“The nation is facing a once-in-a-100-years pandemic, and as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Fourth Mission, VA is now assisting local health care networks in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, following social distancing guidelines, a large portion of VA staff began working remotely in March.”
“The Office of Information and Technology (OIT) mobilized to address this immense and sudden demand for remote access capabilities. Prior to COVID-19, remote access user connections of all types numbered around 156,000 across VA. IT Operations and Services (ITOPS) set out to expand the network to enable a seamless and secure transition to a remote-first workforce as COVID-19 cases grew exponentially across the country.”
“Taking an all-hands-on-deck approach, OIT doubled the available network bandwidth in record time, compressing months of work to under two weeks. The strengthened network ensured the large number of first-time remote users could easily and quickly access their workstations to support VA’s COVID-19 response. Remote access is granted through two methods which OIT upscaled to meet VA demand. Daily RESCUE Virtual Private Network (VPN) accounts that ensure secure access to VA systems were doubled to encompass over 240,000 users and is on track to expand to 500,000…” Read the full article here.
Source: Opening the Floodgates: VA Surges Remote Capabilities and Doubles Network Capacity – May 8, 2020. DigitalVA.
