Accessible, Reliable, Customizable, Secure: Work Area Recovery Facilities Ensure Business Continuity in a Crisis

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1 CASE STUDY Accessible, Reliable, Customizable, Secure: Work Area Recovery Facilities Ensure Disaster Recovery Platform Thwarts Superstorm Sandy s Impact

2 The Situation On Oct. 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy devastated the Northeast. In New York City, the storm surge flooded streets, tunnels and subway lines; power was out throughout the city. In Sandy s wake, the lobby of a global trading firm s New York offices located at the tip of Manhattan became inundated with seawater. In fact, all streets and most buildings in downtown Manhattan were swamped. No one could get to work. The city was virtually closed. The Challenge Technology is at the core of this financial trading firm s operations, growth and continued success, given the company s global reach and the extreme volume of trades, data and money that move through its system on any given day. Without power, people and access to data, this business would quickly come to a halt. When the governor of New York declared a statewide pre-disaster state of emergency and the weather forecasts became increasingly (and accurately) dire, the firm decided to quickly move its operations to a safe, secure location. Fortunately, they had contracted with CyrusOne for information technology (IT) data storage and backup services and, importantly, disaster recovery space. CyrusOne Enterprise Data Centers CyrusOne.com 2

3 The Action Immediately, the firm deployed 53-foot tractor trailers filled with its equipment to CyrusOne s nearby data center facility and shifted live operations to a pre-defined work area recovery space. Without skipping a beat, CyrusOne created a home for the trading firm. They occupied 1,200 square feet of raised floor area, including three rows of cabinets with 2N power, 200 dedicated work area seats, eight offices and two conference rooms. Every day for nearly nine weeks, CyrusOne hosted of the firm s employees, processing them through a secure triage center set up in the lobby of the facility to allow speedy access to the workspace area so that traders could begin their trading day. To further accommodate the firm s mission-critical needs, CyrusOne modified power in the workspace and provided extra bandwidth until the firm could get its own circuits up and running. CyrusOne also made special adjustments to equip the workspace with certain amenities dining, classroom, exercise, and game areas to which the firm s traders and technology experts were accustomed. The Solution The CyrusOne work area recovery solution enabled the firm to continue its critical operations despite the disastrous storm that created havoc throughout the region. Comfortable, customizable and highly secure workspaces were equipped with robust communications capabilities; reliable infrastructures and systems; and multivendor tools and equipment that kept the firm s data intact, protected and accessible to its staff in dedicated workstations. In addition to building enterprise value and averting corporate risk, the firm was able to maintain employee productivity and morale, thereby meeting client needs and expectations, protecting the firm s reputation in the industry, and avoiding significant financial loss. Time, after all, is money particularly for traders. CyrusOne Enterprise Data Centers CyrusOne.com 3

4 The Results During an event that brought many businesses to their knees, this trading firm a global liquidity provider and market-maker did not experience any downtime. Its business continuity expectations were met; in fact, they were exceeded. Superstorm Sandy creating, perhaps, the ultimate test of resilience proved no match for CyrusOne s work area recovery infrastructure, which was designed and built on the premise of always-on functionality. About the Customer Technology and collaborative problem-solving are at the core of this New York City-based global trading firm. The company actively participates on hundreds of electronic exchanges in about 40 countries, resulting in millions of trades and billions of dollars flowing through its system every day around the clock. This complex business applies real-time quantitative analysis and insights to massive amounts of financial data from a broad variety of sources. The company considers itself as much a technology company as a trading firm. Fortunately, this trading firm planned ahead. It was already working with a service provider CyrusOne that proved to be as sophisticated and experienced in its arena as the firm was in its particular specialties of trading and statistical modeling. So when Superstorm Sandy menaced the northeast on that horrendous October day, CyrusOne s work area recovery solution was already in place. The firm was able to continue its global business without a hitch until operations could finally resume in downtown Manhattan. CyrusOne Enterprise Data Centers CyrusOne.com 4

5 About CyrusOne CyrusOne (NASDAQ: CONE) specializes in highly reliable, enterprise-class, carrier-neutral data center properties. The company provides mission-critical data center facilities that protect and ensure the continued operation of IT infrastructures for hundreds of customer companies, including many Fortune 1000 companies. CyrusOne s data center offerings provide the flexibility, reliability and security that enterprise customers require, delivered through a tailored, customer service-focused platform designed to foster long-term relationships. CyrusOne s National Internet Exchange (IX) platform provides robust connectivity options to drive revenue, reduce expenses and improve service quality for all types of organizations. CyrusOne is committed to full transparency in communication, management and service delivery throughout its data centers worldwide. CS CyrusOne, LLC CyrusOne Enterprise Data Centers CyrusOne.com 5