Disaster Kit

As H1N1 spreads and flu season is upon us, state and local governments need to be concerned about continuity of operations in a pandemic -- not to mention natural disasters such as ice storms, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Even a routine power outage can wreak havoc if you're not prepared. Here are some IT tools that won't leave you stranded.

NOTEBOOK: A semirugged notebook such as the Panasonic Toughbook 52 holds up to the rigors of rough weather and whatever you throw at it. SOFTWARE: Need one way to converge critical services and applications across devices and networks? Then one app to consider is F4W Energo Tactica, which can run across ad hoc, peer-to-peer, wide area, cellular, Ethernet, wide area wireless and VSAT networks. (You might need this too: Absolute Software's Computrace Complete uses geographic positioning systems or Wi-Fi to track the location of your agency's notebook computers.)

UPS: Rely on an uninterruptible power supply to keep computers going before the generator kicks in. The Tripp Lite BC Personal 300VA Standby Tower UPS for PCs provides up to 17 minutes of power.

RADIOS: Landlines may go down or cellular service may become overloaded, so have a backup communication method handy. The Motorola Talkabout T9680RSAME Two-Way Radio supports 22 channels and works within a 25-mile radius.

THUMB DRIVE: Pack critical files onto a portable device such as the Kanguru Solutions e-Flash eSATA + USB flash drive.

THIN CLIENT: A thin client makes it easy to access critical files regardless of your location, making it perfect for telework or COOP. The Wyse V90L Thin Client runs Microsoft XPe and offers a high-performance, versatile desktop computing platform.