our primary concern, and we will continue to monitor developments and factor these into plans as WHO and Public Health England advise. 

All Logicalis UK employees who are visiting customer sites will be asked to adhere to the highest level of guidance in place, whether that be the guidance issued above, or whether any customer sites have implemented further controls. The internal guidance will continue to mirror that of the WHO and Public Health England, and may be updated at any time.

Our service centres are actively implementing similar policies, and we are confident that we will be able to continue to operate at full service. As a global organisation, we also have the backup of service centres around the world, and we are working on contingency planning as government advice evolves.

You can check this page regularly for any updates to this guidance. For customers of IBM, Microsoft, or Cisco, you can find their statements below.

IBM: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/2020/03/ibm-statement/

Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/05/our-commitment-to-customers-during-covid-19/

Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/partners/downloads/coronavirus-faq.pdf

Where possible, Logicalis UK is committed to doing everything possible to reduce any supply chain disruption. However, in instances where delays are out of our control, we remain committed to keeping our customers informed every step of the way.  

Further information regarding Logicalis Group’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak can be found here. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact your Account Manager or email info@uk.logicalis.com.

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