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Potential Hurricane Sandy Technology Disasters Averted Thanks to Master Agents, the Cloud

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Potential Hurricane Sandy Technology Disasters Averted Thanks to Master Agents, the Cloud

 
December 18, 2012

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  By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor
 


It was just a few weeks ago that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on much of the U.S.’s communication and computing systems – especially along the East Coast. Though some cloud access was limited – especially after cell towers lost power and many locations were flooded – a large number of businesses and master agents found that the cloud saved their operations, even though the storm ravaged thousands of surrounding communities.


In a recent story,  it was shown how resellers and master agents alike avoided disaster.

For instance, Axcient, a California-based cloud services provider, made sure that its data and applications were backed up locally and also replicated in the cloud.

"One of the impacts of the storm was the realization that cloud-based communication services are more resilient than purely on-premises solutions," Eric Weiss, Axcient's vice president of Marketing commented. "A lot of people put their blood, sweat and tears into building their [operations] over years, and if they're down for a week, it could kill their business."

It was also found that it made sense to have access to more than one cloud. For instance, McGraw Communications (News - Alert) set up customers with multiple carriers. Frank Wassenbergh, the company's director of Sales, explained that using alternative technologies helped customers who could not use their offices.

"Everyone looks at the cloud as this magical place where unicorns are going to take care of your data and it's never going to go down," Wassenbergh added. "... What happened is that this storm got the cloud wet, and the cloud went down. …They shouldn't look at the cloud as this magical place that is going to solve all their problems.”

Also, Grudi Associates, a channel partner based in Palmyra, Penn., ensured there was redundancy before the storm reached the state – by forwarding premises-based clients' phone calls to other locations as needed. Employees worked remotely using infrastructure in the cloud.

Nirvanix (News - Alert), a cloud storage provider in San Diego, Calif., let East Coast customers move data to a safe location in Los Angeles at no cost – during the week before the storm as well.

And Telesphere (News - Alert), a cloud communications provider based in Scottsdale, Ariz., had several customers whose operations were saved by the cloud. Services were rerouted during the storm and Polycom (News - Alert) phones were given to customers for use at home when offices were closed.

"Cloud services played 100 percent of the role in allowing us to keep services going," Sanjay Srinivasan, Telesphere's CTO stated.

The issues raised during Hurricane Sandy, recall how technology, such as telecommunications tools from Telarus, are able to keep users impacted by the hurricane connected. Within the company’s robust technology portfolio are: GeoQuote, which provides real-time qualification and pricing to agent partners; GeoQuote Enterprise, which assists agent partners who need to source high-capacity bandwidth opportunities; and GeoSign, which lets independent agents configure a custom service package and generate paperwork on-demand.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.




Edited by Jamie Epstein
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