New England Solution Providers: A Little Snow Can't Stop Us

Schools may be closed across New England, but solution providers and MSPs still have businesses to run.

Despite being hit hard by the blizzard known as Juno Monday night through Tuesday, executives say they were well prepared thanks to weather forecasts in addition to cloud and mobile technologies allowing employees to work effectively remotely.

"Weather forecasting has changed the way we do business," said Carl Rubin, operations manager at software consultancy firm Monument Data Solutions, based in Salem, N.H. "We had a plan telling everyone to get ready. We had discussions when the blizzard was coming and addressed it with everyone yesterday morning to make sure they were home before it started snowing. Everyone is doing pretty well on this."

[Related: Solution Providers Help Customers Brace For Massive Blizzard Hitting Northeast]

Rubin, who was working from home in Needham, Mass., said he got about 21 inches of snow in his area but his clients won’t want to hear that as an excuse. Monument Data Solutions has clients all over the country and overseas, so Rubin understands that they are not affected by this blizzard and still need his company’s services.

"We have so much notice now that the blizzard of 1978 isn’t going to happen again," Rubin said. "We know so much now. The forecast five or six days ago said this storm was going to be bad. It was consistently saying two feet of snow the whole time. I have clients in South Carolina and one in Arizona. They are still on their regular schedules, so it doesn't matter what happens here. We still have to work."

Companies acknowledge with the fair warning they got from weather reports in addition to mobile office tools, including the cloud, it is much easier to stay productive remotely.

"So far so good -- no worries. The cloud is where it's at," said Harry Curran, COO of Atrion, based in Warwick, R.I. "It's worked out pretty well."

Curran listed cloud-hosted operation systems, mobility and training as the three keys to his business staying open during times like this. He said all employees have cellphones and laptops and are trained on a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.

"Honestly for us, our clients don’t know the difference or whether we’re at home."

Curran said that his area was hit with around two feet of snow and all his employees are working from home.

The snow does cause some inconvenience for certain businesses, however.

"You still can't get away from boots on the ground," said Frank McDonough, co-founder of TCG Network Service, Natick, Mass. "When the streets open back up our field guys will be on site wrapping up any projects they have and continuing to do business. We're heading out Wednesday for sure, that’s a guarantee."

McDonough noted that his business is open Tuesday despite being hit with 18 to 22 inches of snow.

"We stay open because we've been doing this for a long time," he said. "Part of it is just the whole proactive methodology in the MSP."

It's been made easier with remote monitoring tools, remote access tools, VoIP and cloud-based apps, he said.

McDonough added that all his employees are at home today working as 90 percent to 95 percent of support work can be done remotely.

SARAH KURANDA contributed to this story.

PUBLISHED JAN. 27, 2015