Disaster

Post by Tad Johnson, Enterprise Solutions Manager

It happened like this: I was in Cupertino with a few colleagues, preparing for an Executive Briefing with local customers. We went to restaurant near the office to get dinner and a final planning session for the next day. As I walked back to the car, my stomach flipped: the rear window was smashed my computer bag was gone. 

For the next few minutes, my thoughts were scrambled: I was angry, frustrated, scared. My presentation is lost.  I'm going to get fired. (Side note: that was the last time I ever left a computer in a parked car) 

Then I took a deep breath. 

First things first: police report. While my colleague called the police, I pulled out my iPhone and looked up the hardware details of my stolen computer. We use the Casper Suite for Mac management and all employees have read-only access to the inventory database so I could easily look up my serial number and asset tag. I knew it was a long-shot that we would ever get the stolen computer back, but with a proper police report we could submit an insurance claim. Check. 

The next call was to our IT team. Since my Mac was managed by the Casper Suite and encrypted with Filevault, IT could remotely wipe the hard drive with a few clicks. I was pretty sure that the thief was more interested in the MacBook Pro hardware than my data, but I wasn't taking any chances. 

When we finished with the police, the next stop was the nearest Apple Store in Santa Clara. With 30 minutes to spare before they closed, I walked in and purchased a new MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter. Then I headed back to the hotel. 

After unboxing and completing the Mac setup assistant, I typed in the URL for our Casper Suite server and logged in using my company credentials. I downloaded and ran the Casper Suite setup tool and a few minutes later, I had our Self Service app catalog ready to go. The first software I installed was the CrashPlan PROe backup agent, so I could begin restoring my data. I queued up a few more applications I would need for the presentation, set CrashPlan to restore my Documents directory, and went to bed. 

The next morning, I grabbed the Mac and headed to the office. Less than 12 hours after a smash-and-grab thief nabbed my kit, I was able to deliver my presentation to a full house. Disaster adverted, thanks to the Santa Clara Apple Store, our IT team, and the Casper Suite. 

No one plans for this type of incident, so it's critical to have the tools and processes in place to quickly react when disaster strikes. If you'd like to see how the Casper Suite can help to disaster-proof your organization, drop a line and our team will get in touch.