04 Feb 2009

Staff 'could work remotely'

Employees affected by the recent snow surge could have prevented business continuity issues arising by using remote technology, an IT expert asserts.

Computer security company BeCrypt states mobile applications could have been supplied to staff to ensure output did not suffer as a result of the weather.

Bernard Parsons, chief executive officer of the company, claims low cost, secure technology could have been put in place in advance.

The recent heavy snowfalls have not only highlighted the business continuity issues that many businesses face when 20 per cent of the UK's working population can't get into the office, but it also shows the gap in many organisations' data security and mobile working arrangements," he says.

Mr Parsons comments that inserting an encrypted client device into a USB port and re-booting the computer can instantly enable a secure environment.

An estimated one in five workers were hampered by the recent spate of inclement weather, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.