Study finds agencies' COOP planning outstrips telework
Government is making great strides in continuity-of-operations planning, but frequent teleworking ' increasingly seen as an essential component of COOP ' is still relatively rare.
That's the upshot of a survey
released last week by Juniper
Networks, 'Government Action
Survey: Status and
Progress of Emergency Preparedness
and Continuity of
Operations.' More than 1,400
civilian, defense, and state and
local government officials responded
to the survey.
The survey, available free at
www.junipercoop.com, shows
that 88 percent of responding
officials said their agencies
have taken steps to prepare for
COOP. Sixty-three percent
said that their agencies are
aligning their infrastructure to
support COOP.
But only 28 percent of those
surveyed use telework at least
one day a week.
This contrasts with a recently
released Office of Personnel
Management survey just on
federal workers, which found
that 9.5 percent of eligible
workers in 52 small and large
agencies telecommute at least
one day a month (GCN.com,
GCN.com/809).
Haywood Talcove, Juniper's
vice president of the public sector
in the Americas, said the
survey underscores the connection
between telework and
COOP planning. The survey
showed some interesting
trends. For example, state and
local government respondents
felt they were best prepared for
natural disasters. Both defense
and civilian agencies reported
that they were prepared for cyberattacks.
'They deal with
that every day,' Talcove said.
Data loss is a big concern as
employees become more mobile,
and it was the top concern
of Defense Department agencies
surveyed.
About the Author
Trudy Walsh is a senior writer for GCN.