Choosing A Hot Site Vendor

DATA SECURITY MANAGEMENT

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HOOSING

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H

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ENDOR

Philip Jan Rothstein

I N S I D E :

Types of Vendors, Factors in Vendor Selection, Examples of Vendor Offerings, Survey of Alternative Sites

PROBLEMS ADDRESSED

Any organization that has decided to back up critical data processing op-erations must decide how it will do so. Two common methods of oper-ations backup are hot sites and cold sites. Hot sites are fully equipped,ready-to-run computer centers designed to be activated when a subscrib-er declares that a disaster has occurred. Cold sites are ready-to-use facil-ities without computers or communications equipment in place. Otheroptions include using company-owned facilities. Although using a hotsite can be an expensive option, an organization whose survival dependson its computer processing capability may find that it is ultimately themost cost-effective choice. This article provides some guidelines onchoosing a hot site vendor.

TYPES OF VENDORS

There are basically four categories of hot site vendors. The first consistsof organizations that are dedicated to disaster recovery. This includes thethree companies that constitute the majority of the hot site market, Com-disco Disaster Recovery Services, Inc., Sungard Recovery Services Inc.,and IBM Business Recovery Services.Each of these companies offers mul-tiple locations and classes of service.

The second category of hot siteofferings comprises hardware ven-dors (other than IBM), including Dig-ital Equipment Corp., and Hewlett-Packard, which provide recoveryservices primarily for their custom-ers. Both Hewlett-Packard and Digi-

P A Y O F F I D E A

Many businesses, depending increasingly ontheir data center, are realizing that no matter howwell the data center is protected, the possibilityexists that it may be unusable for an extended pe-riod of time. Subscribing to a commercial hot sitevendor is one option to ensure that computer pro-cessing can continue. This article addresses theprocess and concerns of establishing a relation-ship with a hot site vendor. A comprehensive sur-vey of alternative site providers is also included.

85-01-60.2

tal Equipment Corporation have alliances with other organizations tosupport multiplatform recovery capabilities.

The third category consists of regional, local, or specialty hot site ven-dors. Companies that depend on multivendor computing environmentsor complex communications networks may find the hot site services ofmany of these vendors to be too limited.

The fourth category is composed of mobile recovery sites. Mobile re-covery sites provide the convenience of having a self-contained backupcomputer facility trucked or airlifted to or near the subscriber’s premises.The time delay for transportation may or may not be acceptable. CSCProvident Mobile Recovery Systems, Sungard Recovery Services,XL/Datacomp, Inc., Digital Equipment Corp., and Comdisco Disaster Re-covery Services are among the firms that offer relocatable recovery sites.Some of the minicomputer equipment vendors also have truck- or van-mounted emergency systems.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Since this article was last updated, the disaster recovery hot site industryhas continued an accelerating trend toward consolidation. Three majorvendors constitute the vast majority of the industry segment: ComdiscoDisaster Recovery Services, IBM Business Recovery Services, and Sun-gard Recovery Services. The remaining independent hot site vendorsconsist of either computer hardware vendor captives (e.g., Hewlett-Pack-ard, Digital Equipment Corporation) or “boutique” vendors focusing oneither specific niches (trading floor recovery, mailing recovery, special-ized computer environments) or specific geographic regions. Many ofthese captives or boutiques have formed alliances with one or more ofthe three major providers.

The second, accelerating trend since this article was last updated is thebroadening of hot site services to increasingly address mid-frame, cli-ent/server and distributed computing environments, complex networks,and work-area recovery. As a result, the ability to handle complex, tech-nologically sophisticated hot site recovery capabilities at all may con-strain vendor choices.

FACTORS FOR CHOOSING A HOT SITE VENDOR

Before beginning the hot site vendor selection process, the disaster re-covery planner should ensure that all hot site vendors to be evaluatedprovide equipment that is compatible with that of the organization. Thiswill eliminate the time-wasting process of reviewing inappropriate candi-dates.

Capacity and Growth

Once the list of compatible vendors has been compiled, the ability of thehot site vendor to handle the projected processing work load, data stor-age, and data communications volumes as well as physical space re-quirements should be considered. The disaster recovery planner not onlyshould consider the organization’s current needs but should projectthose needs at least through the duration of the proposed hot site con-tract. Flexibility on the part of the hot site vendor in meeting a certain de-gree of unanticipated capacity requirements or in adapting to functionalchanges over time is essential.

Ideally, the hot site vendor should guarantee the available capacityand space through the duration of the contract and provide reasonableassurance (preferably in the written contract) of future capacity thatwould support contract renewal.

In addition to computer space and processor storage capacity, non-computer space needs should also be evaluated. Sufficient space shouldbe available for storing magnetic tapes and other media, printer paper,and custom forms and operational documentation. Consideration shouldbe given to work areas for the staff who will be operating the computersystem and to office space for support staff who will work in proximityto the computer area. In the event of a lengthy stay at the hot site, addi-tional office, storage, or other space may be needed.

Recovery Experience

The key test for any hot site vendor is its performance during an actualdisaster. The ratio of actual disaster recoveries to the total client base maybe low — or even zero. Given that actual recoveries are relatively rare, itshould be reasonable to expect that a hot site vendor has never mishan-dled an actual recovery. The odds are that any vendor who fails in a cli-ent recovery would quickly be out of business. Therefore, contrary toexpectations that emphasize vendor experience in recovering clients dur-ing disasters, vendor stability, technology and other factors tend to beweighted more significantly.

The extent of vendor participation in the development of the disasterrecovery plan for clients who have successfully recovered can indicatethe hot site vendor’s commitment to its clients. Interviewing clients whohave experienced disasters can help uncover weaknesses.

Comdisco Disaster Recovery Services, IBM Business Recovery Servic-es, and Sungard Recovery Services each have substantial experience sup-porting client recoveries.

Testing Capabilities

Without regular testing of the disaster recovery plan, the ability to recov-er at a hot site is shaky at best. Most hot site vendors provide a testing

allowance; some even insist contractually on a minimum level of sub-scriber testing. Most also participate proactively in client testing. Theavailability and convenience of testing and vendor support of the testingprocess can significantly affect the cost as well as effectiveness of disasterrecovery; if it is inconvenient or costly to test, testing may not be per-formed adequately; as a result, in an actual disaster the recovery effortcould be useless.

The frequency and duration of testing varies from vendor to vendor.Twenty-four to 72 hours of test time annually is typical. Additional testtime can usually be arranged at extra cost. Any additional testing needsshould be specified in the initial contract. The time to negotiate testingallowances is

before

signing a contract. Once an agreement is executed,additional test time may only be available at extra cost.

Availability of the hot site for testing should also be evaluated. De-pending on the number of hot site clients and their testing needs, thelead time to schedule a test could be significant. Some hot site testingschedules are busiest on weekends, others on weekdays. It is a goodidea to check into test schedules as early as possible.

Of course, a declared disaster preempts any testing at a hot site. Eventest time scheduled well in advance may be unexpectedly cancelled orinterrupted; provision for such an event may be appropriate in the ven-dor agreement as well as in test plans.

The hot site vendor should be included in the process of initiating andorchestrating a test. On completion of the test, the vendor should be ableto offer specific feedback and recommendations.

In some cases, remote testing may be necessary — or even more ap-propriate than on-site testing. Some vendors offer remote testing (andsometimes remote recovery) as an option, which could be particularlyvaluable if the hot site is far away.

Geography

The disaster recovery planner must consider location of the hot site inlight of both recovery and testing. Costs for communications, transporta-tion, and lodging are likely to be higher if the recovery site is fartheraway. On the other hand, a more distant site is less likely to be affectedby a regional disaster (e.g., flood, hurricane, toxic contamination, orcommunications or power failure). In general, a hot site should be atleast 25 miles away.

The disaster recovery planner should consider the impact of the hotsite’s location on personnel. In addition to affecting costs, a remote hotsite requires that employees make an abrupt transition to a distant loca-tion for recovery; the disruption in their lives could hinder the recoveryeffort.

In the event the contracted hot site becomes unavailable because of adeclared disaster by another client or for any other reason, an alternatehot site may be offered either at the same location or at a different loca-tion. It is important to make provisions in the recovery plan for the pos-sibility of a different hot site location. Issues related to logistics andpossibly system configuration must be addressed, particularly if travel isinvolved.

Most of the same consideration used in situating a data center applyto the location of a hot site. A hot site should not be a in a high-risk lo-cation that is subject to external disruption. Access to transportation, in-cluding airports, interstate highways, and rail lines, is important toexpediting disaster recovery and even more important in the case of a re-gional disaster. Such predictable occurrences as rush-hour traffic or theeffects of inclement weather should not seriously impair access to the hotsite.

Cost

Hot site costs fall into several categories. Some hot site vendors offer test-ing and initial setup at no cost. Most charge a monthly or annual sub-scription fee to the organization for the ability to use their facilities andservices when needed.

Subscription Fees.

Subscription fees may range from a few hundreddollars to tens of thousands of dollars a month (for very large, complexmainframe environments).

Declaration Fees.

Most hot site vendors charge a one-time declaration,or activation, fee. This is designed in part to ensure that clients take thedecision to declare a disaster seriously and in part to cover the vendor’simmediate costs in supporting the client’s recovery. These fees can rangefrom a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands and are paid only whena disaster is declared.

Recovery Use.

Once the hot site vendor has received a declaration of adisaster, the clock usually starts ticking. In addition to hourly or daily usefees, there may be other time- or resource-related fees during the periodof the actual recovery as well as during the subsequent operation at thehot site facility.

Some hot site vendors limit the amount of time a hot site may be oc-cupied after a disaster is declared, so that the hot site can be returned to“ready” status for other clients. This may mean that it becomes necessaryto relocate from the hot site in a matter of weeks after the disaster, pos-sibly to a cold site within the same facility, or elsewhere. The length oftime the hot site may be used should be defined in the contract, along

with clear responsibilities for the additional work and expense should arelocation become necessary.

The return to normal operations following a disaster may involve ad-ditional costs and effort. This should be considered in recovery planning,testing, and budgeting.

External Costs.

Expenses incurred on the client’s behalf by the hot sitevendor are usually billable and should be identified explicitly, both fortesting and in the event of a disaster declaration. These will likely includeboth one-time and duration-dependent costs, such as telecommunica-tions connections or extra equipment rental.

Storage and Maintenance Costs.

The vendor may charge a fee forlocker or storage space used to store documentation, materials, supplies,and so forth if beyond the basic allotment. If dedicated equipment or net-work connections are necessary, it is likely the hot site vendor willcharge a fee covering space occupied, equipment maintenance and mon-itoring, electricity, etc.

Testing Costs.

Testing at the hot site should be done at least once ayear and, in many cases, as many as four to eight times a year. The hotsite vendor provides a testing allowance addressing time and resources.Additional costs may be incurred for testing beyond the basic agreement.Before an organization enters into a contract with a hot site vendor, test-ing costs should be projected and reflected in the agreement.

Cost Increases.

Some hot site contracts have annual or other periodiccost increases. In addition, the costs for future increases to function orcapacity should be negotiated and committed up front to the furthest de-gree practical. Hot site contracts typically cover multiyear periods, be-cause the up-front investment in establishing a working hot site vendor-subscriber relationship may be substantial relative to ongoing costs.

Software Costs.

Even if disaster recovery planning software is bundledwith the hot site subscription, there may be additional costs for options,enhancements, and annual software maintenance.

Other Costs.

Specialized resources, vendor personnel time, and suchdirect expenses as office furniture, supplies, food, and external vendorfees, may be chargeable to the subscriber during testing as well as duringa recovery. These costs should be identified in advance whenever prac-tical. Costs associated with evaluating hot site vendors and negotiating anagreement may include travel to vendor sites and legal costs.

Insurance.

Insurance may cover some of the costs associated with re-covery to a hot site. The hot site vendor may be expected to provide theinsurer with detailed documentation in order to obtain compensationfrom insurance coverage.

Technical Environment

As stated previously, the vendor’s technical environment must be com-patible with the client’s configuration and environment. The vendor’stechnical staff should be well versed in the specifics of the client’s envi-ronment.

In some cases, the vendor may provide operating system software,communications drivers, or other offerings that may or may not be underthe subscriber’s control or may be shared with other subscribers. Techni-cal and technological compatibility must be an integral aspect of the con-tract.

Increasingly, client technical environments are becoming more com-plex and volatile. Information technology trends such as client/server, In-ternet connectivity, remote computing, and mobile computing havemade the process of hot site recovery planning and execution more dif-ficult. The effective hot site vendor will demonstrate flexibility as well asthe ability to adapt and improvise as needed to cope with evolving clientneeds.

In addition, clients operating multiple computing platforms may findthat hot site vendors may house the recovery platforms in more than onelocation, or may operate a particular platform in only one location. Thevendor’s ability to deliver computing services through dedicated or pub-lic communications networks to the client’s site will be essential to a suc-cessful recovery.

Recovery Center Facilities

The hot site should be operated as a going business, with appropriate at-tention to maintenance, testing, security, cleaning, and staffing. It shouldoffer a professional environment appropriate to a facility that will housethe subscriber’s vital operations in a crisis.

Physical security and access control are especially important at a hotsite facility. Multiple clients may be testing or recovering concurrentlywithin a facility housing multiple hot sites. Some hot site facilities mayshare hardware (such as logically partitioned processors) and communi-cations facilities. The client should understand the level of physical aswell as logical security provided by the hot site vendor and the mecha-nisms used to prevent security breaches and to detect violations.

The client may also wish to employ multiple levels of security clear-ance among its own personnel. For example, certain people may be per-mitted to enter the computer area or tape library, and others restricted to

office work areas. Many hot site vendors offer card-key access controlsystems that may be programmed to allow this.

