Where was your data when the lights went out? Mission-critical data and network apps' security, accessibility during the blackout of 2003.

The blackout of 2003 was one of the biggest power outages in U.S. history, plunging millions of people on the East Coast (from Vermont to New Jersey, and west into the Ohio Valley) into complete darkness. Many organizations--even those with disaster recovery programs--found themselves without access to mission-critical data and services, despite fail-safe measures, including power generators and off-site data backup.

We spoke with Kevin Farrell, senior vice president, data center operations, at Morristown, NJ-based AccessIT, Inc., a provider of value-added, disaster recovery and managed hosting services.

What do you believe was the most important lesson learned by companies during this blackout?

All companies, regardless of size, need a Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) solution in place with reliable providers in fail-safe facilities. These solutions can range from a simple remote tape backup all the way to fully supported, replicated servers mirroring data in real time.

Having survived previous IT challenges like Y2K and September 11th, what do you believe is the biggest misperception about "disaster recovery/business continuity" in the minds of corporate customers?

The misperception is that DR/BC is an option, not a necessity.

Why is it important for businesses to have an outsourced application network service provider?

By outsourcing, you are able to take advantage of the provider's infrastructure and experience. AccessIT has built an infrastructure that includes the network, data center and management services all in a fail-safe and redundant environment. Building this out takes a considerable investment in both facilities and talent, an investment most companies cannot or are unwilling to make. And because we can leverage this infrastructure across multiple clients, we are able to control costs and provide companies with cost-effective, value-added solutions that would be cost-prohibitive and impractical for them to implement on their own.

AccessIT says it provides "business continuance planning;" how does this differ from the typical "disaster recovery" people think of today?

When you look at business continuity, you need to look at the whole picture. In the event of a failure you need to make sure that if your users are dispersed and working remotely they still have connectivity to their systems. Our solutions are based on best-of-breed technology from leading vendors including EMC and StorageTEK, and housed in carrier-grade data centers with multiple carriers. In addition, our solutions are custom developed with customer choice and flexibility being of utmost importance, e.g. a "dark" site or fully managed data storage, etc. This is important because not only are we able to meet our clients' needs, we can provide solutions that meet our clients' budgets.

How were companies that used outsourced hosting providers affected during the blackout?

Simple: if the hosting company was located in a center that went down or had links to those that did, I am sorry to say they also went down.

During the blackout, several companies, even in the data-center/busting business, found their preparedness lacking. What went wrong?

Several things could have gone wrong:

Most centers are built on a multi-grid system, and when the power went out on the entire East Coast extending to the Midwest, the multi-grid system failed.

Could their generators carry the load? Some facilities shared infrastructures, meaning more then one user was on the emergency backup and it failed due to overload. This occurs when the actual load is higher than the design load.

Generator fuel supplies could have been inadequate to provide power for an extended period, as some areas were without power for over 24 hours. Even if there were oil delivery contracts in place, could the oil company deliver? Remember, during this type of crisis, the streets were heavy with pedestrians and traffic was snarled. Furthermore, how many contracts does the oil company have to service and how high are you on that list?

What industries/companies can benefit from an outsourced/managed solution? Can even small and medium-size companies benefit from a comprehensive disaster recovery/outsourced service relationship?

We believe that all companies that rely on modern information technology can benefit from outsourced solutions. In fact, in today's economy, few if any businesses can afford to lose productivity due to downtime. The solution might be as simple as daily or even weekly tape back up or as robust as a fully managed real-time solution with a redundant site.

How do outsourced service providers such as AccessIT differ from traditional carrier-operated collocation options?

They are markedly different; although I cannot comment specifically on other providers, I can say that, in our situation:

* We rely on a network of sites, currently numbering nine, and maintain the capability to provide disaster recovery services from all our sites.

* Connectivity! AccessIT maintains interconnections with multiple carriers, including both terrestrial and satellite, providing redundancy and large amounts of available bandwidth to support the traffic needs of our clients.

* Data Storage. We maintain the ability to move critical data for our customers from location to location, depending on their needs.

* Reliability, provided by modern, state-of-the-art fail-safe facilities.

* Managed Services. System and network monitoring and smart hands-on site.

What elements are critical when developing a disaster recovery plan? What criteria should decision-makers consider when looking at outsourced service providers?

There are a variety of factors we try to educate customers on when they develop a DR plan and consider choosing an outsourced provider. These include:

* Is the service provider truly in a fail-safe facility? Fail-safe clearly extends beyond just a backup generator and an offsite server. It should, at a minimum, provide redundancy in connectivity, 24x7x365 dedicated monitoring and state-of-the-art facilities including security and environmental controls.

* Do they offer the capability to offer a multi-site, mirrored solution?

* How "oversold" or "overcapacity" is your DR provider? Can they handle a situation on the scale of this recent blackout?

Do you believe that disaster recovery/business continuance is strictly an "IT department issue?"

No, although it is essentially an infrastructure issue, it has wide-reaching implications for the organization as a whole.

While it may start with the IT department, ineffectual or poorly designed programs can result in more than just down time, lost productivity, and lost sales--it can lead to a loss of customer confidence and trust. While the cost of downtime mid lost productivity vary from company to company, the impact of even minor outages, such as server crashes and system unreliability, can cost the company a great deal more in the view of the public. In today's competitive environment, consumers have come to demand that their service providers are available and accessible to attend to their needs. If your firm isn't, customers will seek out ones that are. Enterprises need to realize that while sound DR/BC plans can often cost significant time, effort and money, with the cooperation of the entire company, they aren't just preparing for the unusual or unthinkable, they are proactively improving their competitive position.

www.accessITx.com