Houston Solution Providers Brace For Hurricane Rita
Rita was classified as a Category 4 storm as Friday, and the solution providers were taking no chances with their customers or their own companies. More than 1 million Texas and Louisiana residents were expected to evacuate the area projected to be in Rita&s path. Many solution providers say they are ready for a worst-case scenario.
“What&s scary is it grew from Category 2 to Category 4 in eight hours. No one living in Houston has ever seen a Category 5,” said Robert Rhodes, CEO of Systems Evolution, Houston. The solution provider closed its Houston office last Thursday and Friday and backed up its operations to offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, he said.
Several Systems Evolution employees in Austin and San Antonio have volunteered to host evacuating families from Houston. “We&re fairly lucky in that our corporate secretary was in emergency response for 10 to 15 years. He&s been monitoring the weather conditions, putting together plans,” Rhodes said.
Houston has experienced several major storms in the past, so most of Systems Evolution&s customers are adequately prepared as well, Rhodes said. “[Our customers] have heeded us the whole year when it comes to backing up, but we&re starting to get a lot more of those clients post-New Orleans,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wright Business Technologies, Houston, closed its office last Thursday after making last-minute tweaks to some clients& IT systems, said Stephen Wright, president of the solution provider.
Like other solution providers, the devastation wrought by Katrina has led his customers to be more protective, he said. “We&ve been hit hard by customers calling us and saying, ‘I think I want that backup system you&ve been mentioning.& We&ve been scrambling a little with those that don&t have adequate protection,” he said. “We&ll get some decent solutions together to get them through the weekend.”
Several solution providers in Galveston, Texas, also expected to be in Rita&s path, did not return phone calls last week.