Telework as a business continuity strategy

A survey has found that less than half of organisations utilise telework in business continuity plans.

Yesterday, at the WorldatWork 50th Annual Conference, ITAC, the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork, published survey results showing that less than half of the private and public sector organisations surveyed by ITAC in 2004 had included telework in their business continuity plans. 21 percent of respondents said that telework was highly integrated into their BCPs, and 25 percent said it was lightly integrated. 41 percent of respondents did not use telework as a business continuity strategy at all, with the remainder being made up of 3 percent who didn’t know.

ITAC is promoting telework as a key business continuity tool. At the conference ITAC stated that “Telework enables an organisation’s employees to continue working when faced with many disaster-related interruptions, be they man made or natural, by using current communications and computer technologies to work from home, on the road, or at a client’s office, simply anywhere.”

From its research, sponsored by the AT&T Foundation and Cisco Systems, ITAC has produced a comprehensive publication, ‘Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started.’ The report provides eight detailed steps on how to incorporate telework into a business continuity program. In addition the report describes technology solutions that enable people to work remotely at anytime, and provides strategies for federal agencies to survive disaster.

An executive summary of Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started is available for downloading for free from ITAC’s website, www.workingfromanywhere.org . People wanting to learn more can order, while supplies last, one free copy of the complete document for their organisation. Additional copies can be purchased for $34.95. The report can be ordered online from the ITAC web site or by calling WorldatWork at 877-951-9191 and select option 7.

•Date: 24th May 2005 • Region: N.America/World • Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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