Few IT Pros Prepared for a Pandemic

Though 69 percent of senior IT and business professionals believe that there is a likelihood that a disaster or crisis will interrupt their business workflow over the next two years, 60 percent have not increased their budgets in preparation, finds a study released Sept. 6 by infrastructure solutions provider Forsythe Technology.

"It's a complete change from where [companies] were a number of years ago, when nobody wanted to acknowledge that a disaster could occur. Now they're much more aware of the likelihood, and in many cases have very solid disaster recover plans, but they don't accommodate for workplace shortages," Mike Croy, director of business continuity for Forsythe Solutions Group, based in Skokie, Ill., told eWEEK.

The study found that while only 35 percent of companies were prepared to deploy more than 10 percent of their work force remotely, 30 percent felt they needed 60 percent or more of their employee population present to order to maintain adequate business operations.

Most U.S. workers prefer to split their time between telecommuting and office work. Click here to read more.

The study found these statistics troubling in the face of statistics outlined by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office predicting that up to 30 percent of the population could be incapacitated in the event of an Avian flu outbreak, affecting commerce and leading to reduced patronage and closure of public areas.

Read the full story on eWEEK.com: Few IT Pros Prepared for a Pandemic