DISASTER RECOVERY 
JOURNAL

Return to the Winter 2001
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INTERNATIONAL
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England: Thom Hetherington
Business Continuity 
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Australia: Anthony J. Harvey
Journal of Business Continuity
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fax: 0011-613-953-0528
sector@notability.com.au

Japan: Shinji Hosotsubo
Quake Japan Co., Ltd.
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fax: 03-3215-2881

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Disaster Recovery Mercosul
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An Interview with R. Lawrence Whitley of
Metro Information Services, Inc.

- by Terri Kirchner, MBCP, CCP

The purpose of this series of articles is to gain an executive’s perspective on emerging technologies and business trends. It is also intended to illustrate the importance of highly adaptable infrastructures that provide the very secure, high availability IT solutions necessary to respond to customer and market-driven demands.

This interview is with R. Lawrence Whitley, Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer for Metro Information Services, Inc.

Kirchner: Mr. Whitley, thank you for meeting with us today. Please give our readers a brief overview of your organization.
Whitley: Metro Information Services (METRO) was founded in 1979 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Since then, it has grown to 36 offices in metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, providing a wide range of information technology consulting and software development services. METRO has about 2,500 Information Systems Consultants, and includes a Business Continuity and Recovery practice. Services provided by METRO include application systems development and maintenance, information technology architecture and engineering, business continuity and recovery services, systems consulting, project outsourcing, and general support services. METRO consultants work on all major technology platforms, including the rapidly growing e-Business area.

Kirchner: Your organization is now over 20 years old. How has METRO’s environment and technology evolved over that period of time?
Whitley: METRO has implemented a number of architectural changes over the years. It was originally a Wang mini-computer facility, which moved to a PC LAN-based architecture, then to client server, and, most recently, to a web-based architecture. I came to METRO in 1988, with a mainframe command-level CICS background coupled with experience in PC-related development. Since then, METRO has grown from about 350 Staff Members to about 3,000 today, become a national company, and remained state-of-the-art as technology evolved.

Kirchner: How would you compare your level of risk and relevant risk factors now with those of 10 years ago?
Whitley: Like other organizations, METRO’s technology has evolved from a single-focus platform to multiple platforms. Maintaining and supporting systems at 36 Divisions throughout the country presents a variety of risks, all of which must be considered. In the past 10 years, the definition of “service provider” has changed for us. Several METRO Divisions are providing support as Application Development Centers for our Clients. This new role underscores the need for an ongoing assessment of both the physical and technical environments.

Kirchner: How has business continuity evolved for METRO during that time period?
Whitley: Our business continuity focus evolved along the same lines as the business continuity industry. Initially, we focused on hardware/software “disaster recovery.” Now, our goal is “business continuity” with an ability to sustain continuous operations for all critical business units of our organization, not just the technology components. We have a humanistic focus which makes meeting the needs of our Staff and Clients, on an ongoing basis, a top priority. In a crisis or disaster situation, we need to have committed, competent people available to resolve the situation, and that is an important consideration in our planning. From a technology and infrastructure standpoint, we utilize FM-200 fire suppression, redundant air conditioning, 150 KVW diesel generator power with a 3-4 day fuel supply, and high temperature and building security monitoring. The monitoring company also provides generator monitoring and notifies us in low fuel and “overcrank” (generator tries to start and can’t) situations and when the generator does start because of an outage. We have fiber optic connectivity for data and voice communications, and, of course, all equipment is on a UPS and generator. Any investment we make in infrastructure focuses on “smart building” design. Our server architecture incorporates RAID 5 disc array configurations. We store, at our headquarters location, a full set of equipment necessary for recovery operation of a remote site, which quickly can be shipped in case it is needed.

Kirchner: During a recent panel discussion, executives from three major business continuity firms, IBM, Comdisco, and Sungard, agreed that, with the growth of electronic commerce and the network economy, the next logical executive focus must be on “mission protection.” One of the reasons that we’re talking with you is to get a picture of what concerns a typical executive of a medium-sized organization in terms of risk management and business continuity.
Whitley: I think IBM, Comdisco, and Sungard are right on target. The evolution of technology exercises anyone’s ability to predict the challenges we will confront in the near future. The Internet has changed the face of doing business. Our Clients’ expectations are heightened, and missteps are identified more quickly. Having said that, it’s important for each organization to factor in risk and determine an appropriate Recovery Time Objective. An on-line auction house, for example, must have continuous operations. METRO, on the other hand, could live (although uncomfortably) with a short outage because of the nature of our business, although the acceptable duration of that outage is rapidly shrinking. Metro’s “mission” always has been to put the interests of our Clients and our Staff in the forefront, and so our goal is to provide reliable technology support for them. Consequently, the concept of “mission protection” is not a new one for us.

Kirchner: How do you approach risk mitigation? What keeps you awake at night?
Whitley: I don’t worry about our basic infrastructure, which is very solid. What keeps me awake at night is contemplating the impact of what we really can’t predict. Looking back, ten years ago, we were isolationists, with a back-office orientation. Five years ago, with fully distributed systems, we were addressing risk factors in remote locations. Today, we have a very integrated environment, with both Client and vendor involvement in our systems. We’re moving towards an extranet community, which provides us with new opportunities and also with new risks to be anticipated, evaluated, and mitigated. I am now focusing even more on people factors - Staff satisfaction and retention, mixing and matching resources to provide proper support and backup, and building trust and loyalty.

Kirchner: Your organization is nationwide. Do you see different potential risks in different sites of your company, and how do you address those differences? Can you give a specific example of a disaster situation that you’ve addressed?
Whitley: Yes, there are different risks inherent with various geographic locations, each of which must be assessed. Risk mitigation is not “one size fits all.” For instance, our offices on the West Coast are susceptible to earthquakes, which are not possible to predict. Our offices on the East Coast are affected by hurricanes. Other parts of the country experience ice storms, snowstorms, floods, tornadoes, and fires. We’re very proud of our response in a recent outage situation that affected one of our Clients in Puerto Rico. We were able to quick-ship 10 PC systems and some generators to our Division and provide our Staff with dial-up capability from their remote site in less than 48 hours after the disaster, thus meeting our Client’s needs.

Kirchner: Many organizations assess risk based on potential impact to the bottom line. Are there other factors that you believe are important to consider?
Whitley: As an IT consulting firm, METRO is always concerned about the support we provide to both our Staff and our Clients. Our corporate goal is: “Service Beyond Your Expectations.” It is very important that our Clients are comfortable that we can continue to provide them support regardless of whether a disaster occurs locally or regionally. If we do that, we’re doing the right thing for the bottom line.

Kirchner: How do you see your business continuity strategies translating into better and more stable products, services, and support for your customers?
Whitley: METRO has a team of certified business continuity planners providing support services, both internally and to numerous Clients, in the discipline of business continuity and recovery. Business continuity, by definition, results in better, more stable products, services and support. It is important for all organizations to ensure that risk assessment, business impact analysis, and recovery strategies are considered as part of their strategic planning.

Terri Kirchner is a member of the DRJ Editorial Advisory Board and holds Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP) and Certified Computer Professional (CCP) certifications.

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