RM Unify, when federated with Microsoft® 365™ and/or Google Workspace, can offer your establishment a reliable, secure and simple way to access all the resources you need to support your business continuity plan in the event of a school closure.

Being well prepared for such an event is key and therefore, this article is intended as a checklist of the actions and considerations for an RM Unify administrator to undertake in advance of any school closure.

• If your establishment uses AD Sync to syncs users from AD/CC4, do all your required users have active accounts in RM Unify?
• AD Sync will sync the active or disabled status of your user accounts to RM Unify, but it is possible to also manually disable and enable users via the Actions menu in the RM Unify Management Console. Just be aware that those changes in the cloud will not sync back down to the network.
• If you are using MIS Sync in Create mode then all your 'on roll' users will have active accounts.
• Do you have users who are not present in either your AD or MIS? If so, you can manually create accounts directly via the RM Unify Management Console, or by uploading a CSV file.

• If you have MIS Sync in Link mode, then you must check if you have completed the linking of RM Unify accounts to MIS records. This must be completed if you want to use Group Sync to provision M365 groups and classes for Microsoft Teams and/or Google classes. The article to assist with MIS linking can be found here.

Users provisioned via AD Sync would usually reset passwords on the local network, but if the school is closed you have some alternative options:

• By default, all staff (Teaching and Non-Teaching roles) can reset student passwords via the Management Console (link present on the top task bar when logged on to RM Unify).
• Staff who may need their passwords changed will need to contact another user assigned either the Password Admin or Super Admin rights.
• Be aware that changing an AD Sync provisioned account's password via the Management Console will put it out of sync with the network password. A network password change, however, will sync back to RM Unify once the users are back in school.

Users provisioned via MIS Sync or manually/via CSV (including Network Provisioning):

• All users should make sure that they have a password recovery email address set and that it is current/correct. Further information and help can be found here.
• An RM Unify admin can generate a CSV file of users to see who has set a password recovery email address (displayed as, for example, '*******@gmail.com' under the HomeEmailAddress column).
• Passwords reset in the cloud will automatically sync to the network where Network Provisioning has been enabled.

For all the users:

• Check that they know their RM Unify account name, email address, password and the URL to log on.
• Check that they know how to reset their password, or who to contact, if required.
• Ensure you have enough users with the rights to change passwords. Assign more Password Admin rights to the staff to give yourself contingency.
• Make sure you have at least two RM Unify Super Admin users, again, for contingency. More info here.
• Check that they all can actually access and log on to RM Unify and/or Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace from their home Internet connections, i.e. no blocked access, error messages, etc.
• Enable MFA in RM Unify for apps containing sensitive data, e.g. Microsoft 365. More info here.

• Is your Microsoft 365 and/or Google Workspace domain federated to RM Unify already?
• Do all your users have accounts provisioned, with the desired email address?
• Do you have Group Sync enabled for the automatic provisioning of Microsoft 365 Groups and/or Google Classes?
• Do you have an adequate number of learning resources, files, etc. uploaded to cloud storage in Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, etc.) and Google Workspace (Sites, Drive, Classroom, etc.).
• Is the Microsoft 365/Google Workspace domain configured as you needed, with regard to permissions, access, group membership, etc.? You may wish to make changes that restrict group creation to certain user types, which groups can email global groups, etc.
• Whilst RM Unify currently does not provision directly into Microsoft Teams, it is possible for staff to create Teams manually and populate them with the Microsoft 365 groups or classes created via RM Unify Group Sync from your MIS teaching, registration and year groups. Please refer to TEC7627933 in the Other Useful Articles section below. An abundance of advice can also be found on the Microsoft Teams portal.

• Start to encourage your users to log on to the Launch Pad so that they can receive Notifications about the school closure, day to day updates, opening dates etc. More info here.

• During an emergency closure situation, you may find that you need help from, or are asked to help, other RM Unify establishments with which you already have a relationship with, e.g. a Trust. With the Manage Other Establishments feature, admins from one school can perform admin tasks in another establishment effortlessly. More info here.

• If you have purchased SSL Connect, check if you have completed the setup and testing of the product. Are you prepared for staff to start using SSL Connect with immediate effect?
• Have you considered if you have enough licences for all the staff?
• If staff could be using a personal laptop, have you considered the security, anti-virus etc. of that device?

• Consider how your users will contact you for support if they do not have access to their RM Unify account and therefore, do not have access to their Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailbox.
• How will you verify users when they request password resets?
• Most establishments should have multiple people with the ability to reset passwords if required. But if you need a password reset for the sole RM Unify Super Admin account, RM Support can assist, with an email of authorisation from the Head or Deputy Head before proceeding.
• Much more detailed information about all the features and functionality of RM Unify can be found by searching the Knowledge Library, but a very useful index article (TEC6543087) for RM Unify admins specifically can be found in the Other Useful Articles section below.

• Google info hub: Teach from Anywhere
• Microsoft info hub: Distance & Remote Learning | Microsoft Education   
• RM advice and help for schools: School Modernisation and IT Strategy (rm.com)