When it comes to disaster-recovery systems, investment firms can't afford to be cheapskates, given what's at stake. However, in a cost-conscious environment, it doesn't mean they have to be spendthrifts, either, and squander their firm's resources. That's why good IT managers are watching their pennies when it comes to disaster recovery and looking for ways to better leverage technology to ensure fail-safe systems.
Wealth-management firms don't have unlimited budgets, when it comes to planning for disasters, says Nicholas Voutsakis, chief technology officer at Glenmede Trust Company in Philadelphia. "The challenge is to be able to manage it on a tight budget."
Voutsakis' disaster-recovery plan, which was beefed up after the events of 9/11, were put to the test when his building lost its power after the July 4th weekend last year.
Employees who arrived at 7:30 a.m. were cast in darkness thanks to a power blackout at the investment-management firm, which has more than $13 billion in assets under management.
Glenmede's systems went into shutdown mode and its staff had to evacuate the 61-story building, grabbing their red disaster-recovery bags as they left. The bags included things like flashlights, maps, phone numbers and copies of the firm's disaster-recovery plan.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
