IBM and Coronavirus stories

Sarah O'Donnell: Lending a hand across the globe

Sarah O'Donnell, with IBM Watson and Cloud Platform Business Ops, has been working long days supporting IBM's cloud and cognitive software teams across Europe and North America. Based in Dublin, Sarah works with IBMers across time zones and scheduled in varying shifts, of 8 to 12 hours. "Right now, we work when we need to work—if you're able," she says.
Some engineers need to take time to relocate where they work, from office to home, while others need to care for family members. Ensuring that each person gets the time to protect themselves and their families—while keeping IBM's business operating—has been a challenge. "Right now, we're not affected" by the coronavirus directly, she says. "But we're going to be."
"If we have too many people working on a Saturday or Sunday, that's okay," she says, knowing that her team can use the time to focus on backlogs—and doing work to prepare for whatever comes next. "It's like doing dry runs. When we're down in numbers, those of us who are able will have to step up. That's it."
For Sarah, the only time she can recall that was as uncertain as today's global pandemic came after Sept. 11, 2001, when she was working in Boston. "There was terrible fear. We didn't know what was going to happen next."
"This is different," Sarah says from her home in Ireland. "It's global."
For now, even as she tasks IBMers to prepare to cover shifts for colleagues who might become unable to work on short notice, she's had no trouble finding people ready to "step up." In fact, IBMers have been lining up offering help. "We're not just doing it for us. We're doing it for each other—for humanity."

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