Florida VARs, Distributors Close Shop

Calls were not answered at about a dozen Miami-area solution providers Friday, who no doubt were home bracing for the storm.

Frances's winds were down to 115 miles per hour Friday afternoon, but the storm was still on course to hit the Southeast coast of Florida.

Earlier in the week, solution providers such as Manny Buigas ran around helping customers to ensure their IT systems were backed up and powered down.

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

Buigas, vice president of sales and marketing at NextLevel Information Solutions, Miami, and thousands of other Floridians were forced to leave work early or evacuate low-lying areas as Frances approached.

During hurricane season, NextLevel, like other solution providers in Florida, often spends 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 on-site 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, and a Miami call center is being backed up by a center in Argentina, said a spokeswoman. Inventory to Latin American customers is backed up by several Latin American facilities, the spokeswoman said.