DISA sets a telework example

While much of the federal workforce in Washington took Monday and Tuesday off this week due to the Hurricane Sandy flap, 2,000 employees of the Defense Information Systems Agency -- roughly 40 percent of DISA workers -- continued to work from home thanks to a well-developed telecommuting plan put in place more than five years ago.

DISA spokesman Steven Doub told me that employees who are authorized to telework were instructed to take their laptops home last weekend as a precautionary measure in order to perform unscheduled telework as needed.

Doub added that DISA maintained uninterrupted global command and control throughout Sandy's surge inland, with a close eye on regional communications infrastructure in the Northeast. Redundant architectures. A proactive initiative by DISA facility managers ensured communications and services maintained solid performance throughout the storm.

Though some  Washington area federal workers probably lacked power and Internet service and had to deal with storm damage, Sandy did not hit D.C. and environs badly --  a good argument for a governmentwide telework  infrastructure  to turn extra days off into productive  work days.