GDS Infocentre :: Weathering the storm

Weathering the storm
The business survival kit when disaster strikes

Businesses are still counting the costs of August last year when hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. One of the fiercest storms ever to hit the US, Katrina’s destructive path caused billions of dollars of damage to infrastructure, with only a handful of companies affected remaining 100 percent operational during the weeks that followed.

One company who managed zero downtime at their New Orleans facility was Data Protection Services, an online backup service provider for businesses. Founder and CEO Jeff Danos believes the cornerstone of any online backup service is the ability to protect and restore client data in the event of a catastrophe, adding the proof is in the fact that its clients never missed a backup or restore in the aftermath of Katrina. CXO caught up with Danos to find out how companies can prepare for and survive when disaster strikes.

CXO. When talking about surviving the hurricane, you make a distinction between the storm itself and the weeks following. Why?

JD. We had a sound hurricane response plan and didn’t experience any major problem during the hurricane. On the day after the storm, however, a number of levees collapsed and the city started flooding. When police and emergency resources were diverted to rescue operations, looting began and lawlessness became rampant. Martial law was declared and access to downtown restricted. This was the situation that caused us the most trouble and it was only incidentally caused by the hurricane.

CXO. So are you saying that the situation you described could develop anytime and anywhere as a result of civil unrest?

JD. That is exactly what I am saying. Anyone who thinks they are not vulnerable to the problems experienced in New Orleans is being naive. The failure of communications and access, once martial law was declared, were the major problems we experienced.

CXO. Describe for us the critical elements that enabled you to get through the hurricane unscathed?

JD. Because our business is about disaster recovery, the company operates at an extremely high level of preparedness on a day-to-day basis. Every system and process has redundancy built in, and we had invested a lot of time and effort into disaster planning. We knew where our staff was going if evacuated, instructed them on what procedures to follow, and assigned them duties and responsibilities.

CXO. What were some of the more creative measures you had to employ?

JD. We built this company around doing what we say we will do. We made a commitment to our clients to protect their data and did whatever was necessary to fulfill that commitment. Refueling the generators turned out to be our greatest challenge. When we realized we might have to go through flooded areas to refuel the generators, we purchased a military-type H1 Hummer, hired armed guards to escort the fuel deliveries and kept the generators running until power was restored a few weeks later.

CXO. Have you instituted any changes in your operations as a result of your experience?

JD. Absolutely. There are always lessons to be learned from a disaster of this magnitude. We started our assessment immediately after the storm and identified areas where improvements could be made. Based on our review, we expanded the number of operating facilities, relocated our primary data center to another state, increased the number of independent internet connections and added another layer of vault redundancy. Our level of preparedness was already excellent and withstood the ultimate test. Now we are even better.

CXO. Are other companies prepared enough to survive a disaster? What precautions should they be taking and why?

JD. Few companies are prepared to survive a disaster of even much smaller scale than hurricane Katrina. First, protect your people. Second, protect your data – everything else in a business can be replaced. That is why it is so critical to have an effective data protection plan. Smart companies realize that electronically vaulting data off-site is an important component in a disaster plan, and that accounts for the phenomenal growth and acceptance of automatic remote backup. We build in the protections and redundancy that would be too costly for the average business and then offer this extremely high level of data protection to companies at an affordable cost.

CXO. What do you predict the future holds for the online backup industry?

JD. I think we will see the industry continue to grow as companies demand and are required to provide higher levels of data security. Managed online backup can be the cornerstone of a company’s data backup/disaster recovery plan. It is much less costly than maintaining hot sites or warm sites, yet offers an extremely high level of data protection. We had clients who lost everything – their data, their hardware and their offices – who were back in business almost immediately, operating from other cities and states. We are proud of the part we played in their survival.

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery