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Patrick Thibodeau continues to do a great job keeping the IT community informed on that Industry's pandemic preparation concerns with his latest article in ComputerWorld.
Pandemic Threat Still Getting IT's Attention
Public interest in the avian flu has diminished. But some IT managers are continuing to prepare for an outbreak.
Patrick Thibodeau
December 03, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The avian flu is following a plot line that could have come out of a Stephen King novel. It’s a menacing presence but remains mysterious, striking in out-of-the-way places while threatening havoc via a global pandemic. And until this year, the flu was a best-seller with the media, spurring employers to plan for a possible outbreak.
Coverage of the bird flu threat has fallen off, along with some of the drive to prepare for a pandemic. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report released in October that many organizations face a challenge in “maintaining a focus on pandemic planning due to the uncertainty of when a pandemic may occur” and the need to address more immediate issues.
“There’s been a bit of what we call pandemic fatigue,” said Dr. Myles Druckman, vice president of medical services at International SOS, a company with dual headquarters in Singapore and London that provides health and security services to multinational businesses.
Despite the drop in public interest, several IT managers said at Gartner Inc.’s annual data center conference in Las Vegas last week that they are continuing to prepare for a potential pandemic.
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