As we are all aware, the evolving situation regarding the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak is causing significant global economic impacts. From an IT standpoint, we are also noticing disruptions and want to be sure to provide you with what we know and what can be done to minimize any potential for impact to your IT needs, specifically in regard to supply chain and preparedness.

For many of us, the direct impact of the Coronavirus to date has been minimal or nonexistent. Behind the scenes, the availability of product in the global supply chain is anything but the status quo. While the inventories vary by vendor, the disruptions will likely continue for weeks. The longer the situation occurs, the greater potential effects to our day to day normal.

The most significant impacts most likely are not yet known, but we have been advised by our distribution partners that once current stock levels are depleted, they expect a minimum of 8 to 12 weeks before replenishments arrive. Our Procurement Team continues to monitor stock and availability levels each day for our clients, but we ask you to consider taking the following precautionary steps to help minimize any delays and disruptions that could be faced in your IT procurement process:

• Provide your IT contact as much notice as possible on any planned hiring, including interns, that will require hardware such as laptops, desktops, or workstations, or project/upgrade efforts that you hope to accomplish in 2020.
• Be diligent in retrieving and returning any equipment from terminated employees to the your IT team so that they can review, re-image, and re-purpose existing equipment whenever possible.
• If you procure your own equipment, before you make any final purchases make sure the equipment you’re getting meets your company’s minimum required standards. It is during material shortages that you must remain vigilant for any counterfeit or fraudulent products.

While our region has been designated at this time as having a low risk for an outbreak, we encourage everyone to establish plans now for employees to telecommute in the event of an emergency. Be sure to review your current remote work capabilities as well as plan any potential upgrades.

We are making conscious efforts to stay aware of the evolving spectrum of the Coronavirus outbreak. This continues to be a very fluid situation with information varying from vendor to vendor and manufacturer to manufacturer. We are monitoring the situation closely and will notify you of updates as we receive them. Likewise, our vendors are working aggressively to overcome any challenges that might occur in the channel and are updating our team as changes are made.