Outsourcing IT Improves Virginia’s Disaster Recovery, Officials Say

Many people in the field of disaster recovery have been watching to see if Virginia’s outsourcing of IT functions to Northrop Grumman would be successful. Now the state government says the first disaster recovery test was a success.

In an article on the Government Technology website, Andy Opsahl says officials were able to restore mission-critical IT functions within 24 hours, compared to the roughly 72 hours it took previously.

“The test coordinated 135 employees from 19 of the state’s more than 70 agencies,” Opsahl says. “The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) selected participating agencies, such as the Department of Social Services and the Department of Taxation, based on whether they had functions needing immediate backup during a disaster.”

VITA plans to run these tests at least once a year and employs 10 to 15 people to prepare for them. “It's not like you plan for three months and you’re done,” Fred Duball, director of the Service Management Organization of VITA, told Opsahl. “Things are always changing. Business requirements are always changing. Technology is always upgraded. If I update something in my primary data center, I’ve got to do the same in my backup data center.”

VITA and Northrop Grumman conducted the test without disrupting normal state operations, said Duball. “We did all of this behind the scenes.”

To read the full article, click here: http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/370799