IBM to invest $300 million to build 13 ‘business resilience centers’
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- August
- 20
IBM Corp. plans to announce today that it will invest $300 million to expand its business continuity and resiliency unit amid growing worldwide demand for a service that helps companies operate in case of a natural disaster, power outage or terrorist strike.
The Armonk-based computer giant plans to build 13 new “business resilience centers” in 10 countries around the world by year’s end to give its clients speedy access to their data when their own offices or operations are disrupted.
Companies will have immediate access to their data, which will be stored in electronic “vaults” at IBM’s worldwide centers. Earlier this year, IBM completed a deal to buy Arsenal Digital Solutions, which supplied technology used in the vaults.
Philippe Jarre, general manager of business continuity and resiliency services, said IBM’s increasingly global customer base is asking for new centers where IBM did not need them before. Customers are becoming less tolerant of any outage in their computer networks or disruptions in their business, Jarre said.
IBM’s business continuity and resiliency unit has seen increased demand in the years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which put the need for this service in the minds of top executives.
“After 9/11, a lot of customers were not able to recover – not the IBM ones – but the customers are now more and more demanding to be sure they will be able to recover,” he said.
Among the new sites are Warsaw, Poland; Izmir, Turkey; Beijing and Shanghai, China; Cologne, Germany; Milan, Italy; Tokyo; Hong Kong; Paris and London. A new New York City-oriented center will open in New Jersey, 25 miles from Manhattan.
Today, a facility in Sterling Forest is IBM’s primary disaster recovery site for clients in New York City and New England.
The fortress-like data center 40 miles outside New York City has helped IBM clients recover from a wide array of disasters, including hurricanes, floods, insect infestations, fires and terrorist attacks.
IBM has more than 150 business resilience centers around the world.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 11:23 am by Julie Moran Alterio.
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