http://www.eweek.com/
article2/0,1895,1957612,00.asp
By Larry Dignan
May 4, 2006
VeriCenter Chief Technology Officer Dave Colesante is a rare
bird.
Unlike many IT executives, Colesante has actually thought
about a
potential avian influenza virus, or bird flu, pandemic and
reckons his
company, which provides technology services, is relatively
prepared if
the virus becomes transmitted through human contact.
After all, Colensante's 225-person support staff is used to
managing
VeriCenter's seven data centers from home.
And that's a good thing if a bird flu pandemic hits,
because the
federal government would encourage "social
distancing" to prevent
further illness. According to the Department of Health and
Human
Services, a severe bird flu pandemic would make 30 percent
of the
population, or 90 million people, ill and result in 2
million deaths.
Companies would have absentee rates of about 40 percent.
"You would
have to set up to remotely manage IT," said Colesante
in Houston.
"You'd have to leverage connectivity."
The big question: How many companies are prepared for a bird
flu
pandemic? An AMR Research study released May 2 found that 68
percent
of companies with more than $1 billion in revenue aren't
ready for a
pandemic. An earlier study by Deloitte & Touche
concluded that
two-thirds of companies aren't prepared for a pandemic.
Among the issues: How do you manage a work force at home?
What workers
would be on site in data centers to swap servers and manage
power? Can
companies rely on Internet access in employees' homes?
Those questions are likely to pick up for technology workers
and
others involved with business continuity. Through April 27,
the World
Health Organization tracked 205 cases of bird flu that led
to 113
deaths. On April 28, a mild form of bird flu was found at a
live-bird
market in New Jersey. Meanwhile, public awareness—not to
mention your
boss' - could be stoked by "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu
in America," an
ABC movie airing May 9.
"This is just now becoming a hot button issue,"
said Henry Fieglein,
chief innovation officer of thin-client company Wyse
Technology, in
Austin, Texas. Fieglein, who was the global director of
infrastructure
and security architecture at Deutsche Bank, led a task force
to
prepare the bank for a pandemic. According to Fieglein, the
bank is
exploring thin-client technology that would extend into
workers' homes
to securely re-create on-site technology such as telephony
and trading
applications. Deutsche Bank said in a statement that its
business
continuity plan can "cover a wide range of
contingencies, including
pandemics," but officials declined further comment.
While preparations are fluid, there is one bright side: We
have time.
"An avian flu pandemic is not coming tomorrow, and the
disease is
probably a ways off," said Alex Tabb, principal at The
Tabb Group, a
New York-based consultancy to financial services firms.
"But that
doesn't mean you don't plan now."
M. Lewis Temares, CIO and dean of the engineering school at
the
University of Miami, said it can't hurt to bring bird flu
preparations
to the forefront. "Companies aren't paying attention
to this at all,"
said Temares. "It's like Y2K - no one worried about
it until right
before Y2K. Most don't have a plan."
Companies remain mum about bird flu preparations, but they
note the
risks. For the fiscal year ended April 24, bird flu was
mentioned in
annual and quarterly reports 388 times, according to
regulatory
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Where's the Return?
Tabb said the biggest reason companies are quiet about their
planning
is that they are just getting started. In addition, it's
hard to
generate a return for something that may never happen. Given
the
uncertainty, Tabb said executives need technologies that
will deliver
a return even if a pandemic doesn't occur.
"The main thing to determine is what you have lying
around today that
can be reused in the case of a pandemic," said Tabb.
"Being pragmatic
is important if you are going to have your staff working
from home."
The lack of a short-term return on bird flu planning means
many
companies are viewing a pandemic scenario as an extension to
current
business continuity plans. "We have our hurricane
playbook as far as
contingency planning goes, and we'd probably amend that for
bird flu,"
said George Chizmar, vice president of IT at Apple
Vacations.
Colesante said VeriCenter's plan is to make sure its most
valuable
technology tools are ready in case bird flu breaks out.
Fieglein advised that companies schedule work-at-home days
to test
infrastructure.
Among the technology tools that will be necessary in a
pandemic:
* VPN: "The VPN is the most important technology to
create a redundant
tunnel so workers can tunnel from various locations
securely," said
Colesante.
The challenge: It has to be tested so it can handle a
crush of
at-home workers, he said.
* Desktop support: Some workers will use their home PCs.
Companies
will need to keep desktop applications standardized and
maintain
security.
The challenge: Security could be an issue. "It's
easy to
say employees will work from their house, but less secure
if they
don't have the same level of software protection they
have at work,"
Colesante said.
* Identity management: Steve Ross, global leader of
Deloitte's
business continuity management practice, said a pandemic
would force
companies to cross-train workers on technologies. Perhaps
an auditor
has to fill in to manage a database.
The challenge: A company will need technologies to track
and
provision worker roles and access permissions quickly,
most likely
from afar.
* Citrix MetaFrame: One way around standardizing
applications would be
to allow workers to tunnel into applications through
software from
Citrix, Tabb said.
The challenge: Bandwidth constraints could hamper
performance.
* Thin clients: Fieglein said Wyse has discussed streaming
software
that would deliver applications remotely to PCs. Deutsche
Bank is
already a Wyse hardware customer.
The challenge: Companies would need to build the
centralized
architecture to support thin-client use in the home.
Ross said those technologies only go so far because some
productivity
will be lost. "People are used to working together,
and if you
separate them, it may not go as well," he said.
"Teleworking is a
major issue, and there are problems with social
distance."
Wild Card: Cable and DSL Access
Of course, all this planning isn't going to help companies
if
so-called last mile access to workers' homes falters.
Tabb said companies with workers at home will rely on cable
and DSL
providers for connectivity. "If a massive number of
people have to
work from home, that last mile is going to get clogged
quickly," Tabb
said. "There will be congestion if industry has to
move significant
data back and forth."
VeriCenter's Colesante said his workers also have wireless
cards that
connect to cellular networks to use in case of DSL or cable
outages.
The rub with all that telecommuting: Someone has to pick up
the tab.
"You need a continuity policy that dictates how a
company approaches
broadband," Tabb said. "Should the company
reimburse broadband for
those that aren't connected?"
Add that to the long list of bird flu planning yet to be
done. "No one
wants to tempt fate and say we have all of this
covered," said Ross,
in New York. "Especially when they haven't really
started to consider
the implications."
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