Monthly Archives: September 2013

Disaster Recovery: How Prepared is Your Business?

Imagine an early Monday morning: you are determined to have a great week, your business is growing, and your clients are completely satisfied with the service your company provides. But the sight that greets you at your office puts your good mood in the backseat. A burst pipe has caused your building to flood. 

Overnight, everything you’ve worked hard for has been compromised: your computers are ruined and your office is uninhabitable. If you have developed a disaster recovery plan, you can rest a little easier and know that you have prepared for events like these.

FEMA recommends that an IT Disaster Recovery Plan (IT DRP) should be developed along with a business continuity plan.  FEMA offers examples of an IT DRP strategy that demonstrates the necessity to have access to all components for your business to run. Some business, even in the face of disaster, cannot afford any downtime.  FEMA suggests the following be included when developing a company’s IT DRP:

  • Computer room environment (secure computer room with climate control, conditioned and backup power supply, etc.)
  • Hardware (networks, servers, desktop and laptop computers, wireless devices and peripherals)
  • Connectivity to a service provider (fiber, cable, wireless, etc.)
  • Software applications (electronic data interchange, electronic mail, enterprise resource management, office productivity, etc.)
  • Data and restoration

Larger companies and corporations have alternate locations that can be utilized in the event of a disaster. Smaller to medium sized companies might require additional resources at their disposal in the event of a disaster. Continuity Centers would like to be a part of your business’ continuity plan. We specialize in recovering business when disaster strikes.

From our Instant Business Recovery to our Secure Private Cloud Backup, we will be with you every step of the way. Don’t let that flood slow you down, disaster recovery is a set-back, but Continuity Centers’ services are designed to provide assistance whenever you need it.

For more information, please contact us.

Generator Delivery as Part of Agility Recovery: Why You Should Use it as an Option

Have you ever needed to depend on generator delivery as part of a business continuity program after a disaster? Businesses that have experience with the worst natural disasters can likely tell you plenty of stories about either keeping their business going or horrific stories of being out of commission for weeks. You simply don’t want that to happen to your business, which is why business continuity planning here at Continuity Centers should be on your priority list.

When you need generators or other equipment to be delivered to you, take a look at what we offer by partnering with a company called Agility Recovery.

Agility Recovery Background

Once known as GE Disaster Recovery Services, Agility Recovery is now one of the nation’s leaders in responding to disasters and helping businesses during crisis. Our partnering with Agility will give you a comprehensive business continuity plan that helps you in any particular disaster situation. And Agility’s offerings may be things some businesses don’t initially think to implement, even though Continuity Centers provides so much for you already.

Just what does Agility Recovery provide that’s different from our other plans? The key point is they deliver to you.

The Importance of Generators

While we provide workgroup continuity centers and backup solutions to your business during times of crisis, it’s easy to forget how important electricity is. When power lines are down over a wide area, it’s always possible that backups won’t be in perfect working order. That’s where generators come into play. Agility provides generators from strategic locations around the United States whenever you need them.

Yes, we know that with the occasional wide swath of disaster, you may have to move your business to another state where our generators will keep you going.

Other Services Available

Agility also offers convenient delivery services to you in the chance that you can’t take the time to move to another location. They’ll deliver the exact IT equipment that you might need if your equipment is destroyed. Agility also offers additional workgroup recovery options, including mobile office space in the scenario of having to move farther to avoid a recurrence of disaster.

You should also know that Agility provides perhaps the second most important recovery tool next to generators: Satellites. When Internet lines are destroyed due to earthquakes and phone lines are also down, our satellite technology will get you connected again in no time.

As well, we provide the most crucial element to help you keep your business running when it’s necessary: Recovering your data in less than 60 seconds after a simple phone call.

Contact us so we can show you a comprehensive list of everything we provide in our continuity plans. Teaming up with Agility has made us the most powerful business continuity center you’ll find on the east coast of the United States. When your business goes down in a disaster, you’ll be glad you chose Continuity Centers when you’re up and running without wasting valuable time.

Data Replication in a Cloud: Deciding Storage Location, Size and What Data You Need

Data replication is something to consider when a disaster comes calling and you lose all your data in your company’s main headquarters. With cloud technology making data replication so easy now, it’s worth the investment to act on any business continuity plan. What things do you have to think about, though, before committing to cloud-based data replication? Consider the aspects of storage location, the size of the storage, and whether some of your data is really worth replicating.

The Quality of Storage Available

You should always do your homework on the reliability of your cloud service, as well as where the location is. Here at Continuity Centers, we provide a server option that ensures that your data replication is constant. Our Instant Business Recovery system replicates your data in real time, every day, with instant availability when you need it through a LAN line.

The Amount of Data You Want to Replicate

Is it really necessary to replicate every morsel of your business data, or should you just replicate the most critical pieces? That’s something requiring analysis on your part in determining the cost of your data replication. Going through some lesser cloud servers, you might not be able to store everything you want based on those companies sharing their servers with dozens of others.

At Continuity Centers, be assured that we can handle large amounts of data if you need everything replicated. Our security through our PrivateVault cloud backup system also has a longstanding two-decade record of no breaches.

Testing to Make Sure Replicated Data Works

When deciding on cloud storage, you have to consider whether some of the data you’re replicating will still work later when you need it. In some cases, that could involve applications within certain data that helps in communicating with other businesses. Any consideration of cloud data replication has to demand periodic testing in order to make sure everything will work during critical moments when it’s mandatory.

Contact us and we’ll show you our commitment to testing and the assurance that we’re the only cloud backup system allowing for instant recovery. Serving companies across North America, let Continuity Centers be your only choice for successful data replication without your business having to worry about hassles.