SCP Pool turns to VeriCenter to get IT systems up and running, despite loss of power
Houston — September 7, 2005 — VeriCenter Inc., an enterprise managed IT service provider, said it has been helping customers that were in the path of Hurricane Katrina to ensure business continuity despite the widespread power outages now hitting the Deep South and Southeastern United States.
Katrina, a Category 4 hurricane, knocked out power from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and authorities say it could be several months before electricity is restored to everyone.
New Orleans-based SCP Pool Corp., the world's largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies and related equipment, called on VeriCenter to keep its IT systems running in the face of this disaster. By deploying dual-site redundancy through VeriCenter's nationwide data center network, SCP's back-up systems deployed transparently for SCP as soon as the power went out.
In fact, SCP Pool's entire IT department has set up shop at VeriCenter's data center in Dallas, operating from that facility without any disruption to its business. VeriCenter is now managing 12 racks of IBM Array servers for SCP, in support of SCP's core business operations. VeriCenter is quickly adding more capacity allowing SCP to move four additional critical applications to VeriCenter.
"It may prove to be the best thing I ever did in directing our IT operations to VeriCenter's Dallas data center," said Tim Babco, chief information officer of SCP Corp. "We decided we needed to take disaster recovery seriously with respect to our hurricane potential. If we hadn't, we wouldn't be operating this week."
VeriCenter said it has customers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the states hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. The company provides services such as secure, dual-location data centers, tape back-up and storage, as well as remote IT operations that safeguard its customers from major network interruptions.
In the wake of the devastating Hurricane Katrina, read the guest column Natural Disaster/Emergency Planning for some important tips to consider.
