Sitecore COVID-19 Response Plan, Processes, and Policies

Last updated: 16 March 2020

As COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to impact people and organizations around the world, the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and communities remain our top priority. We have planned for circumstances such as these, and have confidence in our ability to adapt to them. While the coming weeks may require ongoing adjustments to employee travel, events, and remote work practices, we do not expect that these changes will in any way affect Sitecore’s product availability or performance, nor will they degrade the support we provide to our customers.

Business Continuity Plan

We have long recognized the potential risks associated with service interruptions due to adverse events resulting from natural, environmental, or man-made disasters, including a public health crisis such as COVID-19. The potential for such events to affect our strategic, operational, stakeholder, and customer obligations – and as part of our ISO-27001 certification – is why we have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place to ensure the ongoing availability of Sitecore solutions. The Sitecore BCP provides the policies and plans necessary for protecting Sitecore’s operations and critical business functions, and includes provisions to support global employees and other personnel who are engaged in providing services to Sitecore, as well as managing critical third-party providers who support delivery of Sitecore’s product offerings.

Additional Actions & Policies

Alongside the processes and actions outlined in our BCP, we are taking additional actions to keep teams productive while ensuring the safety of Sitecore employees and the organizations we serve. Sitecore is continuously monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and the following actions are continuously evaluated to determine any additional steps and needs required, in accordance with the latest guidance from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO):

• Restrictions on Employee Travel: As of 13 February, Sitecore halted all business travel to China. This ban was extended on 28 February to include South Korea and, as of 2 March, we halted all business travel to “hot spot” countries as defined by the WHO, including Iran, Japan, and Italy (in addition to those previously mentioned). On 11 March, we instituted a ban on all international business travel and all non-essential domestic business travel until further notice, utilizing our videoconferencing platforms to supplement these activities. Any essential travel requires the consent of both a member of the Sitecore Leadership Team and the employee participating in such travel, as the health and wellbeing of our employees are of utmost importance.
• Extended Work-from-Home Policies: In accordance with guidance from local health agencies or out of an abundance of caution, we have either directed or recommended a remote work protocol for all staff whose role does not require their presence in a local office. These practices are an extension of Sitecore’s normal business operations. We leverage a range of best-of-breed technologies for secure content collaboration (Box), messaging and video communication (Teams), secure identity (Okta), and other critical cloud tools to deliver uninterrupted remote work for all employees.
• Employee Health Risk Mitigation:  From the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, Sitecore has adopted and distributed WHO COVID-19 best practices to all employees and has also implemented suggested changes. Our offices remain open and available to those who require a presence in an office, and we have rigorous cleaning and disinfection protocols in place. In addition, we have displayed additional health advisories in all offices, including reminders to minimize physical contact and maintain high standards of personal hygiene.
• Adjustments to Scheduled Events and Meeting: In lieu of live events, we are restructuring our own scheduled marketing events to connect people and information virtually from wherever they happen to be. In addition, we have suspended our participation at in-person industry events and conferences until further notice. All other scheduled in-person meetings, including customer meetings, will be conducted virtually.

Conclusion

As the spread of COVID-19 has continued, Sitecore has responded through continuous communication with employees, agents, and business partners to ensure not just education on the matter, and reinforcement of our business continuity plans and incident management. While we do not foresee any impact to Sitecore’s ability to continue to serve and support customers, partners and organizations, we are still planning for the unexpected.

Of course, we will continue to monitor trusted sources such as the World Health Organization as the situation evolves. In the event that a person in one of our offices comes into contact with the virus, we have plans in place that will be executed via email and other forms of communication. Similarly, if at any point we have reason to believe that a customer’s service will be impacted, we will reach out immediately.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your account manager, customer success manager, or Sitecore support personnel.