Solving Business Continuity Problems for a Logistics Organisation
Background and Requirement
The Chairman of this logistics organisation was very concerned with the robustness of their business continuity plans and the ability of the company to be up and working within 48 hours of any major disaster occurring.
The company had established a disaster plan some time ago, but the basis of the plan was pretty inflexible and failed to meet their current disaster recovery (DR) requirements. With regard to IT and data recovery, the existing arrangement was to rent server space at a third party data storage facility. Our client didn’t have direct access to their DR servers and had to physically attend the data-vault to update operating system changes to the servers, before data could be stored. Consequently, the DR set up could be several weeks out of date in terms of server configuration and stored data. All-in-all, the arrangement was very cumbersome and expensive to maintain.
Solution
Two BizCon6061 units were installed by the client, with the primary unit located at their main office and the secondary unit housed at a co-location site.
Installation
Initially, as part of their trial, both units were installed at their main office. Once installed, the client was then able to test various disaster scenarios. These included:
- Using the primary BizCon unit to replicate a failed server or servers.
- Using the data from the BizCon unit to build a replacement server(s) from scratch on dissimilar hardware.
- Restoring a single file or email message from the primary BizCon unit.
These tests could not be achieved with their previous Disaster Recovery plans as data was generally backed up only once a week.
Previously, their disaster testing routines had to be carried out in conjunction with their third party data storage company, which both cost them money directly and indirectly because of the inconvenience of travelling to the remote site. They also had to be scheduled well in advance to ensure the necessary third party resources were available. Consequently, test restores were not performed as often as they would have liked.
Using the BizCon units, the client was also able to copy their data to a USB hard drive. This was stored on another part of the primary site, so that data could also be recovered from this device, adding another layer of resilience to their Disaster Recovery plans.
Finally, the second of the two units was installed at the remote co-location site, some 40 minutes drive from the client’s main centre. An online backup connection was established and data is now transferred every night. This is in addition to the hourly onsite data backups taking place routinely at head office.
During the initial configuration phase, use was made of the free manufacturer’s support services to iron out certain minor issues. However, our client was particularly pleased with the level of technical expertise Sky Teledata was able to provide. The manufacturer’s main support service also provides an online chat capability which provides answers to technical queries within 15 minutes of receipt.
In addition, our client now benefits from the automatic e-mail alerts generated when an issue arises. Sky Teledata also provides a technical support service to the client, so further enhancing their understanding of the capabilities of the service and improving their ability to respond to any potential disasters.
Conclusion
The company chose Sky Teledata to provide their business continuity service through two BizCon6061 units. Our service was able to meet their specific needs of ensuring that, in the event of a disaster they could have their IT network operational within 48 hours of any disaster.
The client needed a supplier who they could work with and trust. Sky Teledata met this criterion. They also wanted the capability to test the potential impact of any disaster affecting their operations.
The benefit of using our 45 day, no cost trial, enabled the client to evaluate the capabilities of the service before committing to any purchase, and that the cost of the selection process was minimal.
Within a couple of days of the units being delivered to the client, they were up and working. The Chairman was delighted that the company’s risk management requirements had been addressed so rapidly and so effectively.