ANXeBusiness highlights the importance of disaster plan readiness during H1N1

ANXeBusiness Corp., a leading provider of networking and security managed services, today issued advice for IT organizations on the importance of disaster plan readiness, proper employee education and preparation for organizations to maintain business continuity during the H1N1 influenza pandemic. To maintain critical work flow during these times and to help protect employee health, organizations should be equipped to address the increase of employees who prefer flexible schedules to telecommute and work from home to take care of sick family members.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 26 states are currently reporting widespread influenza activity and this number continues to grow. To preserve business continuity, Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions, such as ANX PositivePRO, provide secure remote access for mobile employees. ANX PositivePRO is a hosted managed SSL VPN solution that quickly allows remote access without the need to buy, install, or configure an appliance within an organization.

“Organizations should not be caught unprepared to deal with a widespread H1N1 outbreak and the loss of employee availability and significant absenteeism that may occur,” said Jim Michels, vice president of marketing, ANXeBusiness. “To maintain business continuity in spite of employees not being able to reach their office, companies have been increasing their purchases of ANX PositivePRO to keep employees connected to corporate networks and assets in a secure and efficient manner. With ANX PositivePRO, authorized end-users can securely connect to the company network, data, applications, and company Intranet from any location.”

ANX PositivePRO can be used with company-owned laptops, home PCs, and other remote devices that use multiple remote access methods such as client-based access, Web-based access, or remote desktop control. Because ANX PositivePRO adheres to corporate security policies for compliance and auditing compared with consumer remote access technologies often installed without IT permission or support, corporate IT and security personnel have confidence in the product along with its ease of use and flexible policy capabilities.

In an online survey conducted in September by Angus Reid Strategies for Mansfield Communications', 69 percent of the workers surveyed had not received workplace communication about flu policies. Employee education on an organizations’ plan and policies during an epidemic are crucial to ensure employee safety and business continuity. According to the CDC, organizations should examine policies for leave, teleworking, and employee compensation and review these with all employees so they are up-to-date on sick leave policies.

Many organizations are simply not ready for the influx of employees seeking remote access to business-critical data and applications. A dramatic increase in remote access requests can cause a huge network bottleneck and dramatically slow productivity. ANX PositivePRO helps IT organizations pre-determine their secure remote access requirements to optimize network performance even with a high number of users and significant bandwidth usage.

“In speaking with our customers, fear of the H1N1 virus has caused a spike in remote access requests and SSL VPN implementations,” said Michels. “Besides the H1N1 pandemic, these plans are crucial for IT organizations to have in the event of severe weather, transit and transportation disruptions, and even acts of terrorism which could severely impact the ability of employees from getting to work or accessing business-critical data and applications. ANXeBusiness is well suited to help IT departments work through this issue and other matters that impact their business continuity plans.”