The infrastructure of the hot site facility is also important. Some (butnot all) hot site vendors provide alternate electric power sources, withuninterruptible power supply systems and backup generators. Redun-dant environmental systems are also common.

Some clients find it useful to store key documentation, including theirdisaster recovery plan and operating procedures, at the hot site. Theymay also store backups of key systems data to expedite the startup pro-cess. Many hot site vendors provide limited storage or locker space forthis purpose as well as limited space for such on-hand supplies as specialprinter forms. Arrangements can be made to ensure that the client can ac-cess this documentation or data.

Alternate Facilities

A hot site may be only part of a recovery solution for a client. Several hotsite vendors offer alternate facilities for computer recovery. These mayinclude mobile, fully equipped, self-sufficiency, trailer-mounted comput-er rooms; “quickship” capabilities, with computer and support equip-ment rapidly delivered to the client location (or alternate recoverylocation); even self-contained electrical power generation and stand-alone communications facilities such as satellite or microwave links.

These alternate facilities may be integrated with the basic hot siteagreement or may be contracted separately. The client’s recovery time-frame, economic constraints, technical environment and location shouldbe weighted carefully when considering an alternate facility or hot site.

Communications Capabilities

In the past few years, communications capabilities have become one ofthe most critical aspects of disaster recovery. A backup computer config-uration in a remote conditioned space is of little value if the computercannot communicate effectively with the subscriber’s business.

More than line access is involved. The vendor should play an activerole in designing, implementing, and managing the backup network. Ex-pertise and facilities should be in place to operate, troubleshoot, and re-configure the network. Custom generation of network control softwareto meet subscriber needs should be possible. Spare capacity, redundan-cy, and diagnostic capabilities should be in place. Modems, multiplexers,patch panels, cables, dial backup units, and other components should beinventoried, tested, and ready to use when needed. The network capa-bilities should also be compatible with the subscribers’ requirements.

It may prove necessary to install client communications equipment orcircuits to the hot site in advance. The hot site vendor may charge fees

for the space occupied by client equipment, as well as for management,testing, and coordination.

Voice and other communications needs should be considered as wellas data. Beyond basic PBX or Centrex service, the client may need to re-direct incoming telephone calls and faxes to the hot site. Availability ofautomated call distribution systems, voicemail, and other specializedequipment should be considered if it is in use at the client’s existing site.

Complementary Services

Some hot site vendors offer a variety of complementary services that maybe of value to the subscriber, including cold sites, electronic vaulting,planning software, off-site storage, or consulting support. In addition,some organizations may rely on such specialized equipment or servicesas laser printers, microform production or handling, check sorters orsigners, and custom equipment. (There are even recovery facilities fortrading operations.) Furthermore, such basic office needs as a telephonePBX, facsimile, copiers, or other components may be vital to a recoveryeffort. The vendor’s responsibilities regarding this equipment should bespecifically identified.

Vendors may also provide disaster recovery planning software. Thesoftware cost may be bundled with the hot site subscription. This may ormay not prove to be an advantage to the client: (1) the software may notbe ideal for the client’s specific plan development needs or environment;(2) annual software maintenance costs could become considerable; and,(3) upgrades or options for the software may be necessary at additionalcost.

Therefore, in weighing the value of bundled software or services witha hot site contract, the true value to the client organization should beconsidered, along with ongoing costs, if any, for maintenance.

Stability and History

Disaster recovery hot sites are a relatively new industry. Only a few com-panies have been active for more than 10 years. The disaster recoveryplanner should look for a company with a steadily increasing client base(to a declared maximum) and history of enhancement as an indication ofstability. In addition, actual recovery experience is a powerful advantagethat should not be overlooked; some hot site vendors have not yet actu-ally supported any declared client disasters. The continuing vendor con-solidation in the disaster recovery hot site industry, noted earlier, is animportant factor. A hot site vendor’s policies, practices, philosophy, facil-ities, staff, and more may change if the vendor is acquired or merged. Ifa hot site vendor fails, the cost and impact of reimplementing and retest-ing the disaster recovery plan with a new vendor may exceed the cost ofthe hot site agreement.

The financial data, ownership, and history of a hot site vendor can bea decisive factor in the selection process. Some companies have enteredthe hot site business as an adjunct to their service bureau or other busi-ness. When an organization is checking references, service bureau clientsshould be considered separately from hot site clients.

Contract Terms

The typical hot site agreement duration ranges from 2 to 5 years. Sub-scription costs tend to decline dramatically with increasing terms beyondthree years. An important tradeoff to consider is that client needs maychange dramatically during the contract term.

Therefore, subscription fees should not necessarily be weighted asheavily in the decision process as such factors as costs associated withinitial plan development, implementation and testing; transition costs ifthe client were to move to another vendor; or, excess or insufficient hotsite coverage as the client’s configuration, recovery needs, or technologyevolve.

Responsiveness and Flexibility

Disaster recovery requirements are likely to change over time. The hotsite vendor should be able to support such changes, although there maybe additional costs. Most organizations find that the ability to changeconfiguration or other aspects over time without renegotiating the basecontract is valuable. In addition, the vendor’s history of innovation andresponsiveness to industry trends can indicate its commitment to its cli-ents. The vendor should explicitly define the nature and extent of theircommitment to new client technology, equipment, capacity, or function-al needs.

The process of activating the disaster recovery plan is another area tolook at with regard to responsiveness. The vendor should have an ex-plicit, documented plan for the declaration process that meshes with thesubscriber’s disaster recovery plan.

Activation

The process and time delay associated with initiating a disaster declara-tion should be considered from both a recovery and financial perspec-tive. Most vendors prefer that a client who is considering declaring adisaster first issue an alert, so that the vendor can begin preparations tosupport the client in the event the client formally declares a disaster.Generally, there is no cost to a client for alerting the hot site vendor.

Once alerted by the client, the hot site vendor should be able to rap-idly activate the hot site if a disaster is declared. The hot site agreementshould be unambiguous with respect to activation timeframes as well as

specific vendor and client responsibilities. However, it should be notedthat the hot site agreement typically contains limitations regarding thevendor’s liability, hot site availability, and adequacy of the facilities.

Personnel Support

The recovery center should not be merely a shell housing a computer.Subscriber staff will likely spend a great deal of time at the center con-ducting testing as well as carrying out recovery procedures in the eventof a disaster. It is important that lodging, food, access to medical care,transportation, logistics, communications, and any other special needs ofthe personnel who will be assigned to the recovery team at the hot sitebe addressed by the hot site vendor.

Most hot site vendors provide such basic amenities as break rooms,vending machines, and coffee service. Some even provide more elabo-rate facilities, including basic on-site medical care, cots, and VCRs or vid-eo games for off-duty personnel. While not critical to a recovery effort,such conveniences can have great value in relieving the stress and incon-venience of a recovery.

Availability

Most hot site vendors limit competition for their resources to ensure thatthey are able to serve any client promptly. The contract should limit themaximum number of subscribers to the hot site. Many vendors will notsign on a subscriber to the same facility as another subscriber in the samearea (e.g., building, block, neighborhood, telephone central office, orpower grid).

