Sungard Goes Mobile With Its Disaster Recovery Services

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The exterior of a SunGard Mobile Metro Center (MMC) remote disaster recovery unit during a recent visit to northern Virginia. (Photo: Jason Verge)

HERNDON, VA -  SunGard Availability Services  has always been an IT recovery expert, but it is a people recovery expert as well. The process usually involves employees trekking to a disaster recovery center. Now SunGard has a way to bring the disaster recovery site to the people.

SunGard’s Mobile Metro Center (MMC) Units are completely self-contained workspaces. In the event of a disaster, the unit provides 982 square feet of office and work space supporting up to 52 workers. Each is supplied with desk space, chair, PC and flatscreen and VOIP telephone satellite. Units are always close by, ready to deploy after a disaster strikes. A truck drives the mobile unit up to the site, and workers are ready to go after a quick 1 or 2 hour setup after arrival.

On board power, Voice over IP, and voice and data networking are available through statellite. The satellite is on the roof and automatically adjusts its line of sight. All the inputs, air conditioning and diesel generator are all built in. A time lapse of the process can be seen in this video.

In terms of layout, let your imagination take you where you want to go. It’s fully stocked with all your needs. Whether you fill it with a workforce or servers - it acts as raised floor- the unit is ready to serve. It contains two 10-ton air conditioners, 70 kW, and a 200 amp circuit.

During SuperStorm Sandy, a New York healthcare provider deployed 2 trailers. Before the storm was set to hit, the trailers were staged a short drive from the location, and then brought on-site quickly once the storm had passed.

During Hurricane Katrina, an mobile recovery unit was parked in Iowa ready to head down to Louisiana and serve. The unit moved in, allowing a manufacturing company to contain grain trading.

SunGard tracks inclement weather and disasters in real-time, alerting customers through mobile, email, or whatever a customer chooses when something is afoot. Forest fires in Colorado, hurricanes, whatever ails you – the company provides full workforce continuity services, extending beyond the app and to the people.

SunGard has focused on being recovery experts for all aspects of business. While the MMC unit is a new model, SunGard has been offering their mobile disaster recovery services for over 30 years. This unit is just one component of the SunGard workforce continuity program. The company also has more than 27,000 workstation seats worldwide, provides complete connectivity, and secure connections allowing employees to work from home.

Here's a look inside the Mobile Metro Center: