Disaster Recovery Mar 4, 2012 · ADP Brokerage

The Charter

Charged by the GM with launching a disaster-recovery program for the division — including product design, infrastructure construction, cost-model definition, and an independent audit procedure with an outside auditor. The model needed to be non-profit, deploying only enough hardware to match the number of clients that signed up. Division software did not use TMF-protected writes, which made vendor-replication packages unusable.

The Approach

Project kicked off on two fronts:

  • Designing the non-profit model using an algorithm based on revenue percentage and application mix.
  • Selecting a vendor to intercept writes from the application for replication. Software was written and quality-assured by the vendor.

Negotiated a deal with IBM to lease computer-room space for a real-time NOC deployment.

The Outcome

  • Project completed on time, with sub-second replication to the hot site for the initial deployment of 13 clients.
  • Client model distributed revenue based on size — and rebated back to the client if not used for operating expense over the 12-month period.
  • GM was pleased with the success and turned the program into a marketing tool for prospects.
  • KPMG provided yearly financial auditing for product compliance.