Planning for Cloud Outages
avatar

Last year was a trying one for Cloud Computing. While positioned as a game changing revolution for IT, most of the talk instead focused on some of the numerous high profile Cloud outages that affected scores of businesses and their customers. This has only aided to a growing concern that, while useful for non-core applications, Cloud Computing is simply not a safe or secure way for a business to store their mission critical applications and vital data.

Certainly, the Cloud has the potential to offer massive benefits to organisations; the advantages of Cloud Computing have been talked up to the point of excess. Reduced costs, increased automation and simplified IT are just some of the expected benefits organisations have been told again and again that can be achieved if they take that first step to the cloud. But perhaps in light of recent events, the most compelling case to put forward for Cloud has been around data accessibility and recoverability. The fact that services can be affected by internet failure should not be used as an excuse for downtime – indeed, the idea that any single point of failure could exist within an organisation’s IT infrastructure should be of greater concern. Business’ customers won’t care the reasons behind why their orders haven’t been made – they want to be reassured their vital data is always accessible.

See the full article on BusinessCloud9:  The practical cloud computing blog

http://www.businesscloud9.com/content/planning-cloud-outages/8033

Posted in Business Disruption, Cloud Computing, Data Availability, Data Centre, Infrastructure as a Service | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cibenix, the Mobile app developer finds SunGard the perfect Cloud IaaS host
avatar

Innovative mobile application developer Cibenix (www.cibenix.com) needed a cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) hosting provider it could rely on to ensure uninterrupted service for an application (‘app’) developed for a leading mobile phone operator. This is one of the mobile operator’s most high profile services, providing access to popular applications and mobile internet sites such as Skype, Facebook, YouTube and the BBC, as well as account information. Continuous availability is critical and Cibenix needed a cloud IaaS partner it could trust.

“Our customers rely on the services we provide every day of the year. Downtime is unthinkable.”
Brian Egan, chief operations officer, Cibenix

Read the full Case Study here: Cibenix Case Study Download

Posted in Case Study, Cloud Computing | Leave a comment

Cloud Computing in the Public Sector: The Way Forward
avatar

The ABC and even G of Cloud Computing for the Public Sector

Date: Tuesday 21st February

Location:The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE

This forum will provide delegates with a timely update of government policies and the opportunity for all to examine and discuss how this strategy will be implemented.
We also have a 20 minute speaker slot which Simon Withers is holding at 1.40pm – 2pm.

Session Synopsis: Since Labour published the government’s long-term ICT strategy in the Journey to Digital Government paper back in 2009, which included the government’s ‘G Cloud’ initiative, cloud computing has gone back to the top of the government’s IT agenda. This session will look at the case for adopting cloud services and how to build a leaner IT function around such services. Cloud is not the be all and end all but it will no doubt have an impact on your IT function in the not too distant future. The immediate future requires you to be both resilient and flexible with 2012 set to be a year of disruptions with large scale public events, additional public holidays and harsher weather; we will also explore the solutions and best practice that will enable you to keep your workforce and IT running.

For more information please follow this link: http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/other/cloud-ict

Posted in Cloud Computing, Events | Leave a comment

20:20 cloud Infrastructure as a Service Webinar Series
avatar

Date: Thursday 23rd February 2012, 14:00 GMT, Thursday 8th March 2012, 14:00 GMT, Thursday 29th March 2012, 14:00 GMT, Thursday 12th April 2012, 14:00 GMT 

Location:Register here: www.2020webinars.com.

20:20 cloud Infrastructure as a Service Webinar Series

 

 

Our 20:20 webinar series on cloud Infrastructure as a Service kicks off on Thursday 23rd February, with a panel of experts offering refreshingly pragmatic guidance on cloud selection, adoption and migration.   IT leaders in organisations of all kinds are increasingly turning to cloud infrastructure to provide high availability of the systems and data. But where best to start? For more information and to register, visit www.2020webinars.com.

 

Posted in Cloud Computing | Leave a comment

How fit is your business continuity programme?
avatar

In 2012 the largest sporting event in the world is coming to the UK with the ripple effect set to be felt across the whole country, in particular London. On the whole this is a great occasion, but it might not be so great for your business if you don’t understand the full impact or assess your firms’ ability to exploit its full business potential.

So is your business continuity plan out of condition? Can it stand the pace or is it tired, flabby and never seen the light of day since it was first written?

Many people make regular monthly payments to the local gym but never attend after the first few sessions. Likewise there are plenty of firms that have BC plans and even BC and Disaster Recovery contracts with suppliers but fail to test them. They are simply too busy dealing with other issues that require their immediate attention. Sound familiar?

Without having business continuity plans, processes and system administrations bang up to date with the latest systems and process changes, the chances are the business continuity plans may falter as soon as the starting pistol is fired.

