When the severity of the COVID-19 crisis became clear, we knew that we needed to put into action a plan we hoped to never use.
Spinnaker Trust, like all Maine regulated banks, has been working on, revising and upgrading a disaster recovery plan since we opened our doors 19 years ago. The threat could take many potential forms: a fire in the building, an earthquake, a terrorist attack, a tidal wave, or even a pandemic. Clients depend on us, and we needed to be prepared for any scenario.
Over the years many things have changed – primarily on the technology front. Years ago, we would have hoped to get our physical servers to a second, secure location, connect desk-top computers, phones and a modem (!) and keep moving along as best we could. Today, most of our technology is cloud based, and each of our employees has a company laptop, a smart phone and access to high speed internet.
Even with all the necessary technology in place and the clear need to go remote, making the decision to abandon ship was still an incredibly hard decision. We knew we would need to reassure clients that we were operating as usual; and we needed to trust that our systems and technology – that until now had been tested during single snow days over the years – would be able to sustain our business remotely for an indefinite period of time.
Businesses across the state were wrestling with the same paradox we were: how to keep employees and their families safe and continue to serve clients. Putting the health of our team and community at the forefront, we knew we had to trust our disaster plan and put it into action.
We made the decision on Friday, March 13th to have our entire team working from home by the middle of the following week. All but six Spinnaker employees had their own company laptops ready to take home that day. Several also took monitors, keyboards and printers. Plans were made for mail pick-up, check deposits and all the daily office activities.
Six laptops were set to be delivered on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17. Several intrepid employees made it into the office to get their new laptops and by Tuesday night, everyone was out of the office and working from home. We could not have pulled this off without the assistance of our technology partner, Systems Engineering.
We have now settled into our home offices. Every morning, full-staff calls kick-off our days, and team calls and meetings are continuing without interruption. We have been busy reaching out to clients to allay concerns all while core functions, such as portfolio trading and money movement, have been continuing seamlessly.
Spinnaker Trust now has 34 offices, spread all over southern Maine, working smoothly together as one. Going back to our founding, many people deserve credit for the planning and execution of this move. Today, our whole team deserves credit for being top-notch professionals willing to go the extra mile, for our clients and each other.