If SynchroNet Had Been Around in 1776 – Part 1

Timeline be Darned … Because this is Going to be Good

On July 4, we’ll celebrate our nation’s birth—241 years ago. As it turned out, declaring independence was the easy part; we still had to fight the Revolutionary War. Sure, we won (ergo, the celebration) but we got to wondering how much more easily things might have gone for the Founding Fathers had they gone The SynchroNet Way.

With a little anachronistic imagining, let’s look at a few Revolutionary War low-points that might have been avoided with a SynchroNet approach:

Surrender of Fort Washington

Things weren’t going very well for the Americans in 1776, especially in the New York, NY area. General George Washington’s Continental army suffered defeat after defeat, culminating in the loss of Fort Washington … along with the city itself. Nearly 3,000 American soldiers and their provisions were captured, plus we lost 34 cannons, two howitzers and a lot of ammunition—men and materials that the fledging army could ill afford. The Americans wouldn’t get New York back until the peace treaty was signed on Nov. 25, 1783.

How the SynchroNet Way could have helped

When you have limited resources and little margin of error, there are things you just can’t afford to lose. You always need a backup plan, and that’s what SynchroNet business continuity is all about. We’re pretty sure Washington would have appreciated a way to move his forces out of harm’s way and then get them all marching again with little or no downtime … the way we rescue and protect data and restore IT systems.

Valley Forge

Washington led about 12,000 men to camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in December of 1777. Freezing conditions with inadequate clothing, poor shelter, and non-existent food rations claimed the lives of about 2,500 Continentals, primarily through disease and starvation. Understandably, desertion was rampant and by the time the relief of springtime arrive 4,000 of those who had remained were unfit for duty.

How the SynchroNet Way could have helped

If there was ever a situation where employees would have been better off working from home, Valley Forge was it! Through our hosted solutions and cloud computing, everyone would have been able to communicate, collaborate and work on strategies from the comfort of their own hearths.

Defeat at Charleston

The year was 1780. General Benjamin Lincoln found his Continental army of 5,500 in South Carolina facing a British force of 11,000, so he decided to retreat to Charlestown. Though the town appeared defensible, it essentially stands at the end of peninsula, meaning there was no way for the Americans to escape. The British navy then bombarded the Americans from the sea until Lincoln surrendered.

How the SynchroNet Way could have helped

SynchroNet’s managed services offerings are all about helping organizations avoid trouble. While it may be a stretch to say we could have kept the British at bay, our risk assessments would have certainly red-flagged the Americans to stay out of Charleston, as we would have been aware of the Royal Navy through our remote monitoring services.