In the current economic climate such a failure in real life could be fatal for your business if it is seriously disrupted. More to the point, if you have a plan, process and contracts with suppliers – aren’t you wasting your money if they are not up to date?

So our message is a simple one. Act now or it will be too late to procure solutions, train, implement and test your plans before the big event.

Some key questions to ask your business.

1              Do you have a Business Continuity/ Disaster Recovery plan? If so, how current is it?

2              What will be the impact of the Olympics on your business and critical processes?

3              What is your site’s proximity to the events, country training camps, travel routes to the venues and likely congested areas? Remember: These maybe in and outside London. 

4              What supplies normally enter your business on a daily basis and how essential are they?

5              How can you exploit the Olympic Games to maximise your business performance both during and after the event? Will you need more supplies than usual?

6              What can you learn from being resilient during the Games that can apply to your future business continuity plans?

To help you on your way, we have developed a 10 Step Guide to be Games Ready that can be found here:

http://www.sungard.co.uk/Documents/10_step_guide.pdf.

Posted in Business Continuity, Business Disruption, Disaster Recovery, Olympics, Recovery Services | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Only nine weeks left for UK businesses to prepare for the Olympics
avatar

With the start of the Olympics less than six months away, SunGard Availability Services, the pioneer and leading provider of Information Availability and business continuity services, is urging UK businesses to prepare now to ensure they are prepared for the potential disruption caused by the Olympic Games.  Whilst no-one can predict how widespread such disruption may be, businesses need to consider the possibilities and arm themselves accordingly.  

SunGard, whose heritage spans five decades of ensuring businesses and their data remain constantly available, reports that mid-size and large British businesses have only nine weeks to develop, review and test continuity plans if they are to be 100% sure their business can cope with the potential impact of the Games. The ripple effect of London 2012 stands to be felt across the UK, with organisations impacted across their ecosystems from transport, power or communications disruptions, skeleton staffing, interrupted supply chains and lingering fears of protests or even terrorist attacks.  Not to mention the possible denial of access to their offices.

Assessing how the Games will impact a business’ location, people, technology, supply chain, security (virtual and physical) and associated HR policies are all crucial areas which need to be addressed. While many businesses have already put plans in place, time is rapidly running out for those who have not. SunGard has developed a 10 step guide, outlined below and available for download at http://www.sungard.co.uk/Documents/10_step_guide.pdf, for those organisations.

“The clock is ticking loudly for businesses which have not yet put plans in place to avoid the potentially significant disruptions from the Olympics,” commented Keith Tilley, managing director UK and executive vice president Europe for SunGard Availability Services. “The fallout from disruptions caused or exacerbated by poor or no preparation stands to affect not just operations, but customers, profits and reputation too, which means this is very much a director level concern. What CEO wants an Olympics-related disaster – which with planning could have been avoided – on their hands?”

“This isn’t about creating unnecessary unease – we know from five decades of experience that developing, refining and testing business continuity plans can be a lengthy and time consuming processes. But it’s a hugely important one; businesses need to see this as a golden opportunity to implement measures that will not just benefit them for two months in 2012 but will serve them for years to come.  Public goodwill if they fail to do so is likely to be very scant indeed.”

The past couple of years have seen a wide variety of disruptions affecting many UK businesses from natural disasters such as the Thailand floods and the Japanese tsunami through to heavy snow, public sector strikes and the Royal Wedding celebrations. These major incidents have been played out against some of the most challenging economic conditions, when even a minor disruption can very quickly turn forecasted profits or breakeven results into a terminal loss.

SunGard’s “Your 10 Step Guide to Becoming Games Ready”, which can be found at http://www.sungard.co.uk/Documents/10_step_guide.pdf, covers:

February I:     Conduct a risk analysis – identify issues and critical processes at risk, understand staff commuting habits. Use own staff or consultancy to make up lost time.

February II:    Evaluate options, solutions and establish workarounds, staff operational procedures and policies with the business; refresh Incident Management arrangements

March:            Source solution resources: extra ports, VDIs, etc, review business interruption insurance

April:               Implement and test solutions / workarounds; identify any failings and correct

May:                Establish alternative suppliers for sundry items such as water, food, office consumables; order surplus to last 2 months.  Test solutions and workarounds to ensure success

June:              Remind and communicate final policies to staff and benefits to stakeholders

July:                Implement proactive measures and be in a high state of incident management readiness to react to events

August:          Implement proactive measures and be in a high state of incident management readiness to react to events

Sept:               Stand down from a high alert state

October:        Review and apply new capability to deal with other disruptions

Posted in Business Continuity, Business Disruption, Disaster Recovery, Events, Olympics, Recovery Services | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment