Feature Article: The Perfect Pairing: Disaster Recovery & Virtualization

By Gennifer Biggs, Business Solutions magazine.

Accudata Systems has been in business for nearly three decades, surviving by continually evolving its technology service offerings. Today, much of Accudata's growth revolves around server virtualization. Craig Gaines, practice group manager for Accudata Systems enterprise platforms, explains that server virtualization's strong ROI is extremely appealing to midtier and enterprise clients. In fact, when asked by research firm Gartner to list top technology priorities for 2010, CIOs ranked virtualization as their top area of focus. However, for Accudata, it isn't new server virtualization projects that bring customers to the table. Instead, it is disaster recovery (DR) inquiries from customers that need a comprehensive business continuity solution — that includes virtualization. "Many of our customers come to us with 20% to 30% of their environment already virtualized," explains Gaines. "Often, the need for a disaster recovery strategy brings to the forefront the secondary issue of readdressing existing virtualization in the network." Research shows that more than half of CEOs explore virtualization as part of a larger business continuity plan. But that doesn't mean virtualization or DR is an easy sell. Accudata has learned to bundle its virtualization experience with disaster recovery expertise to deliver a business continuity solution that drives sales and creates long-term customer relationships.

Used with permission from Business Solutions magazine.