NEWS

LMI conducts work-at-home day to test continuity of operations plan

“We learned a lot about our telecommuting capabilities” said CEO Donald L. Pilling

McLean, Virginia, August 24, 2006— The LMI management team understands that continuity of operations planning is not enough; those plans must be tested in a realistic environment.  On August 9, 2006, LMI tested its plan for continuing operations in adisaster making the main facility unavailable by having the entire headquarters staff work from home. The goal was to conduct a normal day of business through telecommuting.

Many employees already telecommute at times and employees who travel are familiar with remote access to LMI systems. For many employees who normally work on site, this was their first attempt at telecommuting. Staff members were expected to view and respond to emails, use work folders on LMI’s LAN, access internal business applications, and fill out their timesheets at the end of the day. In addition, all officers and directors held staff meeting via teleconferencing. One director conducted an internal training course via WEBX.

Initial results from the work at home experience were that employees connect to LMI systems in a myriad of ways depending on their service provider, equipment, and with varying levels of expertise. LMI Helpdesk personnel were busy helping employees with numerous unanticipated problems but in the end, 98% were able to connect and work. After the work at home day, employees were asked to fill out a survey about their experiences so lessons learned can be compiled. The resulting report is expected to lead to a stronger infrastructure and a staff better prepared for emergencies.