Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Blogs Careers
    • Blogs
    • Careers

    Is Your Company Prepared for Swine Flu?

    By
    Donald Sears
    -
    April 28, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Human resources and IT, listen up. Swine flu is about to become part of your disaster recovery planning.

      Had to jump on the swine flu train, eh? Well, Gartner did, and it has a point. Being prepared is always a good idea. Gartner is on the swine flu bandwagon, saying this is a time for action, like, immediately. Gartner isn’t using panic rhetoric, but it is saying companies should do something this week. That’s right, get on this thing now.

      Gartner says companies could expect major interruptions and loss of productivity if the issue is not dealt with in a prudent fashion. In fact, Gartner predicts that swine flu could cause “absenteeism rates of 40 percent or higher.” From the Gartner release:

      ““Enterprises in all regions and across all industries should complete their review of their BCM/DR pandemic response plans and fill in any missing elements by the end of this week,” said Roberta Witty, research vice president at Gartner. “Starting today IT managers should meet with senior executives, line-of-business managers and other high-level decision-makers to answer any questions [and make them] aware of the seriousness of this pandemic preparation, to … ensure a broad, ongoing commitment to this effort. IT managers should plan, test, and add capacity to ensure the sustainability of what is likely to be a predominantly work-at-home environment.”“

      Gartner seems to be giving a nod to remote work and making this part of a disaster recovery plan. It’s also a wakeup call to IT pros that they should be ready to deploy the technologies that allow remote work and DR to happen in an organized fashion.

      But if you have swine flu, how much is really going to get done? Have you ever had a bad flu? A bad one can knock you down and out. I would expect productivity to be greatly hampered in the case of a larger swine flu outbreak.

      Given the lockdown advice from everyone from the CDC to the EU, it makes a lot of sense for companies to get a plan in place, inform employees of a clear course of action and be prepared for business to be affected. Gartner’s advice is as follows:

      “Identify existing and projected critical skills shortagesInitiate necessary cross-training, testing or certification of personnelEnsure that cross-trained personnel have the appropriate system/applications access rightsDetermine which business operations are sustainable, and at what level, and the likely downtime for normal business operations during periods with absenteeism rates of 40 percent or higherImmediately initiate rigorous, ongoing and well-documented testing to isolate and remediate identified problem areasPrepare for travel restrictions to be significant in the event of an epidemic and near-universal in the event of a pandemicImplement a communications program that ensures that all personnel are aware of the enterprise’s pandemic response plans, as well as measures they can take to limit the spread of the disease-including practices as simple yet effective as regular hand-washing“

      I feel pretty confident that countries are working well together and taking the spread of swine flu and swine flu treatment as a very serious issue. I don’t think this is going to get out of control, but managing risk is something you and your company cannot ignore.

      How many companies are going to ignore the planning and preparation aspects of swine flu given the recession? Seems like an awfully challenging economic time for tech companies to incur the time and cost associated with taking people off revenue-driving projects in IT and getting them to have swine flu plan in place. But do they really have a choice?

      Until this becomes a major productivity dent in the bottom line, I expect that much of this swine flu business will become e-mails from your HR department and maybe your CEO. IT may not be that involved just yet, but remember, don’t be surprised if department heads start calling around looking for a modification to the DR plan to give the CIO quickly.

      Is your company being proactive about swine flu? Does it offer flu shots seasonally? Has it announced a swine flu preparedness plan and policy?

      Wash your hands. A lot.

      Donald Sears
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×