The USDA made a preliminary estimate of US$23 million for remote working, including supplying computers, computer security training and help desk support, as well as expanding internal infrastructure to handle the demand. That includes increasing its virtual private network and Citrix capability. This estimate is from a planning document posted on the USDA Web site that was removed after a reporter inquired about it. Officials said it was a preliminary framework, not an estimate of actual costs, and it shouldn't have been on the Web site in the first place.

It remains to be seen how prepared government agencies are for remote workers, should a pandemic arrive. In May of this year, the Government Accountability Office looked at federal agency preparation for teleworking and found those preparations lacking. For instance, none of the 23 agencies the GAO looked at "could ensure adequate technological capacity to allow designated personnel to telework during an emergency."

The White House, in a report released in May on pandemic planning, set telework as a management priority, but James Krause, an analyst at Input Inc. in Chantilly, Va., said he has not seen a concerted push by the government on this issue.

"I just don't think it's there from a technology standpoint. I don't think it's there from a planning or organizational standpoint," Krause said. Moreover, the theft of a laptop from the home of Veterans Administration employee last June highlighted the planning problems, he said.

But Ray Bjorklund, an analyst at Federal Sources Inc. in McLean, Va., said many federal agencies have already accounted for pandemic-related IT planning in existing budgets, and have had to prepare for pandemic-like scenarios, such as the evacuation of Washington in the event of a terrorism incident.