In addition, to improve the odds of being able to serve clients in theevent of a regional disaster, some hot site vendors offer alternative facil-ities or locations in case the primary hot site is already in use. Once asubscriber declares a disaster, it is completely dependent on that hot site;a fallback facility could become critical. This is particularly important ifthe vendor is limited to a single recovery facility and that facility was un-available for any reason—already in use by another customer, or dis-abled by a local or regional disruption.

EXAMPLES OF VENDOR OFFERINGS

There are several dozen U.S. hot site vendors and perhaps 10 relocat-able-recovery-site vendors. Some examples of vendor offerings are dis-cussed in the following sections.

Comdisco Disaster Recovery Services

Founded in 1980, Comdisco Disaster Recovery Services is one of threemajor players in the hot site business, the others being Sungard and IBM

BRS. Comdisco offers a broad range of locations, configurations, and ser-vices, including a sophisticated dedicated communications network, mo-bile recovery facilities, consulting, electronic vaulting, trading-floorbackup, MICR check processing, and a planning software package, Com-PAS. Comdisco has successfully supported numerous client recoveries.

Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation offers RESTART, fully configured hot sitefacilities; DECReady, mobile recovery facilities; and, Recover-All, a com-bination of repair and replacement for damaged equipment, togetherwith insurance reimbursement for recovery expenses. Digital partnerswith IBM Business Recovery Services to offer multi-platform hot site re-covery.

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard offers BACKUP, hot site recovery for HP 3000 and HP9000 systems; and, BACKUP EXPRESS, delivery of fully operational sys-tems to the client location with 24 to 48 hours of notification.

IBM Business Recovery Services

IBM Corporation entered the disaster recovery market in 1989 with itsBusiness Recovery Services offering. Although newer to the industry thanSungard or Comdisco, IBM has substantial experience supporting recov-eries among the vast array of company-controlled and client computerfacilities around the world.

IBM offers a broad array of hot site configurations and ancillary facil-ities such as network recovery, voice recovery, and end-user work arearecovery, with extensive offerings internationally. Computing platformssupported include virtually the entire range of IBM computer systems aswell as may non-IBM computers.

Sungard Recovery Services

SUNGARD Recovery Services was established in 1978 and offers a widevariety of services and geographic locations. In addition to IBM main-frames, Sungard supports Stratus, IBM System/88, Unisys, Tandem, andDigital Equipment clients. SunGard offers DP/90, a contingency planningsoftware package, as well as consulting support. Several subscriber disas-ters have been successfully handled to date.

Wang Laboratories Inc.

Wang Laboratories Inc. offers a range of services to Wang customers. Inaddition to a fully equipped hot site recovery center located in Lowell,MA, Wang offers a Rapid Recovery program, with specially designated

replacement hardware shipped to the subscriber if the subscriber pre-mises (or alternative site) is usable. Wang also offers assistance to clientsin establishing alternative processing sites and reimbursement for addi-tional expenses. The annual fee for these services is 1% of the currenthardware price. Wang also offers a model disaster recovery plan to Wangcustomers, and consulting and training as well as testing support.

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION

The first question that a disaster recovery planner should ask before con-sidering hot site vendors is whether a hot site is really necessary and ap-propriate. Some organizations enter into hot site agreements withoutfully considering other alternatives (e.g., cold sites or other company-controlled facilities) or contract with hot site vendors before they are ableto implement recovery procedures or to test. Without those proceduresor thorough testing, a hot site contract is nothing more than a costlypiece of paper.

Once the organization has decided that a hot site is required, the di-saster recovery planner must have a clear understanding of the require-ments before contacting vendors. Examples of organizationalrequirements include:

• The minimal configurations and capacity necessary• The most important factors in vendor selection• The factors that would rule out a vendor from further consideration

A list of weighted selection factors should be prepared before vendorsare contacted so that the most important considerations are identifiedand resolved early in the evaluation process.

The next step is to determine which vendors have the potential tomeet the basic recovery requirements. Exhibit 1 lists some sources forgeneral information about vendor offerings. Exhibit 2 is a list of hot sitevendors.

It is helpful to provide hot site vendors with specific written require-ments. Some vendors may decline to bid because of the organization’sparticular functional, capacity, or logistic requirements; by ruling themout early in the process, the disaster recovery planner can save muchtime.

Contacting current clients of the hot site vendor is a vital step. Each ofthe factors affecting selection should be addressed to the extent practicalwith the vendor’s clients as well as the vendor itself.

The list of potential hot site vendors should be narrowed rather quick-ly; however, the disaster recovery planner should remember that vendorpricing is only part of the total cost and therefore avoid ruling out a ven-dor early on pricing alone.

Once a vendor has been chosen, it is imperative to ensure that thecontract provides for all the organization’s current and projected needs.Relationships with hot site vendors may deteriorate because of unrealisticexpectations made on the basis of oral or assumed agreements. Once acontract is signed, it may be difficult or costly to address additional ex-pectations; a costly transition to a different hot site vendor may be nec-

essary, possibly even before the end of the contract term.

EXHIBIT 1

—Information Sources for Hot Site Vendors

Disaster Recovery Journal

P.O. Box 510100

St. Louis, MO 63151

314.894.0276

E-mail [email protected]

http://www.drj.com

The Rothstein Catalog on Disaster Recovery

Rothstein Associates Inc.

4 Arapaho Rd.

Brookfield, CT 06804-3104

203.740.7444


http://www.rothstein.com

Survive! The Business Continuity Group

P.O. Box 5030

Branchburg, NJ 08876

1-800-SURVIVE


http://www.survive.com

In addition to Survive!, numerous regional disaster recovery groups throughout the world provide access to information about hot site vendors. Each of the above sources can provide information on these contingency groups.

EXHIBIT 2

—Alternate Sites

Company Locations B: 2nd power source? 5B

Host Mainframe& Midrange Computers

DASD Units Tape Drives Front-endProcessors

Data Lines VoiceLines

AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite

Cold Site Office WorkSpace

Other Services

ARCHIVE MANAGEMENT INC.

Carole A. Gudde

6455 Box Springs Blvd.

Riverside, CA 92507

(909) 656-2238

fax (909) 656-2520

Two locationsin Riverside, CA

UPS Sys-tem

Micros One Colorado One One 6 52 No Not at thistime—UPS, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—7 PCs, 15 tele-phones

Tape rotation, forms storage, document storage and de-struction, microfilm, CDs and microfiche storage

BACKUP RECOVERYSERVICES

Dennis Friedl

1620 N.W. Gage Blvd.

Topeka, KS 66618

(913) 232-0368

Fax (913) 233-6862

Topeka, KS Yes 2200/400, Unix6000

M976026 Gig, Un-ix—10 Gig

U-36 II, U-40 car-tridge

DCP- 15, HLC

Dial-Up, 1100 pair, 56kb

10 48 free No 1)Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—3 PCs, 6 dumb terminals, 10 tele-phones

Source:

“1997 Alternate Site Survey” ©1997 Disaster Recovery Journal. Used with Permission.

