However, when considering the importance you place on your
company’s printed output, it may not be the wisest of choices.
Placing these critical communications in the hands of a dedicated
recovery provider may be the most cost effective solution when
all factors are considered.
What should you look for in a third-party provider? Whether
a third-party provider offering recovery as a part of its product
offering, or a dedicated disaster recovery provider, there are a
few components that you should familiarize yourselves with their
capabilities.
n Locations: How many locations, and how are they located
geographically?
n Hardware and equipment: What is the hardware population of the remote
facility, and is it truly compatible with your documents? If a dedicated
recovery provider, are they tied to an equipment manufacturer (i.e.
limited in their services to the equipment they manufacture), or are they
independent and able to select the best equipment for their client’s
needs?
n Communications/IT environment: What kinds of communications lines are
available for data transmission to the remote facility? Is it adequate for
your applications? What is the software environment to allow applications
to be processed on dissimilar equipment? Providers should utilize a
software platform that provides for any data/document format in and
out to allow processing of documents that contain processing logic on
equipment that was not natively designed for that logic.
An experienced, dedicated recovery provider will provide you with a
detailed roadmap of the process, the associated costs, and a clear
understanding of the responsibilities of each party. An exacting change
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management process, monthly or quarterly meetings or conference calls,
along with periodic test exercises will provide the appropriate ingredients
for a cost effective, reliable, exercisable disaster recovery plan.
n Track record: How long have they offered disaster recovery services?
How often have they been called upon to actually utilize disaster recovery
services? The proof is often in the pudding.
n The recovery plan: Last, but certainly not least is the importance of a
fully documented and tested plan. This plan may actually be the key to
corporate survival in the event of an extended business interruption.
You and your management team face difficult decisions every
day in this demanding financial environment, but there may be no
more important decision to make than on how your organization’s
data/print/mail disaster recovery plan is formulated.
According 2007 Best’s Underwriting Guide by A.M. Best,
only 6 percent of companies that suffer catastrophic data loss survive, while 43 percent never re-open and percent close within two
years of the disaster.
In addition, a 2006 study from the US Bureau of Labor
Statistics found that of those companies experiencing what was
referred to as “significant data loss,” 93 percent went out of business within a five-year period.
You can’t afford to be one of these statistics.
v
Stan Johnson is vice president of sales and marketing for Mail-Gard, and a
veteran of more than 22 years in the print and mail industry. Prior to joining
Mail-Gard, Johnson served in a number of positions, most recently as director of total postage management, with Pitney Bowes Document Messaging
Technologies.
