Monday November 27, 2006

When Disaster Strikes

When Disaster Strikes

DATE: 27-NOV-2006

By Herman Mehling

Responding to the pent-up demand among small and midsize businesses for a better solution, Connecting Point recently created a service called Managed Restore, which enables SMBs to back up data and programs across the Internet for as little as $500 per month.

Connecting Point\'s backup servers are replicated at All Connected\'s office in Simi Valley.

"If a disaster were to happen, we would quickly restore a company\'s critical programs and data to our servers," Cook said. "A company representative would just log on and run the programs from any location through an Internet connection."

Cook says the service could have a company up and running within 48 hours—a fraction of the time it takes for conventional tape or remote data backup systems.

"Remote replication of data using continuous data protection [CDP] technology is a good way for companies to back up critical data," Addlesberger said. "And it\'s not even that expensive."

CDP is definitely the way to go for small businesses, said Benjamin Aronson, president of Aronson & Associates, a Sunnyvale, Calif., solution provider specializing in backup solutions.

"For a thousand dollars or so a year plus the cost of the box, a small business can securely back up and restore a PC or server," said Aronson, who sells an entry-level SonicWall appliance for $1,631.

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"This is a great solution for me because I make money by selling the appliance, and I get a recurring revenue stream from selling storage space and maintenance support," Aronson said. At the same time, Aronson doesn\'t have to sweat over backup and restore concerns because SonicWall takes care of those.

Looking ahead, solution providers are optimistic that more SMBs will see the light surrounding DR and BC planning.

"My experience is that smaller businesses think they can\'t afford to spend money on DR or BC until I start talking about the value of the data they will lose if a disaster happens," McDonald said. "Most buy into the need for planning once I ask them how they will manage cash flow and accounts receivables if a disaster hits."

Herman Mehling is a freelance writer in San Anselmo, Calif. He can be reached at hermanmehling@sbcglobal.net.

http://www.channelinsider.com/article/When+Disaster+Strikes/194872_2.aspx