War Not Driving Recovery Plans

Solution providers say the war in Iraq isn't a major factor in customers' disaster-recovery and business-continuity planning, but the conflict has heightened awareness of the need to protect IT infrastructures.

Mitch Kleinman, executive vice president and general manager at Computer Configuration Services, Irvine, Calif., said that although customers have expressed some uneasiness about the possibility of terrorist attacks, the hostilities in Iraq haven't really led them to act on disaster-recovery issues. "Clients feel something could happen anywhere, anytime," Kleinman said.

Stack Computer, another Irvine-based solution provider, is in talks to provide emergency disaster-recovery assistance to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office and local small businesses, said John Orr, Stack's president. The plan arose following the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, he said.

"Right after Sept. 11, our engineers sat there, not moving. It seemed almost unpatriotic to sell something," Orr said. "So we thought, 'Why not offer our services to small businesses in the area? Instead of just sitting there watching CNN, why not help the community?' "

One of every three U.S. businesses could end up losing critical data or operational capability in the event of a disaster, according to a November 2002 survey by research firm Gartner Dataquest, which polled more than 200 people involved with corporate disaster-recovery planning.

While government clients increasingly are implementing disaster-recovery programs, businesses are delaying purchases, said Ted Hayduk, director of storage solution sales at Champion Solutions Group, Boca Raton, Fla. "There has been talk of disaster recovery, but nothing specific," he said. "Instead, they are saying, 'Let's just get this [Iraq] situation over with.' "