BellSouth , one of the four incumbent local telephone
companies in the nation, rolled out its data backup and restoration service
to businesses, officials announced Monday.
The critical service is a result of the events of 9-11 when BellSouth’s
peer, Verizon Communications, found itself in the midst of one of the
largest data recovery dilemmas the telecommunications industry has ever seen.
While Verizon’s efforts to rebuild their network were widely lauded
throughout the industry, a considerable
amount of online enterprises were left in the lurch when their data
center went offline. Groups from around the country pulled together to offer
their data recovery services for those companies affected.
Events forced carriers around the nation to rethink their infrastructure’s
ability to recover from a disaster, be it man-made or a force of
nature. Analysts around
the country predicted those carriers who could provide disaster
recovery services would be the best equipped to handle future disasters.
Jai Menon, BellSouth executive vice president of applications, strategy and
product innovation, said disaster recovery is something his company has
taken to heart.
“Data protection and the ability to recover swiftly from a disaster are the
highest security and business assurance priorities for businesses and are
crucial to the continued viability of a company,” he said. “Businesses
are more aware than ever of the need for plans and procedures designed to
ensure continued business operations in response to a disaster.”
To build up its data recovery program, BellSouth enlisted the aid of
StorageNetworks, Inc. . The company’s software and
consulting services helped BellSouth with adding the servers and items
necessary to operate a complete backup system for their customers.
With their new enterprise data backup service, BellSouth customers freed
from concern over finding an alternate data storage company of their own,
the costs of which can be quite high. Company data can be backed up daily,
weekly or monthly, depending on the client’s needs.
