SHARE

Most Companies Ill Prepared for Pandemic

If the avian flu became an epidemic here, or worse, a worldwide pandemic, is your company prepared? Most likely the answer is no, and that’s a big problem according to Basex, a New York-based research firm that specializes in collaborative business environments. In a report released this week, Basex says eighty percent of large companies […]

Written By

David Needle

Dec 23, 2005

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

If the avian flu became an epidemic here, or worse, a worldwide pandemic, is your company prepared?

Most likely the answer is no, and that’s a big problem according to Basex, a New York-based research firm that specializes in collaborative business environments.

In a report released this week, Basex says eighty percent of large companies worldwide are ill-prepared for business continuity in the event of a pandemic type event. “But people need to think about planning. The time to install IT infrastructure is not in the middle of a pandemic.”

The report includes two case studies. One details work that IBM has done which Spira says is “about as prepared as a company could be.” The other is about New York City, which Spira is highly critical of for its “thou shalt not tele-work” policy for its 350,000 employees.

IBM has instituted what it calls a “collaborative business environment” which enables many of its 320,000 to work remotely as the need arises.

“Most people at IBM could work from home and the business would not suffer,” said Mike Wing, vice president of strategic communications at IBM, in the report. “On any given day, more than 40 percent of the company’s workforce does not report to an IBM facility.”

Spira attributes the lack of preparedness at most companies to not taking the threat seriously enough. But, as the residents of New Orleans found out this year, and New Yorkers affected by this week’s transit strike, bad things can strike unexpectedly.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
Top 10 AIOps Companies

FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
What is Text Analysis?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
Finding a Career Path in AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020

SEE ALL
ARTICLES

David Needle

David Needle is a veteran technology reporter based in Silicon Valley. He covers mobile, big data, customer experience, and social media, among other topics. He was formerly news editor at Infoworld, editor of Computer Currents and TabTimes, and West Coast bureau chief for both InformationWeek and Internet.com.

Most Companies Ill Prepared for Pandemic

David Needle

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories

Most Companies Ill Prepared for Pandemic

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

David Needle

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories