Two thirds of the UK’s companies plan to use home working to maintain business continuity in the event of workplace disruption, according to a new survey.
Research commissioned by Citrix, the access infrastructure provider, shows that 90% of those questioned had some form of plan to keep employees working in the event of a terrorist strike or a bird-flu pandemic.
Companies plan to use server-based computing to keep staff working and three-quarters of those questioned would use web mail.
Tools such as PDAs, Blackberrys and other mobile working tools are also tipped as good ways for staff to work away from the office with 60% citing their use.
A similar number will use desktop-based collaboration tools to cope in the event of the office not being usable or reachable.
Chris Mayers, principal security architect at Citrix, said: “Clear thinking about how to keep the business running, rather than just getting it back on its feet, is the most significant trend our research has identified.
“It is very encouraging to see that the UK’s larger businesses are putting business continuity plans in place, and not just thinking about disaster recovery, should disruption occur.”
“Initiatives such as home working are an excellent way to enable staff to keep ‘business as usual’ whatever the workplace disruption."
