Gartner is advising its clients to plan for the coronavirus. It recommends a planning assumption of 25% absenteeism, an estimate based on the fallout from other viruses such as SARS and H5N1. Employers should prepare for remote work as well as services and support for employees.

Gartner isn't predicting a pandemic, but it is recommending organizations be ready for a disruption from the outbreak with a business continuity strategy just in case, a process often called pandemic planning. Much of that planning may fall on HR because of how it could impact employees.

"How do we use technology to have people not come into the office?" said Brian Kropp, chief of research at Gartner.

Coronavirus cases are increasing rapidly and it is being reported in more and more locations globally. There's no vaccine for it and treatments are still experimental. This threat prompted Gartner, Forrester Research and the Everest Group this week to issue pandemic planning assessments and advice. But considerable unknowns remain about the coronavirus, its severity and threat.

"We don't yet know the true size and geographic scope of this epidemic," said disease expert Jennifer Nuzzo at a U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing Wednesday. She is an associate professor and senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University. She said the surveillance efforts in some countries may be missing cases of the disease.

Evidence is mounting "Evidence is mounting each day that it may not be possible to contain this virus," Nuzzo said. She urged pandemic planning to mitigate the impacts. An epidemic is different from other types of disasters, the research groups all noted. It is a longer-term duration problem, can shift from region to region and has a direct impact on workers. "Many business continuity plans still over-emphasize technology disruptions as the most common scenario," Forrester said in its pandemic planning report, with lead author and group vice president Stephanie Balaouras. "A widespread disease outbreak will wreak havoc across human resources, procurement, production, and all other aspects of the business." Forrester released its report Friday, putting remote access technologies at the top of its business continuity strategy recommendations. It was cited as the top contingency step by 88% of business continuity decision makers in its survey. Gartner's Kropp said businesses will need to query suppliers, including SaaS providers, about their contingency plans. "But outside of asking for those contingency plans, there's really not a lot you can do," he said. "To be honest, you should have asked all those questions before you signed contracts with them."