EXHIBIT 2

—Alternate Sites (continued)





AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

BRM/GATEWAY

Herman Tomer

555 N. Bell Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15107

(412) 321-0600,fax (412) 321-5152

Pittsburgh, PA Yes, at one lo-cat-ion

Can interface with Comodis-co, ISSC, and SunGard

N/A N/A CompuTerm CE’s

48+, Digital 48+ No maxi-mun

Yes—various square footage

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, Ha-lon 1301 fire sup-pression system

Yes- 225+ seats, 12+—PCs, 12+—dumb terminals, 48+—tele-phones

“Quick-Ship” equipment op-tion; copiers, printers, fax’s; technical support, “remote hot site” via channel-extension and telecom to primary main-frame and mid-range hot site vendors.”

CADRE INC., A Fiserv Solution

Normand D. Richard

245 Locust Street

Hartford, CT 06114

(860) 947-5000

Hartford, CT Yes, UPS and Die-sel Genera-tor

A12, A6F, A1FX, V380, V530, MA800

(32) M9710 -22GB, (20) Macro MD1200-13.5-gb, DSI Free-dom, 4x16 (8.7GB), (14) Marco 9ms MD2400-20gb

(10) 89495-24, (1) Un-isys HS8500, (2) Virtual VT-200E, (2) Mac-ro—DAT, (4) 5073-EDRC Car-tridge

(4) CP3680, (3) CP2005, (1) Connect1, HLCN

(70) dial-up, (5) 51, 56k

70 64 No Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-er-ators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—10 PCs, 25 dumb ter-minals, 20 telephones

Cold shell and office space, di-saster data comm design and analysis, remote testing, pre-arrival loading and setup for testing and disasters

CHUBB CONTINGENCY TRADING FACILITY

Dina M. Becker

100 William St., 6th floor

New York, NY 10038

(212) 612-4175, fax (212) 612-4672

Metrotech, Brooklyn, NY

Long Island City, Queens, NY

Yes N/A N/A HP Sure-store 60001 (2)

N/A DS3 fiber links from separate local access providers, NYNEX, Tele-port, Metropol-itan Fiber.

1200 at each facil-ity

Varied by cli-ents needs

No Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—500+ PCs, 500+ telephones

Disaster recovery planning, consulting, storage of vital records, imaging, paper/elec-tronic data discovery and multimedia trial presentations. Primary business is trading and LAN recovery.

Source:


COMDISCO DISASTER RE-COVERY SERVICES

Scott McCormack

6111 N. River Road

Rosemont, IL 60018

(800) 272-9792

(847) 518-5988

www.comdisco.com

25 hotsites in the U.S.; 5 loca-tions in Cana-da; 6 locations internationally

Yes Mainframe: IBM ES/9000; IBM 3090, Amdahl 5890, HDS GX-8824; Midrange: HP9000, IBM AS/400 and RS/6000, Digital Alpha & VAX, Sun, Tandem Cyclone and VLX, Stratus, Pyramid Nile, AT&T, Data General, Unisys and FileNet

Over 17 ter-abytes are available, including all market leading platforms.

All market-leading platforms are avail-able.

All market leading models.

SW56, SWT1.5, SWT 13, Frame Relay, Basic and Prime IS-DN, SMDS are offered and vary by site. All Comdisco DR facilities are linked by CDRS Net, a SONET-based, high-capacity communica-tions network

Var-ies by loca-tion

Max. hours al-lowed annu-ally per cust. re-quire-ment

Yes—fa-cilities can be config-ured to provide from 760—10,000 square feet of continu-ous floor space

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinklers, premise se-curity

Yes—6000+ workarea seats; 1000+ ter-minals in place, 2000+ tele-phones in place

Professional services, busness continuity planning software, Advanced Recovery Services, Millennium Testing Services, Quick-Ship Services, Trading Floor Continuity Services, An-nual User Conference, Internet Recovery, Applications Recov-ery, Asset Management, Hard-ware leasing, Alliance partners.

COMERICA BANK INC.

Tony Silva

39200 Six Mile Road

Livonia, MI 48152-7520

(313) 462-5785, fax (313) 462-5555

Auburn Hills, MI Yes Unisys V530 6.2 GB M9710 and CASD disk; 12 spindles MD8 disk—512MB SSD disk

(2) BT3200 (1) CP2000 (1) Switched 56kb

7 24 No—6,500

N/A Yes—5 PCs, 20 dumb terminals, 7 telephones

Complete check image disaster recovery, (3) DP1800 w/Image & Car—(4) DP500 HSEM 36 Pkts—(55) Image, worksta-tions—(20) T-27 terminals

COMPUTER ALTERNATIVE PROCESSING SITES, INC.

Robert H. Urion

One Enterprise Drive, 4th Floor

Shelton, CT 06484

(203) 925-3900, (203) 944-9008

Shelton, CT

Secaucus, NJ (1997 3rd quar-ter)

Yes LANs only N/A N/A Compaq 1500 Serv-ers

T-1, 56kb, IS-DN, Fiber

300 40 hours

No Yes—raised floors, UPS, environ-ment con-trols, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, am-ple parking

Yes—4 offic-es, 2 con-ference rooms, 100 PCs, 200 telephones

Business function recovery with 300+ seats, disaster plan consulting

COMPUTER ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES, INC.

Paul Keys

8227 Cloverleaf Dr.

Suite 308

Millersville, MD 21108

(410) 987-7003

fax (410) 987-6710

Mt. Laurel, NJ; Pittsburgh, PA

Some Data General MV and Aviion

All models All models AV2000, HP Netserver Pentiums

ISDN, T1, 56k, dial ups

40 16—32 No No Yes—25 PCs, 300 terminals, 50 tele-phones

Maintenance, depot repair, sales, software

Source:


EXHIBIT 2






AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

COMPUTER SOLUTIONS, INC.

John Painter

397 Park Avenue

Orange, NJ 07050

(201) 672-6000

Fax (201) 672-8069

home.navisoft.com

Orange, NJ; Clinton, NJ

Yes HP3000, HP 9000 business sys-tems

All HP Units All HP Units N/A Custom Config-urations

N/A One annu-al test with un-limit-ed time

Yes—rap-id recov-ery program with shippa-ble sys-tems

Yes—raised floors, UPS, environ-mental con-trols, premise se-curity, tech. support

Yes New replacement hardware, outsourcing, rentals, HP chan-nel partner services

CONTEMPORARY COMPUTER SERVICES INC

John C. Kossman

200 Knickerbocker

Bohemia, NY 11716

(516) 563-8880

Fax (516) 563-5185

Bohemia, NY Yes IBM ES/9000, 3090, 4381; IBM AS/400, S/36, S/38

3380, 3390 3420; 3480; 3490

3725; 3745 Multi, 56k T-1, Dial-up

50 40 No Yes—UPS, diesel gen-erators, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, raised floors

Yes—30+ dumb ter-minals, 30+ tele-phones, 30+ PCs

Hardware maintenance, re-placement hardware, systems software support, application software, contingency plan-ning, tape storage, disaster planning software

DPS MANAGEMENT CON-SULTANTS (DPS)

Louis Scoma, Jr.

