Asset protection strategy limits storm damage at VDO

Based in Clearwater, Florida, broadcast and cable design and on-air graphics firm, VDO, which creates the visual identity of dozens of leading local TV news shows around the country, had a sound strategy to survive storm damage.
VDO has adopted the business continuity processing strategies of much larger enterprises, but as VDO works with high-bandwidth visual assets, including HD video and intensive graphic overlays, migrating critical data can require multi-terabyte file archives.
Only recently occupied, the company’s new 6,000-square foot office, in Clearwater, had to stage an almost immediate disaster recovery drill - with stacks of hard drives to be moved to safe locations.
“Had Charley hit the Tampa area as hard as some had predicted, our office might not be standing today, but our files and – most importantly – our client’s work, would have survived intact,” said Dianne Streyer, senior producer of VDO. “We operate a business that requires every imaginable provision for lost time, as our client base is in broadcast and cable television, which is the most time-sensitive, pressurized deadline environment.”
VDO mobilized its teams, including executive, design, and technical into groups that would maintain client assets with back-up disks and media, while securing safe locations - a feat that required the literal disassembly of the company’s network, servers, and graphics systems, within a single day, following a network backup.
Insurance policies in place at VDO, include full replacement of equipment for physical plant and where possible several ‘key man’ policies with back-up provisions for both labour and equipment because both are vital for continuity.
While Hurricane Charley is a once-in-a-century storm, VDO claim they are prepared for any major storm.
(SP)