Distributors, VARs Batten Down The Hatches

The storm had sustained winds of 140 mph on Thursday evening and is expected to hit the Miami area on Friday afternoon. Buigas, vice president of sales and marketing at NextLevel Information Solutions, Miami, Fla., and thousands of other Floridians were forced to leave work early or evacuate low-lying areas as Frances approached.

"For us, it's seal everything up and run for cover," Buigas said by cell phone while he tightened up his house.

During hurricane season, NextLevel, like other solution providers in Florida, often spend waning hours before a storm rushing to ensure customers' IT systems are backed up and powered down.

"[Wednesday] we distributed to all our customers in the Bahamas and Florida a quick seven-step e-mail to safeguard their data and hardware," Buigas said.

NextLevel stayed open until midday Thursday and its consultants made some onsite visits to assist clients, Buigas said. They knew it could be their last chance to help customers for several days.

"We just have to wait it out. Our Web site lists all our e-mails and cell numbers. And we have locations in Louisiana, Chicago and New York so anyone that runs into an issue and needs assistance can contact other offices," Buigas said.

Broadline distributors Ingram Micro, Synnex and Tech Data have emergency plans in place to help businesses impacted by the hurricane, said spokespeople from the companies.

The distributors also plan to divert shipments from warehouses in South Florida to other distribution centers.

Tech Data, which evacuated its Clearwater, Fla., headquarters a few weeks ago for Hurricane Charley, said most orders Friday will be diverted to its Atlanta distribution center.

Tech Data's headquarters are not in the projected path for Frances, which is expected to hit Miami and then come up the Eastern side of Florida, according to reports.

Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex is closing its Miami warehouse Thursday and also plans to fulfill orders out of its Atlanta location, according to a spokeswoman.

Ingram Micro's Miami warehouse will be closed Friday, said a spokeswoman.

Honor International, a Miami, Fla.-based components distributor did not answer its phones Thursday afternoon. A number of Miami-area solution providers presumably also closed up shop early on Thursday as calls were not answered.