Government agencies and big companies are apparently taking flu pandemic warnings seriously enough to invest in planning for the problem.

The folks who make remote access technologies are seeing a big boost in demand in recent months as the spread of the  H1N1 flu virus picks up steam.

These technologies use a number of devices to give teleworkers  secure access to enterprise applications from any location.

They  also give  IT admins the ability to enforce security and information usage policies. These security enhancements make sure any device connected to a corporate network remotely meets internal security requirements.

While the folks with plenty of taxpayer dollars or the deep pockets of a big corporation have little to worry about,  struggling small businesses and strapped municipalities have limited resources these days for business continuity planning.

Some folks are turning to free Internet tools — like Gmail, instant messenger and online document storage — to fill in the gaps when workers  work from home to prevent spreading the flu or to care for family members who are ill.

Other IT pros are mocking the flu panic and dismissing government and industry analysts who warn that current residential Internet bandwidth may not be sufficient to support work-at-home operations that could result from widespread flu.

Tags: flu, Pandemic, planning, secure access, technologies, work at hom