Business floods in for VARs
VARs quick to offer disaster recovery services to help flood-hit companies get damaged IT systems up and running
Channel players have been swift to help flood-hit businesses get back on track as the UK slowly begins to recover from the worst flooding in 60 years.
Some of the worst hit areas in the UK have been Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Berkshire.
Worcester-based VAR Electro-Comm Digital Services (ECDS) narrowly avoided being flooded due to its location at the top of a hill, but many of its neighbouring businesses suffered.
John MacDonald, technical manager at ECDS, said: “Several of our customers lost power and one in Bromsgrove ended up with its IT equipment under two feet of water. The server was completely wrecked, but we were able to recover all their data and get a new server in place so their downtime was minimal.”
The shrewd VAR posted a note through the doors of neighbouring businesses on the estate in Bromsgrove to offer similar recovery services.
“We didn’t want to be seen to be cashing in on the floods so decided to offer free emergency call-outs and free telephone advice to companies in our area,” MacDonald added.
“Hopefully it will help us to grow our reputation and establish relationships with some new customers.”
Centerprise’s disaster recovery business, Adam Continuity, has had many of its recovery specialists out in flood-hit areas. Businesses pay an annual premium to Adam Continuity for a complete disaster recovery service, which includes storing data off-site, stand-by equipment and an annual rehearsal. However, only 10 per cent a year tend to call on the service.
Philip Caulfield, sales director at Adam Continuity, told CRN: “We were called out by a firm in Worcestershire last week and had them up and running later that day. We’d been working with them since 1996 so had done several rehearsals over the years.”
Mike Lawrence, managing director of VAR Bentpenny, based in Stroud, said: “There must be quite a lot of wet IT equipment out there so I imagine that there is an opportunity for the channel. However, most businesses will have to wait for the insurance assessors to come and even then they will probably specify a preferred equipment supplier.”
Justin Reynolds, sales and marketing manager at Palmer Data Recovery, said: “Most companies don’t realise you can still retrieve data from hard drives once they have become wet.
“Many firms offer a fix-no-fee service. Basically, if they cannot recover your data, there is no charge.”