The Katrina Question

That is just one of the bright, shining truths that comes through in our cover story package by CRN Distribution Editor Scott Campbell on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Campbell spent three days at what has become our latest Ground Zero in New Orleans with one of the city&s solution providers, Universal Data. It&s a powerful piece of reporting. Campbell&s look at how Universal Data President Jim Perrier and his team have gotten their customers back up and running in the midst of coping with their own personal crises is nothing short of inspirational.

Perrier, of course, is not alone. Hundreds of solution providers are grappling with the same issues of helping their customers rebuild with a new, more robust technology infrastructure while at the same time grappling with countless challenges in their own businesses. One of the big questions tackled in the package: Will the lessons of Katrina be learned by other solution providers across the country? Bill Luketich, vice president of Restech Information Services, an integrator in Metairie, La., fears that many solution providers and customers will not heed the warning. “People are creatures of habit, and they will forget the devastation that has happened here and someone else will have to go through the exact same pain we have.”

Luketich, by the way, is staying put and has gotten most of his customers back up and running. One of the lessons they have learned is the power of cutting-edge technology infrastructure, Luketich said. That has put him full swing into delivering new 3Com VoIP systems, as well as Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Services for extending client data via the Web. Luketich tipped his hat to his partners, including professional service software vendor ConnectWise, which at a moment&s notice came to the rescue—hosting all of Restech&s critical customer data at no charge. He also gave kudos to distributor Ingram Micro, which prioritized all his orders.

Before Katrina about 3 percent of his customers had a solid disaster-recovery plan in place with Restech, Luketich said. He expects that to jump to 20 percent to 30 percent by next summer.

The big question remains: Why isn&t it 100 percent?

Have you learned the lessons of Hurricane Katrina? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].