Cloud backup offers quick turnaround following disaster

The benefits of implementing a cloud computing system have been covered at great lengths in the blog. However, there is one feature that doesn’t get coverage – the ability to keep running following a disaster. A power outage can bring business to a halt and an extended one – from a massive storm – can be devastating. Hurricane Irene almost taught that lesson to Diesel Direct, a trucking and construction business based in Stoughton, Mass, the hard way.

Last August, Irene made its way through Massachusetts and despite the broken trees and downed power lines, Diesel Direct was fortunate enough to keep the lights on. But the ordeal made owner Daniel Abrams realize that had his company not been so lucky, he could have been out of business.

With many invoices that are required to be sent out everyday to keep fleet owners updated, Abrams had relied on an old paper, fax and experience system, instead of investing in an automotive solution and infrastructure.

Following the realizations made after the hurricane, Abrams decided a hosted cloud infrastructure would provide everything his company required and offer the protection from blackouts that started the thinking process.

CIO columnist Bernard Golden weighed in on the difference a cloud-based backup system can make to a business of any size.

“Enterprises might have the luxury of making strategic decisions about cloud or other technology,” Golden says. “In mid-sized companies things are very tactical. No cloud evangelist is going around the refueling industry saying ‘there are ways to solve this problem.’ Companies make tactical decisions to solve their own problems and, five or 10 years later, we’ll all wake up and realize we’ve changed the way we do everything.”

Businesses in Ohio that are interested in deploying a cloud solution would be wise to partner with an IT consulting firm. Some providers, like PRO onCall, have their own data centers to offer complete solutions.

From our offices in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland, PRO OnCall is your single-source technology consulting service, offering managed IT support, unified communications solutions and on-call IT support.