For many years ContinuitySA has ensured its documentation, records and computer backup tapes are safe and secure by contracting to Metrofile. In this time, Metrofile`s service has always been exceptionally reliable.
ContinuitySA is South Africa`s pre-eminent provider of business continuity management (BCM) solutions and services. It assists companies throughout Africa to prepare for and deal with potential threats to the smooth, efficient functioning of their business as a result of unforeseen or sudden disruptions, man-made or natural.
"We make use of two of Metrofile`s services: document storage for our financial and other documents and our computer backup tapes," says Mark Beverley, GM, Service Delivery at ContinuitySA. "Metrofile has always ensured the safety of our physical documents. We recall them at the very least annually to perform our audits and have always found everything in order.
"We perform daily backups of financial, client contract information, client detail, client interaction records, e-mail information and other documentation. It is essential to store these backup tapes at a remote location and we send them off site every day, rotating previous backup tapes.
"Our purpose is to provide business continuity to our clients, which means ensuring our clients have an alternate infrastructure to continue business operations should theirs fail," adds Beverley. "They regularly test their contracted infrastructure at our facilities and our ability to respond quickly to a disruption.
"We manage two to five disasters per month, generally due to hardware, power and telecoms failures. Fire constitutes a small portion of declared disruptions, but when there is a fire it can be totally devastating to a business. One of our clients` premises burned to the ground at the beginning of the year; they recovered their operations at our facility and were resident for two-and-a-half months. Incidentally, they did their best day`s trading of the year while at our facility," Beverley says.
Between 60% and 70% of ContinuitySA`s 150 clients make use of Metrofile`s services, contracting directly with the company to store computer backup tapes and other documentation.
Metrofile supplies its clients with an additional critical service: delivery of their backup tapes directly to ContinuitySA`s facilities in the event of a disruption. When clients experience a disruption, they are under immense pressure to keep the business running and to keep their customers happy; the last thing they need to worry about is whether or not their backup tapes will arrive at the disaster recovery facility.
"We aim to establish client partnerships that address the onerous task of creating and maintaining business continuity plans that ensure our clients business operates effectively in the face of any risk or threat," says Beverley. "By effectively passing on this responsibility to ContinuitySA and Metrofile, clients are freed up to concentrate on creating competitive advantage and enhanced profitability in their core business."
ContinuitySA`s and Metrofile`s services have been regularly tested at ContinuitySA`s facilities in Gauteng and the Western Cape, without incident.
ContinuitySA has facilities in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, with two facilities in Midrand, one operated exclusively for a specific client that requires a dedicated infrastructure.
ContinuitySA has a vast infrastructure just waiting for a disruption, including servers of various sizes, disk arrays, AS/400s, mainframes, backup devices, switches, routers, dealing rooms, call centres, general offices, telephones, switchboards, generators and UPSs. The company also has a large and experienced consulting division.
"With an increasing highlight on good corporate governance, our consultants are kept very busy," says Beverley.
"Historically, Metrofile and ContinuitySA have had a very close and mutually beneficial relationship and we see this continuing to the benefit of both of our customers."
"All companies have a combination of paper and electronic documents, and are required by legislation and customer service requirements to secure the availability of the documents for the duration of their lifecycle," says John Woodhouse, vault manager at Metrofile. "We focus heavily on responding to disruptions and sabotage with the best possible turnaround times.
"One of our most frequently requested services of late is the preservation of paper and electronic repositories through to final destruction, ensuring that customers satisfy legislative and corporate governance requirements."
Share