A survey conducted by IDC involving 44 banks and 35 insurance companies in Latin America indicated that virtualization and contingency projects are among the priorities of the financial sector in 2009. According to the study, by the end of 2008, the institutions will invest US$ 8,6 billion in IT alone, not counting telecommunications and banking automation. More than half (54%) of the amount is the responsibility of Brazilian banks. But it isn’t only the financial segment that should invest in projects of this nature.  In the opinion of CIMCORP, a company specialized in services of high complexity, performance optimization and IT infrastructure management; this is a tendency to be followed by all verticals.

 “We live in a world that is threatened by countless incidents, which can be caused by economical, environmental, social and technological changes”, affirms the president of CIMCORP, Tadeu Fucci. He emphasizes that the creation of an IT environment with contingency is fundamental in order to guarantee the continuity of business and the good practices of corporative and IT governance.

The Backup Site & Disaster Recovery solution guarantees the continuity of the operations in case of failure in the main site, besides eliminating costs resulting from an interruption of the company’s business processes. “We recently invested R$ 3,2 million in the implementation of a NOC (Network Operation Center) to help in the monitoring and provide contingency in a safer and more economic manner”, informed the president. According to him, it is no longer about investing in infrastructure, but in the revision of the processes.

Sources in the sector inform that the organizations that do not have a “Plan B” to protect their business run the serious risk of not recovering from an incident. A survey conducted by Guardian IT affirms that, after an incident, 8% of the companies without a continuity plan do not reopen; 40% reopen but close within 18 months; 12% reopen but close within 5 years and only 8% survive.

CIMCORP is responsible for the contingency projects of large companies, such as Capemisa (life insurance and social security) and Banestes (Bank of the State of Espírito Santo). The company believes that there is still a long way to go until everyone realizes the importance of maintaining their essential operations running or have them quickly reestablished. “Without a doubt, the most successful organizations are those who always have a Plan B”, concluded Fucci.