Mr. Joshua Geist, CEO of Geminare, engaging the attendees on ‘Understanding the business impact the Cloud has on the Disaster Recovery program and how to leverage DRaaS. Photo courtesy Columbus Business Solutions.

Columbus Business Solutions (CBS), the business to business unit of Cable & Wireless Communications, partnered with Geminare to host a Breakfast Workshop on Columbus’s Cloud Disaster Recovery as a Service Solution at the Carlton Savannah on  June 30, 2015. At the workshop CBS presented their Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solution for businesses which is designed for Seamless High Availability and Cloud Recovery of their critical systems and applications in times of unexpected failures and disasters.

Joshua Geist, CEO of Geminare, recipient of numerous industry accolades as well as a recognized innovator of the Disaster Recovery as a Service market and a lead contributor to multiple Gartner DRaaS Magic Quadrant was the keynote speaker at the workshop. Mr. Geist attested that  “CBS’s Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solution offering is a fully managed service using advanced technology as its foundation.

Additionally, CBS offers connectivity, managed network services, IaaS desktop as a service (DaaS) and colocation services.” Mr. Geist reiterated that “the focus in this area currently is no longer about suppliers but about Solution Providers. As a result, the service offered by CBS releases the client from the day to day management responsibilities of backup and recovery thereby enabling them to focus on other vital aspects of their business. This CBS Disaster Recovery as a Service Solution enables the client to access all services according to their needs from one place thereby they are better able to manage their resources – time, money and effort.”

Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading information technology research and consulting company, positioned CBS in the renowned Gartner Magic Quadrant for its Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solution. Gartner Magic Quadrants are based on rigorous analysis backed up by a highly structured methodology evaluated on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

This is a very significant achievement for CBS placing it in a very elite group of ICT providers in the region and globally. Gartner states: “By 2018, the number of organizations using DRaaS will exceed the number of organizations using traditional, syndicated recovery services.”

Gartner Magic Quadrants are an essential, reliable source of information for CIOs and other C-level executives, when assessing technology and service providers for critical business decisions. Differentiation based on differing company size, level of complexity and strategies can make it challenging to compare vendor offerings. Gartner’s Magic Quadrants solve these challenges by offering snapshots of markets and their participants. These documents enable companies to map vendor strengths against their current and future needs. The Magic Quadrant includes categories for leaders, challengers, visionaries and niche players.

“For years, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity solutions were seen as a major drain on most companies and we are focusing our efforts to change this perception and reality. It is a great honour for us to receive this recognition from Gartner that we believe confirms our ability to provide companies with superior disaster recovery and business continuity solutions, especially now that we have merged with Cable & Wireless to become the ICT leading provider in the Caribbean and Latin America.”

“Anchored on Columbus’ modern fiber optic infrastructure and Cable & Wireless’ 140 years of industry experience and mobile leadership, we can protect our customers’ networks and secure their valuable data offering them top of the line support and customer experience” said John Maduri, President of Cable & Wireless Business Solutions.

“Columbus’s Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solution ensures business continuity within a technological environment. This solution strategically and securely manages the critical processes of the organisation’s operations in the event of a contingency situation.” Marcelo Oliveira, Product Director, Datacenter, IT Infrastructure, and Continuity, Cable & Wireless/Columbus Business Solutions.