IBM SA is building a disaster recovery centre in Randburg to secure its clients` IT data in the event of a natural disaster.
At a tour of the construction site yesterday, IBM said the new facility is scheduled for completion in September 2006. Upon completion, the facility will house critical aspects of business recovery, continuity and resilience with a strong capability on advanced office and help desk recovery.
"This investment is motivated by the growing customer demand for business resilience services," said Chris Mahlakwane, IBM SA integrated technology services executive.
The $15 million facility will be larger than the existing disaster recovery centre in Parktown, Mahlakwane said.
"Developing a site from scratch enables IBM to provide not only sufficient scope to meet existing requirements, but also the capacity and flexibility required to adapt to our customers` changing business needs," he said.
IBM has two disaster recovery centres in SA, with one situated in Cape Town.
IBM business continuity and recovery services will include business and technology consulting services, technical solutions for implementation and ongoing management of clients` business resilience needs, Mahlakwane explained.
He attributed the growing demand for disaster recovery services to the need for regulatory compliance as well as the increasing security threats facing businesses such as phishing, hacking, natural disasters and other forms of targeted attacks.
"With entrenched inter-dependence between business and technology, organisations have broadened their concern from purely disaster recovery to encompass business continuity. The focus now is largely on how to continue operating in the midst of a critical situation, or when faced with a sudden increase in customer demand," said Mahlakwane.
The centre, which houses mid-range to high-range PC systems, will be used to recover clients` business data, during a time of natural disasters, said Chamu M`kombe, IBM business continuity and recovery services centre manager. "Clients will be able to run their business from the new site," he said.
"The centre will be doing back office recovery for banks, call centres, stockbrokers, the public, industrial and telecommunication sectors," said M`kombe.
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