SunGard Teams With EMC Corporation on New High
Availability, Business Continuity Offering
MetroStor Enables Customers to Protect Mission Critical Data At Regional Recovery
Locations
WAYNE, Pa., and HOPKINTON, Mass., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- SunGard Recovery Services Inc., the
premier provider of total business recovery solutions, today announced MetroStor(SM), a new business continuity
solution that can shorten customers' recovery timeframes during disaster.
MetroStor can eliminate the need for time consuming, manual tape backup and transport to the recovery facility,
reducing recovery time from, in some cases, days to hours. With MetroStor, SunGard's subscribers will, for the
first time, be able to protect and store critical information electronically at the company's MetroCenter(R) facilities
located throughout North America. Subscribers' data stored at the regional MetroStor location is continually
migrated via the SunGard National Network (SNN) to a SunGard MegaCenter(R), where it is then more quickly
available in the event of a disaster, helping to ensure business continuity.
Robert F. Bronner, Chief Operating Officer, SunGard Recovery Services Inc., said, "The demands of today's
interconnected global economy are requiring more and more organizations to implement business continuity
solutions that facilitate rapid access to critical information. While many companies could tolerate a recovery
window of 24 to 48 hours in the past, the business impact of a prolonged outage can now be measured in millions
of dollars."
SunGard delivers its powerful MetroStor data vaulting solution by utilizing leading-edge business continuity and
storage technology from EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC). EMC's Symmetrix enterprise storage systems with
Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) software are deployed at both the subscriber's production facility and
the SunGard MetroStor location. SRDF provides the enabling technology that writes a mirrored copy of data
processed at the subscriber location to the duplicate Symmetrix system at the SunGard MetroStor via a dedicated
SNN network circuit.
Turnkey Site Management via MetroManager
Automated management of each of the SunGard MetroStor locations is provided through the company's
MetroManager(SM) function. MetroManager is a feature-rich configuration management solution that helps to
ensure proper operation of the MetroStor, continuous performance monitoring and problem resolution without
more costly on-site user intervention. MetroManager is maintained remotely on a 24 hour x 7 day basis by
SunGard's dedicated SunVault(R) electronic vaulting staff at its Philadelphia MegaCenter.
Fred Joy, Senior Research Analyst, Service Management Strategies, META Group, commented, "Over the past
year or more, we have noticed definite changes of attitude among our clients toward disaster recovery
expenditures. There has been an evolution from seeking 'economy' protection, toward looking at the highest-end
solutions first. This is being caused by the advent of newer applications which are considered highly critical and in
need of rapid recovery. While many companies in the past have only considered facilities like mirroring or remote
vaulting, high application criticality and declining costs of these services are leading to many more actual
implementations."
SunGard's Bronner added, "MetroStor provides an ongoing, affordable solution that meets our subscribers'
rapidly changing information availability requirements. By working closely with EMC, we have broken down the
traditional barriers to electronic vaulting usage, bringing a leading edge business continuity solution to our
geographically dispersed subscriber base."
Robert M. Dutkowsky, EMC's Executive Vice President of Markets and Channels, said, "EMC and SunGard
have built a multi-year track record of success in helping customers manage planned and unplanned outages.
SunGard's business recovery solutions, with the help of EMC's SRDF, the industry's most capable business
continuity software, enable customers to avoid one of their worst nightmares - lost or unavailable business-critical
information."
SunGard and EMC: Advancing Business Continuity Innovation
MetroStor is another in a series of business continuity solutions resulting from the alliance between SunGard and
EMC. SunGard and EMC team in joint marketing and sales activities, and share technical knowledge and future
directions to help ensure rapid delivery of the world's most robust electronic vaulting and business continuity
services. The two companies implemented the world's first installation of extended remote mirroring to a
commercial recovery facility for their mutual customer - the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1997.
In its initial phase, MetroStor will be available to SunGard subscribers at the company's Boston and Philadelphia
regional MetroCenter locations. SunGard has 22 MetroCenters throughout North America. Future sites for
MetroStor will be added at later dates.
About SunGard Recovery Services
SunGard Recovery Services, is the disaster recovery unit of SunGard Data Systems Inc. (NYSE: SDS), the only
large specialized provider of proprietary investment support systems, and the founder and a leader in
comprehensive computer disaster recovery services. SunGard Recovery Services founded the industry in 1978
and provides recovery services for all major computing platforms. Comprehensive Business Recovery(SM)
services include: computer hotsites and coldsites electronic vaulting the SunGard National Network remote testing
and recovery and work group recovery services for voice, data, and LAN systems. Services are delivered through
SunGard's network of MegaCenters and MetroCenters as well as its fleet of Mobile Data Centers. Business
resumption planning, consulting services and PC-based contingency planning tools are furnished through the
company's SunGard Planning Solutions division. For further information on SunGard Recovery Services, the
company's home page can be accessed at recovery.sungard.com.
Note: Definition of SunGard terms:
MetroCenter: A SunGard term for a multi-purpose facility, located in major metropolitan areas, that
accommodates subscribers' remote testing and work group recovery needs. These facilities function as alternate
office environments and contain workstations, furniture, telephones and other office equipment.
MegaCenter: A SunGard term that refers to a large, centralized recovery facility that incorporates recovery
solutions for multiple platforms under one roof and contains multiple and redundant power, telecommunications
and environmental facilities.
SunGard National Network: SunGard's SONET-based, nationwide recovery network used to meet subscribers
testing, recovery and electronic vaulting requirements.
|
