Data center quarantines might not be workable

Computerworld - Among the preparations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made for a possible influenza pandemic is stocking its data centers with food, cots and other supplies so the facilities can house quarantined IT workers.

"We've already got provisions in place," said USDA CIO Dave Combs. He recently visited the agency's data center in Kansas City, Mo., and was shown the goods that have been stockpiled there, including a selection of MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat.

But Combs said the USDA will try to rely on remote management of its data centers if a pandemic strikes. "The most logical place folks are going to want to be is at home," he said, adding that much of the technology required for remote management has been installed and that it may be expanded if needed.

Working from home may be the only viable option for many IT organizations. Gartner Inc. advised attendees at its annual data center conference in late November to prepare for possible quarantines. But that is the most controversial aspect of Gartner's plan for dealing with pandemics, and some IT managers and analysts think quarantines will prove to be unworkable.

"Are your workers in the data center going to be that loyal to your company that they'll abandon their families if something bad is happening out in the real world?" said Fred Klapetzky, a business continuity management consultant at Marsh Inc., a risk and insurance services firm in New York. "We don't think the answer is yes. You can't keep people locked up inside."

William Cross, CIO at Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. in Tampa, Fla., said a quarantine would be "a risky approach" during a pandemic. Cross, who has a Ph.D. in information sciences and did his doctoral thesis on how stress affects the quality of software programming, said being locked inside a data center would likely be too much for many IT workers to bear.

Instead, Cross is focusing on remote management capabilities. IT staffers may occasionally be needed in data centers during a pandemic to address hardware issues, he said. But for the most part, he would prefer to keep his workers at home.

"I don't think it's realistic to expect a bunch of people, no matter how dedicated, to stay in a particular facility for several weeks without having to do things or take care of their families," said Scott McPherson, CIO for the Florida House of Representatives and head of the state's CIO pandemic preparedness committee.

McPherson said IT managers should prepare for the possibility of having a reduced workforce within their data centers by conducting backup training, such as teaching mainframe systems administrators to operate servers or showing administrative assistants how to load tapes. He also recommended stocking up on rubber gloves and other supplies that can help prevent diseases from spreading.