200 East Loop 820

Fort Worth, TX 76112

(817) 457-9400

Birmingham, AL; Ft. Worth, TX; Honolulu, HI; Tulsa, OK

No NCR 8595-II, NCR 8575-6780 Reader/Sorter w/36 pockets; IBM AS400—IBM 3892 Model 1 w/16 pockets; IBM AS400—IBM 3892 Model 1 w/16 pockets

NCR 6550, NCR 658

NCR 6370 NCR 621 T.1, 56KB switch

Up to120pairsvoice

12-24 hours (hot-site) more if avail-able

No Yes -up to 33,00 sq. ft.—raised floors, die-sel genera-tors, environ-ment con-trols, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, Ha-lon fire suppres-sion, water detection system, ac-cess control

Yes—up to 15,000 square feet; PCs, dumb terminals and tele-phones available as required

Management consulting in di-saster recovery planning, au-diovisual emergency training programs, offsite storage ser-vices, business resumption (continuity) planning

Source:


DRS DISASTER RECOVERY SERVICES

Steven King

4901 Dwight Evans Rd., Suite 132

Charlotte, NC 28217

(704) 525-0096

Fax (704) 525-0098

www.drs.net

Charlotte, NC2 mobile recov-ery labs

Yes NCR, Unisys N/A 7/14 Gb …, 10/20/40 Gb DLT Tape

N/A 5 8 48 hours

Yes—1200 sq. feet in each mobile recovery lab

No Yes—45 PCs, 4 dumb ter-minals, 15 telephones

Mobile/onsite and hot site so-lutions for NCR 7770/7780, 7790, 7795, and Unisys NDP 500, 1000, 1800 Systems and peripherals, specific to check imaging, reject-reentry, and lockbox processing systems

FINANCIAL DIVERSIFIEDSERVICES, INC.

Robert D. Katvala

P.O. Box 909

Andover, MN 55304

(612) 755-9100

Fax (612) 755-9100

Mobile teller fa-cilities deliv-ered to banks and credit unions com-plete with teller line, security, cameras, night drop off safe, and drive-up window

No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 6 N/A Yes—800 sq. feet

No Yes—within the mobile unit 3 tele-phones

FIRSTMERIT, DISASTER RE-COVERY HOTSITE

Gregory W. Sedlacko

6625 West Snowville Road

Brecksville, OH 44141

(216) 838-4044

Fax (216) 838-4037

San Ramon, CA; Yes Unisys A11-411 with 48MB memory; Unisys V430 with 20MB memory; Unisys Micro-A; Two Unisys DP1800 Reader/Sorters (one is NDP-Ca-pable) with 32 pockets; one NCR 7770-3000 Reader/Sorter (16 pockets)

10 packs of Unisys M9710—(6.7GB) plus 8 packs of Unisys SCSI (4.48GB) for com-bined total of 11.18GB

Unisys BT3200 Reel (4), USR 5073 Cartridge (2), 8 mm tape (1), 4 mm virtual DAT tape (1), 4mm Unisys DAT tape (1)

CPDLP, ED-CDLP, DCDLP, Telecom DLP, CP2000—18 ports with all pro-tocols

18 dedicated dial-up/RS232 up to 9600 bps, and switched 56KB, 10 ISDN lines

20 Varies No No Yes- up to 2,000 square feet, 12 PCs, 20 dumb ter-minals, up to 120 tele-phones

Unisys DP500, S6000, and S4000 backup, Unisys NDP1800, DP1800 and DP1000 backup; single pocket proof backup with 30 NCR en-coders; specialize in Unisys Fi-nancial Institution backup; check clearing with the Cleve-land Federal Reserve, courier service, statement rendering, technical support for testing and emergency processing. Hotsite is solely for disaster recovery—no production or service bureau work is per-formed at the site.

Source:


EXHIBIT 2






AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

HEWLETT-PACKARDCOMPANY

Millie Seal

15815 SE 37th St.

Bellevue, WA 98006

(800) 863-5360

Fax (425) 957-4949

www.hp.com

Wayne, PA; Fed-eral Way, WA; Toronto, Ontar-io, Canada

Yes All models HP 3000/9000

All model HP

All model HP,StorageTek

All model HP 3000/9000

Various T1, 56kb—MCI, AT&T, Sprint

More than 100 per re-cov-ery cen-ter

Two plans avail-able: 48 & 16 hrs Addi-tional can be pur-chased

Yes—300-to 3,000 square feet

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-ertors, envi-ronmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—25+ PCs, 60+ dumb ter-minals, 100+ tele-phones

Planning, performance consult-ing, Business Impact Analysis

HOUSEHOLDINTERNATIONAL

Gerald Stokes

2700 Sanders Road

Prospect Heights, IL 60070

(847) 291-8740

Fax (847) 559-7177

www. household.com

Schiller Park, IL No DEC 6210 N/A N/A IBM 3720/11, six 3174 con-trollers

eight 5-1 ana-logs

192 Nego-tiable

No No Yes—work sta-tions—350, office ca-pacity for 5—15; “quick ship” pcs, negotiable # terminals up to 150; 350 phones

Small 486 LAN, data lines are cat-5, others are cat-3, within 5-10 minutes of O’Hare air-port—Chicago

Source:


IBM BUSINESS RECOVERY SERVICES

Larry Ellis

300 Long Meadow Rd.

Sterling Forest, NY 10979-0700

(800) 599-9950

Fax (914) 759-4690

www.ibm.com

20 recovery fa-cilities in U.S.; 96 sites in 61 non-U.S. coun-tries

Yes 9672, Parallel Sysplex with 9674 Coupling Facilities, 9021, 9121, 9221, 3090, 3084, 3081, 4381, 9370

S/36, AS/400 B-F97, Advance Series models 200 thru 320/2052. AS/400 RISC models 400 thru 530/2162

RS/6000, SP, S/88

Digital, HP, Sun, Tandem (Hima-laya), Unisys, Data General, Stratus, Wang, Xerox

Ramac Vir-tual Array (RVA2), Ra-mac 1/2/3, 3390-2/3/9, 3380/D-K; 9345, 3995 Optical

9336; 9337; 7133; 7135; Tandem (V8, V80, XL80, 4500, 451X)

Magstar 3590, 3490E, 3490, 3480, 3420, Virtu-al Tape Server (VTS)

3490, 7208, .25 inch cartridge, 9348 8 mm (7208 and Decision Data) Tan-dem (513X, 517X, 518XACL, 519XACL)

