This was an assessment by research firm Gartner in response to the impact of SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has spread to 17 countries and claimed 78 lives worldwide.
In Australia, which has four suspected cases, the Department of Foreign Affairs has advised citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and nearby areas of mainland China.
Governments across the region are struggling to contain the epidemic and companies are doing their utmost to mitigate the effects of the virus.
In light of such tragedy, how does one tackle business continuity--an issue which has increased in importance after the September 11 attacks and the war on Iraq.
Before setting up teleworking facilities, companies firstly need to identify the number of people involved, said Gartner's research director Dion Wiggins.
The next step is to plan for a virtual private network (VPN) if one is not available. For employees who use desktops, notebooks can be acquired, leased or rented from hardware vendors.
According to Wiggins, employees should be equipped with communications tools such as long distance calling and remote conferencing.
"Companies should also add a remote access policy to disaster workforce planning and management procedures," he added.
From a human resources perspective, he believes staff should be permitted to work from home if they are uncomfortable with the risk of travel or the office environment.
He advised companies to have a single source [usually the personnel department] to disseminate information as this will save time, resources and confusion.
"Now is the time to get serious about setting up a virtual workplace--it doesn't just support business continuity [but] offers benefits when there isn't a crisis," Wiggins said.
