The flu season is upon us and news reports are stating that H1N1 will be wide spread this season. IT executives should review and update their disaster recovery/BCP plans and if they do not have one, develop a pandemic plan.
As part of your pandemic planning the following points should be reviewed:
- If you do not have a plan you should develop one. All businesses, no matter how small, should have some type of plan in place to deal with operational disruptions.
- If you have a plan, review and update. Make sure your communication plan is also up-to-date.
- Have a staffing plan to deal with situations when 30-40% of your staff are out at any one time.
- Work with management to develop an action plan for critical actions you need to take within your company to continue to provide core services.
- Keep informed on local and national news about increase cases.
- Create a decision-making protocol for how and when you will ramp up your response when needed.
- Ensure that staff, especially executive staff, know what their roles will be.
- Encourage clear communications across you business units.
A CIO's Voice 