Tishman Technologies' Bowman address ongoing challenges for technology

Ronald Bowman, executive vice president, Tishman Technologies, conveyed his expertise on Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery at a recent Wall Street Technology Association seminar: "Next Generation Data Center Challenges and Solutions." His topic was: "Outside Plant Considerations for Multi-Market Data Center Site Selection," and he addressed the factors companies must consider in the face of hurricanes, power interruptions, torrential downpours, and ongoing threats of terrorism. Tishman Technologies is a national leader in providing specialized expertise in all facets of strategic planning, site selection, construction, and commissioning of Data Centers and Mission Critical Facilities. Some of its clients include Reuters, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of New York. Bowman described how the Business Continuity Planning/Disaster Recovery(BCP/DR) landscape has changed over the past two years. Fast-moving technology has dramatically changed the approach. He also spoke about how to build scalable and flexible BCP/DR models and how to right-size a backup-data center and not over or under-spend, adding commentary on why relocating data backup centers to rural areas is not necessarily a good idea. Bowman, said, "The challenges of right-sizing a data center and locating it within relevant distance to meaningful power and fiber optics is well known and frequently discussed. Developing a composite 'Acts of God' and human intervention data base—and a leveling matrix with a synchronous and asynchronous distance to a primary data center—are critical. When associated with a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), these components develop meaning and can be weighed in the process." Bowman took the seminar through his own personal history. "Before 1993 and the first World Trade Center event, many Business Continuity consultants sold fear," Bowman told the group. "There were not many events to point to that involved time and money. But since 1993, and later 9/11, all of that has changed. Now there is a pronounced relationship between downtime and dollars." To illustrate his point, Bowman said that the U.S. economy backed up $4.1 trillion in in-flight trades in the 46 minutes after the first plane hit the Trade Center. Open trades had to be settled orally or manually during that critical period."