Restoring faith: Bouncing back from disaster in 48 hours
February 16, 2007
Austin Business Journal
This article was originally published in the Austin Business Journal on Feb. 16, 2007. It was written by Colin Pope.
This time last year, if Gila Corp.'s office on Airport Boulevard would have been wiped out by fire, flood or another disaster, it would have taken executives there two or three months to get the company back on its feet -- and that's only if their employees and clients stuck around for the rebuilding.
Today, however, if disaster strikes the Austin collections and payment-processing company, executives and their employees will be back in the corporate saddle within 48 hours.
Gila's new bounce-back ability is the fruit of about a year's worth of work by its chief information officer, Domenick Riccio, who was hired by Gila about a year ago with the top priority of keeping the business running at all costs.
It was a lofty goal, but a necessary one for a company that collects payments and fields telephone calls for more than 400 clients across the country, mostly government agencies and financial institutions.
"If we're out for 60 days, that's 60 days our clients go without the revenue we provide," Riccio says. "They expect us to be here for them, no matter the severity of the situation."
In light of recent devastating natural disasters nationwide, Gila not long ago polled its clients to identify and prioritize their key issues. Among their top concerns: total suspension of services due to natural disasters.
Riccio says many of Gila's clients don't require that the company has a business recovery strategy, but it helps -- especially when courting prospective clients.
"In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many businesses realized how vulnerable they were by only having a data backup plan," says Bob Boyd, president and CEO of Agility Recovery Solutions in Charlotte, N.C. "The day after the storm, your data may be ready to use. But what will you do if your building is flooded? 'People recovery' should be a mandatory piece of any disaster recovery plan, and Gila officials truly understand this need."
In regard to people recovery, only 25 percent of businesses feel they are "very prepared," according to a recent study by Forrester Consulting.
Riccio says many businesses, including Gila, are well-versed when it comes to data recovery. Backing up information -- even to safer, remote locations -- is commonplace in today's business world. But ensuring that your staff, hardware and everything else that's tangible can be recovered quickly is another story.
Riccio says he shopped around for such recovery options. Some, he says, involved local companies that offered backup office space and equipment in the area when needed.
But Riccio and his staff thought, if a major flood or other disaster took out their office, who's to say it wouldn't cripple their backup office space and equipment on the other side of town?
So Riccio kept shopping, and ended up striking a deal with Agility. He declined to say how much the company is investing in the new safeguard, but here's how it works: If Gila is ever temporarily displaced because of a disaster, company officials will simply pick an unaffected place to set up shop. It could be at a home, another office building or under a tent on the side of the interstate. In any case, Agility would work with Gila to provide the computers, servers, generators, desks, fax machines and whatever else Gila needs to operate. The equipment would be shipped to Gila's temporary location overnight.
Gila is responsible for backing up its own data, so any off-site mobile office would be tantamount to a picnic where Gila brings the food and Agility brings the blanket, basket and silverware.
Riccio says such a plan is essential for Gila, which has only one office.
"I came from Verizon, and when you have a big company and network like that, if you have one hiccup somewhere it won't affect the entire business," he says. "But if we have a hiccup here, we essentially fall off the face of the earth, as far as our clients are concerned, because we only have one location."
Lessons learned
Backing up data will not ensure uninterrupted service.
Service providers are especially vulnerable to disasters.
Disaster recovery plans must remain flexible.
