With the resignation and/or the firing of General McCrystal last week started me thinking, is this another "Wag the dog" distraction from a seated democratic President? To determine its roots, you have to look at the original event that keyed the term "Wag the Dog". Ironically, this time it happens to the leadership charged with military action in the same clouded country of controversy, Afghanistan. Now you might ask the question, what does this have to do with Rottweiler and "wag the dog" issues in security or telecommunications? The problem is actually very common in our industry.
When a dog wags its tail that usually means it is happy, expects some admiration from the owner or a reward. But when the tail wags the dog in the Rottweiler world though, it is just the opposite. The cause of such wagging of the dog? Summer. Georgia's stretch of continuous days of heat and thunderstorms have caused equipment outage calls all over Atlanta due to lightning, power surges and heat stressed overloads. What can your business do to help stop the wagging of the Rottweiler dog?
- Make sure you have a large enough backup power supply to carry the power load of your critical equipment that runs your business when the power goes out. If you have batteries in your system, do a simple power outage test by removing power to the backup unit. If it fails, replace it.
- Conduct a simple lightning inspection review of your lines, power backup units and look for vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. If you are not certain how to do that, have a professional take a look at it.
- Check to see if your business insurance covers lightning damage and update your policy. If you don't need this rider on the policy, you may and the cost of equipment replacement exceeds the cost of the insurance.
- Take time to call the vendor that you are using to insure they are still in business and support your system. 2009 was a year of purge in equipment vendors and the necessity to find a vendor may increase your down time, your delivery of service and repair for a failed system.
- Our Web Enabled Security Systems transmit notification of power outages to personnel so that when you have an outage of power at the office you can take the action necessary prior to other staff members arriving to find numerous issues when they arrive, giving you the proactive edge. It also has a cellular unit and is not telephone line dependent.
- If you have other critical equipment such as generators, freezers or water pump failures our Environmental Security Notification Systems can notify you of temperature drops, pump failures and generator on / off activity. (It can also notify you of fuel levels).
- Explore system replacement and upgrade options. If you are already on the brink of replacement, take the time to get the review costs and start addressing issues that will be required in the preparation of equipment requirements. If it needs a data rack, put it in place. New electrical receptacle, get it installed. A little foresight takes the stress away and proper planning just makes things smoother.
Good leadership takes action as appropriate which brings me back to General McCrystal. Why was General McCrystal assigned the task in Afghanistan? Answer, the same reason he was fired / resigned...he spoke his mind. Had McCrystal remained silent we would not have had a shining light towards the leadership in charge of the Afghanistan war and consequently the lives of America's young service men. You may disagree with this statement, but when you look at the indecisiveness of the current administration and their lack in developing a stable government that can withstand the political pressure of the various sects in the country of Afghanistan, you too will question our current leadership staff at the White House. The problem with poor leadership is their inability to address the issue.
Our best advice, which may be your best solution, is to take a few minutes, follow the few steps we have listed above and if your business experiences an equipment outage you will have taken some steps so that it will resolve quicker, your business will stay in business and you will have helped stop the the wagging of the dog .
