Solutions

Think Assured Computing

Think ViON

"Assured Computing"….the phrase evokes feelings of comfort…of reliability…peace of mind…and even thoughts of simpler times to the senior federal IT manager. ViON Corporation's "Assured Computing" services offering to federal customers may not be the panacea to all of today's challenges for complex federal IT operations, but they hit the bull's-eye in the critical areas of disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC).

ViON packages a unique offering of enterprise-class processor and storage infrastructures and functions, and an optional "utility" pricing model, to greatly simplify some of the most complex tasks facing federal IT managers. Budget pressures and increasing emphasis on lowering total cost of operations have sparked new requirements for data center consolidation, and server and storage consolidations. At the same time, requirements for real-time data asset mirroring and warm processor capacity at a remote site to support DR/BC are not only mandated by federal regulation, but also by common sense and good business practice in this post-911 era.

Provisioning a second dedicated data center as a remote recovery site is perceived by most agencies as a daunting task due to complexity and cost. ViON's Assured Computing process de-mystifies this undertaking, and provides financial options to assist agencies' in establishing a certifiable DR/BC capability in the shortest time and at the lowest cost.

Continuity of operations has been identified as one of the top ten technology mandates, one that is expected to grow dramatically. "Most agencies have an urgent need for a proven method to fortify their business continuity plans and demonstrate their ability to restore and maintain operations at a remote site. Storage technology has progressed in capacity, performance and function, at costs that continue to decline. Replication of data assets between data center sites is now a proven, reliable and repeatable process. An agency can now demonstrate, and obtain independent certification of its ability to recover and sustain application operations." said Doug Moore, Executive Vice President, ViON Corp., Washington D.C.

This is why ViON offers disk storage-on-demand and associated redundant processing power that federal customers can pay for on a monthly basis. The company's new Assured Computing services enable federal customers to acquire the computing infrastructure needed to consolidate data centers, or provide mirrored backup facilities for contingency planning, Moore explained. The utility pricing model also greatly reduces government's financial risk during the implementation of new systems and services, avoiding large capital investments and under-utilized processor and storage resources. In DR/BC cases, the utility model supports highly scaleable standby processors at their minimum "single-engine" capacity; agencies can better afford to immediately implement the business continuity infrastructure resources they require.

The services build on ViON's quarter-century of experience delivering server, disk and tape solutions to the federal sector. Because Assured Computing services can be paid for monthly, using operational, rather than capital funds, it doesn't require a special procurement action for each investment. ViON is betting agencies will appreciate this, as a less costly way to quickly acquire needed IT resources.

Because the service can be turned on or off to suit each agency's needs, federal agencies should consider the Assured Computing services options, whether to comply with disaster recovery testing under FISMA, or to upgrade from older equipment, as one large defense sector customer did. That agency reports that the monthly cost for Assured Computing services is lower than prior maintenance fees, and provides instantaneous backup between primary data center locations. As a result, the agency's most recent federal report card score was "A+" because Assured Computing services helped ensure processing power is kept up-to-date.

For disaster recovery testing, server or data center consolidation, ViON's Assured Computing services enable agencies to acquire up-to-date IT infrastructure, not only for the demands of daily operations, but also for provisioning mirrored and warm site resources for speedy recovery in a cost-efficient manner. And that's far better than agonizing over incremental solutions to address those needs.

For more information please call 202-467-5500.