3746-900/950, 3745-410, 3745-310; 3745-210; 3745-170; 3745-61A, 3725, 3720, 3705, Comten 5645. Fall suite of products from CNT, Cisco, 3Com, Bay Networks, Compu-term and others. OEM inte-grated com-munication adaptors

Multiprotocol network at speeds up to 45 mbps (DS3); leased line or dial connections in 850 cities in 100+ countries; support for: SNA/ SDLC, TCP/IP, IPX, APPN, others; Access to ma-jor rec. ctrs. via self-healing fi-ber SONET tech. up to multiple OC-48 capacity. Major carriers sup-ported, incl. frame relay and switched svcs (up to DS3); local in-ternet access points in 860 locations in 50+ countries

Var-ies by loca-tion

24-72, addi-tional hours may be ob-tained for a fee

Yes—up to 3500 sq. ft. within 7 days

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, se-curity, re-dundant closed-loop chilled water, card key access

Yes—PCs, LANs, serv-ers, dumb terminals, phones. Amount of equipment varies by location. Quick ship options are available. 55 Distrib-uted Sites Worldwide with 7500 end-user seats

Business recovery consultation services, business recovery planning services, High Avail-ability Solutions (remote mir-roring and electronic vaulting solutions for all platforms); electronic data protection; business recovery services (for WWW and Interact applica-tion); Internet Emergency Re-sponse Service with Real Time Intrusion Detection; Anti-Virus services and software; Year 2000 testing solutions; Recov-ery Management Solutions; full featured ACD recovery for call center protection; print and mail distribution services; quick shipment of recovery solutions; business resumption services and crisis manage-ment, optical storage and im-age support; remote access and testing capability. 200 consultants; 1200 worldwide consulting engagements; 10,500 contracts worldwide; 13.2 K Mips; 38 Terabytes; ISO Certified in 25 countries

MDY ADVANCEDTECHNOLOGIES, INC

Roy Strunin

21-00 Route 208 South

Fair Lawn, NJ 07410

(201) 797-6676

Fax (201) 797-6852

www.mdyadvtech.com

Fair Lawn, NJ N/A DEC, VAX 3400 (4) AST file serv-ers (Novell, Windows/NT, DOS) Netframe Superservers

4 GB disk, VMS Sys-tems, 6 GB of wk, DOS/Win-dows/NT/Novell Sys-tems

1600BPI, 9 track, 8 mm, 4 mm, DEC Tk50

N/A 8 POTS lines 25 As per con-tract

Yes—2400 square ft.

Yes—UPS, diesel gen-erators

Yes— unlim-ited # of PCs, dumb terminals, telephones

LAN/WAN network integration, software implementation

Source:


EXHIBIT 2






AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

MPA SYSTEMS

Kimberly K. Shaw

P.O. Box 856/521 S. Stemmons

Sanger, TX 76266

(800) 433-5526

Fax (817) 458-4943

Buildings housed in vari-ous states

Gen-era-tors availa-ble

N/A N/A N/A N/A 10 lines 10 lines

N/A Yes—980 square feet

Yes—diesel generators, premise se-curity, driveup window, night de-pository, safe, under-counter steel pe-dastals, tell-er line, lobby area AC, heating unit, 2 ADA compliant restrooms, camera and alarm sys-tems

Yes—10 tele-phones, computer wiring

Program members have avail-ability, response within 24 to 72 hours, and six months free use of building and equipment for $795.00 annual fee.

NCR CORPORATION—BUSINESS RECOVERYSERVICES

Michael Kurilec

1611 South Main St. SDC-3

Dayton, OH 45479

(800) 587-0911

Fax (937) 449-2599

www.NCR.com

Hotsites: Day-ton, OH; Roch-elle Park, NJ Warmsites: LA, CA; San Fran, CA; Dallas; Mi-ami; Atlanta; Hartford; Co-lumbia, MD; VA.Beach; Bos-ton; Cranbury, NJ; Chicago

Yes NCR WorldMark 5100M Data Warehouse Sys-tems; NCR 3600 Data Warehouse Systems; NCR WorldMark Servers: 5100C, 5100S, 4100, 4300, 4500; NCR Servers: 3500, 3400; NCR S10, S16, S26, S46, NCR 9800’s

6356, 6547, 6540, 6543, 3500 EMC; Storage-Tek 6400

6376; 8mm (5-10, 7-14, 10-20); DLT (20-40); 3480; 3490; 3490E; 4mm

Comten 5675 and 3690; Channel Ex-tension

T1.5; T3; ISDN, Dial

450 Varies by cus-tomer needs (48 hrs. min.)

Yes—up to 1000 sq. feet

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, NCR field engi-neers onsite

Yes—250 PCs, 210 dumb ter-minals, 300 telephones

Consulting; planning software, QuickShip Programs, Year 2000 Services, Power Protec-tion, education, High Avail-ability Systems and software, remote data mirroring, item/image payment system backup

Source:


RECOVERY BUSINESSSYSTEMS, INC.

Farrell Ball

10351 West 70th Street

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

(800) 365-7274

Fax (612) 938-2495

Minneapolis, MN; Mendota Heights, MN; San Ramon, CA

Yes IBM AS/400s: 9406-F60, 9406-300/2044, 9406-B60, 9406-B60, DASD: IBM 9337, IPL 9337 Cached disk (60GB total); Unisys A-Series: A2400/A14-311, A6/311; DASD: 4GB Unisys DASD, 12GB Zi-tel Cached Disk (Total: 16GB)

60 GB—9337, 9336 AS/400 DASD 12GB, Zitel DASD, 46B Unisys DASD

All types N/A Per customer specifications

Per cus-tomer spec-ifica-tions

24 -72 hours/year free

Yes—600 sq. ft. per unit

Yes—raised floor, par-tial UPS, diesel gen-erator, envi-ronmental controls, sprinkler system, premise se-curity

Yes—up to 40 employ-ees, PCs, dumb ter-minals, and telephones per custom-er specifica-tions

Quick ship hardware replace-ment, check processing for fi-nancial institutions

SERVICES CONSEILS RDI INC.

Jocelyn Audette

5055 Metropolitan Blvd. E Suite 104

St-Leonard, QC, Can H1R 1Z7

(514) 955-0213

Fax (514) 955-0214

Montreal, Cana-da

Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A One, ISDN 13 144 hours

No Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—48 of-fice spaces available, 11 PCs, 4 dumb ter-minals, 12 telephones

Disaster recovery plan software

STRATEGIA CORPORATION

Dean Gardenhire

1030 Linn Station Road

Louisville, KY 40223

(502) 426-3434, (800) 325-3977Fax (502) 426-3028

www.strategiacorp.com

Louisville, KY Yes Bull: DPS 90/94, DPS 8000/83, DPS 8000/82, DPS 8/70, DPS 6/95; IBM: 3090/600J

3380K, 3380D, 3390 MOD3, 3390MOD2

MTH630 (28 address-es); STK 4780 (18 address-es); 3480 (32 ad-dresses), 3490 (6 ad-dresses)

DN 8120 (4), DN8130 (2), 3705, 3725, 3745, 3174

XS Dialup, 8 AT&T Switched 56, 2 AT&T Accunet Reserved T1s, 2 ISDN

more than 24

72 No Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—12 PCs, 16 Bull dumb ter-minals, 16 IBM dumb terminals

Consulting services, contingen-cy planning software

Source:


EXHIBIT 2 —Alternate Sites (continued)





AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

SUNGARD RECOVERYSERVICES INC.

