(By John Shomby) If you booked a flight or had to pay with cash at your favorite restaurant on July 19, you know how fragile our technological ecosystem can be. A global IT outage has exposed dangerous vulnerabilities around the world.
For almost five days A faulty Microsoft software update from a company called CrowdStrike wreaked havoc, costing Fortune 500 companies an estimated $5.4 billion in uninsured losses. It was a total disaster, but the fact that it even happened is just scary!
Of course, I couldn’t help but think of the dreaded regular software updates our IT guy has performed at various radio stations over the years. If I had a nickel for every late-night call about a software bug, I could REALLY retire.
However, these failures were minor compared to what happened a few weeks ago. What if something major happened in our broadcast world – like the worldwide outage? Are we fully prepared? Do we have contingency plans? What happens if you don’t have access to your main computer network in your building for days, not just hours?
When I was programming in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, we developed various plans and contingency plans for hurricane damage because it was inevitable in some form in that part of the country. When it happened (and it did!), we were prepared. Most of it revolved around our stations and storm coverage. The computer systems were all good because we had those generators to handle power outages. What happened in the global blackout was much more extensive and generators were not the answer.
I decided to talk to some of my IT friends to see what ideas they had and added some of my own:
HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
- Have MULTIPLE backup servers with all your information to avoid interruptions.
- Make sure EVERYTHING is backed up daily – music logs, music library, station metadata, program logs, etc. and keep these backups in a safe place.
- Consider a cloud-based platform if you don’t already have one.
MANUAL OPERATION
- If you do not have the necessary experience, hire someone with the appropriate training to train your employees manually run the station – music logs, program logs, reports, etc. You may never need to refer to them, but I highly recommend making sure your staff knows. Yes, like the “old” days.
- If there is a complete digital outage, be prepared with other ways to play your music. Your control board will still work, so I would suggest having a station laptop that can work with music logs, program logs, etc. Your WiFi may still work, but if not, use a phone hotspot if necessary. The goal here is to make sure you all Operations covered during an outage.
COMMUNICATION
- Give all key station staff specific tasks for this situation. Be specific, print the tasks and keep them in a safe place.
- Have contact information ready and set up the various communication channels for effective communication during an outage (phone, SMS, email, social networks, etc.).
- Work with your sales and digital staff to develop a plan to resolve the issue with advertisers, such as scheduling spots, sending reports, etc.
- Inform your listeners about what might be different during the interruption.
That’s a lot of work for something that may never happen, but trust me, I’ve learned from these hurricanes that you should be prepared for anything. With this global blackout still fresh in our minds, we should redouble our efforts.
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, John Shomby is the owner and CEO of Radio coach of the country. He focuses on coaching and mentoring artists, radio programmers and on-air talent to help them grow and develop within the radio station and the industry. You can reach John at (email protected) and 757-323-1460. Read John’s Radio Ink archives Here.
