Off-site data storage specialists, Backup Storage Facilities [BSF], today concluded an agreement with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for the storage of its off-site media and tapes. The agreement covers for the safe custody of substantial volumes of data that runs into terabytes containing crucial State data that cannot afford to be lost.
Prior the agreement the safekeeping of crucial data had been the responsibility of SITA and housed at its own facilities. The decision to move to an off-site and an independently managed storage facility, constitutes a deliberate move in terms of the data centre`s disaster recovery plan.
Considering that carried studies show that 43% of companies that have experienced a disaster never reopen and that of those that do, 29% close within two years, this makes the data of any organisation more valuable than the hardware itself.
Jan Bester, who has been the driving force behind SITA`s data backup strategy and outsourcing process, says it makes good sense to outsource to specialists in the storage field.
Says Bester: "BSF is well known in the disaster recovery industry and have an excellent track record of consistently high service levels. We are confident that BSF will live up to their reputation and deliver the required services to DR sites on time and correctly."
IT Manager for the Centurion data centre, Mariana Van Zyl, agrees with Bester and says BSF is perfectly geared to be able to service SITA`s requirements as data storage needs expand.
According to van Zyl, BSF`s storage environment and operational set-up dovetail perfectly with the SITA`s business objectives as informed by its disaster recovery plan. She also pointed out that the foundation for any disaster recovery plan for data availability "is to ensure you have a backup copy of your data and this should be stored off-site for recovery purposes."
Enumerating factors to reaching a decision she also added: "A major part in securing the deal was the very high level of security consciousness that we required from the storage vendor. The organisational skills and fifteen years of experience in the field of disaster-management were the deciding factors to awarding the contract to BSF."
BSF General Manager, Kendall Williams is naturally upbeat about the new contract, this in view of much publicity that tape and related media storage is on the decrease, SITA`s decision certainly goes a long way to indicate that tape media storage is very much alive and on the upswing.
BSF is however aware of the move toward electronic storage solutions and to that end has formed - e-Storage Direct - to provide solutions for its client base.
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