Donna Baun

1285 Drummers Lane

Wayne, PA 19087

(800) 247-7832

Fax (610) 341-8739

www.recovery.sungard.com

Atlanta; Bir-mingham; Bos-ton; Chicago; Cleveland; Dal-las; Denver; Detroit; Hern-don, VA; Jersey City; Kansas City; Montreal; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; San Ramon, CA; Santa Ana, CA; Seattle; St. Lou-is; St. Paul; Scottsdale, AZ; Toronto; Warm-inster, PA

Yes Mainframe: IBM ES/9000, 9672, 3090, Hitachi, Parallel sysplex with separate coupling facility and links is avail.; Unisys; Midrange: IBM AS/400—broad range of plat-forms; Data General; Digi-tal—broad range; Filenet, HP3000, HP9000 includ-ing mult. T500 systems; NCR, NetFRAME serv-ers; Prime; RS/6000—broad range; RS/6000 SP; Sequent in-cluding SE80 and NUMA-Q 2000 systems; Sequoia; Silicon Graphics; Stra-tus, Sun, Sys-tem/3X, Tandem—broad range; PC/LAN servers

Mainframe: EMC, IBM 3390, 3380, variety of models in-cluding over 6 ter-abytes in one loca-tion; Midrange: variety of models providing over 5 ter-abytes of storage

Mainframe: 3480 and 3490E—several hundred available; 3590 (Mag-star); Storage-Tek Silo with Tim-berline drives; Midrange: More than 500 tape drives,everymodel available

All current models available

Self-healing fi-ber SONET ring technolo-gy; SONET-based SunGard National Net-work back-bone: SMDS, FDDI, ATM, T3, T1, Frac-tional, 56kbps, x.25, frame re-lay, ISDN BRI/PRI

more than 2500

Based on cus-tomer re-quire-ments

9 avail-able—One 53' unit; three 45' units; and five 28' units, equipped with two chaise units. Quick-Ship op-tion ensures delivery and in-stallation of equip-ment within 48 hours

Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity, chilled wa-ter supply, card key ac-cess

Yes—De-pending on location, there are between 30—300 work posi-tions, 30—300 tele-phones, 5—75 PC/ Servers; and 10-50 terminals

Electronic vaulting; PC/LAN vaulting;, Year 2000 services; SunGard National Network; business recovery planning software; printing and mailing services; check processing ser-vices; SAP Technology Prac-tice, Professional Services; and recovery planning and con-sulting

Source:


THE RECOVERY ROOM, INC.

Don Christensen

323 Lake Hazeltine Drive

Chaska, MN 55318

(612) 361-9355, (888) 361-9355

Fax (612) 361-9366

Chaska, MN Yes 9221-421, 9221-170

9345, 3390 3490, 9348, 3480

N/A T1 T1 De-pends on con-tract

No Yes—UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, premise se-curity

Yes—4 PCs, 12 dumb terminals, 16 tele-phones

Cold site, replacement services

TOTAL CORPORATERECOVERY CENTER

George Sweet

12009 W. Capitol Drive

Wauwatosa, WI 53151

(414) 290-8272

Fax (414) 290-8276

Wauwatosa, WI Yes—2 pow-er feedlines

N/A N/A N/A N/A DS3 on SONET Ring

73 24 No Yes—raised floors, envi-ronment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—28 dumb ter-minals, 24 telephones

UNISYS CORPORATION

Ed Dougherty

12010 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20191

(703) 620-7025

Fax (703) 620-7151

Phoenix; Bakersfield; Concord, CA; Long Beach, CA; Cleveland; Indianapolis; Eagan, MN; Cherry Hill, NJ; Lake Success, NY; Utica, NY; Cincinnati

Var-ies by site

IBM, Unisys, Hewlett Pack-ard, Sun

Varies by site

Varies by site

Varies by site Varies by site Var-ies by site

Nego-tiable

No Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—num-ber of PCs, dumb ter-minals, and telephones varies

Year 2000 test environments; outsourcing; facilities manage-ment

VANGUARD VAULTS

Todd Sperber

P.O. Box 254575

Sacramento, CA 95865

(916) 686-8286

Fax (916) 686-8227

www.vanguardsvaults.com

Sacramento, CA Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 6 N/A N/A Yes—raised floors, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironment controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—10 PCs, 8 tele-phones

Individual vaults for off-site storage of all media; disaster testing

Source:


EXHIBIT 2






AnnualTestingHours

MobileSite


Other Services

WANG LABORATORIES, INC.

Francis A. Ascolillo

155 Merrimack Street

Lowell, MA 01852

(508) 967-2690

Fax (508) 967-0594

www.drs.wang.com

Billerica, MA

Mobile Recovery Centers at: Bos-ton, Salt Lake City, Herndron, Dallas and planned for Se-attle, Chicago

Yes Remotely 200GS DASD

3420, 3480, 3490, 7208, 7348, 8 mm, 4mm, DLTs and PC tape drives

3174, 3721 Multiple T1 ISDN and switches

60 Yes—600 sq. feet per mobile site

Yes—(mo-bile recov-ery centers) UPS, diesel generators, environ-ment con-trols, premise se-curity, re-mote and satellite connectivi-ty

Yes—from 16 to 50 us-ers per MRC, 16–50 PCs per unit, same number of telephones

24 hour set up, local office en-vironment

WEYERHAEUSER RECOVERY SERVICES

Michael Pearce

33330 8th Ave. S. MS-PC2/150

Federal Way, WA 98003

(800) 654-9347

Fax (206) 727-7060

www.weyer.com

Seattle, WA

Philadelphia, PA

Yes Mainframe: IBM; Midrange IBM, HP—all, DEC

3380, 3490, SSA

3480, 3490, and 3590

3720, 3725, 3745, 3172

Dial, 56K, T1, satellite

200 Mini-mum of 48

No Yes—raised floor, UPS, diesel gen-erators, en-vironmental controls, sprinkler systems, premise se-curity

Yes—PCs and dumb terminals as required; 200 tele-phones

LAN recovery, survival commu-nications, contingency plan-ning

Source:


Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, is president of Rothstein Associates Inc., a management consultancy focusing on busi-ness continuity and disaster recovery (203.740.7400; www.rothstein.com; e-mail [email protected]).Mr. Rothstein is editor of the book

Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan

and publisher of

The Rothstein Catalog on Disaster Recovery,

the industry’s principal resource for books, videos, and softwaretools. He was elected Fellow, Business Continuity Institute in 1994 in recognition of his substantial contributionsto the business continuity industry.

Documents

Choosing A Hot Site Vendor