The Evolution of E-Business Evolves Toward Electronic Vaulting
By Tricia Camera, amerivault corp.

Remarkable changes in the way businesses work are being fueled by business-to-business and business-to-consumer processes going on 24 hours a day, electronically. Business processes are becoming more compressed, and business activities that took days now happen within hours or minutes globally. Companies without a strong foothold in technology will be disadvantaged moving forward when facing the evolutionary trend of business changes toward e-commerce.

The long-standing fundamental ideas of disaster recovery and business continuity planning must change to coincide with the new economy. Continuity planners must turn to solutions that are technology based. The Love Bug is a prime example of why contingency planning must change to keep up with e-business trends. Due to the interdependency business has with technology, the Love Bug's effect was devastating and shook the business world. The disaster recovery and business continuity planning industry was forced to take notice.

The 24-hour Love Bug virus preyed upon tens of millions of computers, ringing up a toll as high as $10 billion in lost work hours. With a proliferation of other virus outbreaks, debates have been fueled over the safety and security of our electronic way of life. The Love Bug virus was the most damaging virus ever. According to McAfee, there were requests for help from 10,000 affected companies on the first day of the outbreak. The timing for electronic vaulting couldn't be better. Advancements and enhancements in technology are leading to unparalleled levels of technology-based dependencies, as well as outsourcing of critical business functions to vendors that provide automated data backup.

Data is in constant motion, and is the cornerstone of e-business and the new economy. Storage support services have become critical components in an organization's e-business initiatives. Electronic vaulting's appearance in small- to large-sized companies is quickly becoming more mainstream. Planning professionals are responsible for ensuring uninterrupted operation and immediate recovery of data. Businesses faced with increasingly narrow recovery windows and "zero tolerance" for disruption will be required to look outside the box for recovery solutions. Electronic vaulting is responding to the demands of integrated global electronic commerce.

During this e-business transformation, existing recovery and continuity solutions are becoming more specialized and difficult to integrate within e-business models. The ability of traditional disaster recovery and business solutions to fulfill corporate objectives in the overall business continuity scheme must be evaluated. Accommodating the change will not be the same as it was in the past, because the Internet has fueled the full emergence of electronic vaulting. During this transition from business to e-business, electronic vaulting has proven itself to be a fundamental component with the new e-business continuity plan. Traditional recovery solutions must be retailored to accommodate the new recovery and continuity alternatives available or required under the new e-business model.

Change is inevitable, and so is electronic vaulting. The Internet has radically altered the global economy, and with it, the management of securing and restoring data.

amerivault has provided online backup for business to companies worldwide since 1998. amerivault's commitment to its clients is to offer reliable, automated backup and recovery services to ensure business continuity. By utilizing software and bandwidth, amerivault has implemented an entirely new business model for the traditional offsite data storage and protection industry through the "Protected by amerivault" program. For more information, visit www.amerivault.com.

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