IBM Case Studies Building Resiliency Into Disaster Recovery

Edit This Case Study Record

	Building Resiliency Into Disaster Recovery IBM

Building Resiliency Into Disaster Recovery

IBM

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
Applicable Industries	Aerospace Automotive
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Discrete Manufacturing
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Challenge	Textron, a multi-industry company, needed to plan for disaster recovery and business continuity. The company needed to understand how much resiliency it needed for any business continuity or crisis scenario. This required engaging business leaders and asking tough questions about worst-case scenarios. The company needed to consider all aspects of recovery, beginning with a roadmap of critical assets and obscure dependencies. The company also needed to assess the hardware and software required to restore those applications and test recovery plans to validate that recovery goals could be met. Read More
About Customer	Textron is a multi-industry company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company is known for brands such as Beechcraft, Bell Helicopter, Cessna, E-Z-GO, and Jacobsen. The company operates in various industries, including aerospace and automotive. Textron is a large enterprise with a significant number of employees and a wide range of operations. The company has a diversified manufacturing enterprise with autonomous operating divisions. Read More
Solution	Textron partnered with IBM for resiliency planning to provide contingencies for a multitude of interruptions in business operations. The partnership with IBM gave Textron the flexibility to adjust resiliency strategies as business needs changed. Architectural alternatives included cloud, shared floor space, dedicated recovery techniques, and hybrid availability solutions. IBM provided replication on an enterprise-wide basis, offering geographic redundancy and resiliency to the local backups completed in each of Textron's business regions. If recovery were ever necessary, Textron could switch over to IBM hardware to run any part of its enterprise. Three times a year, the company did a practice run at IBM’s fully hardened recovery site in Boulder, Colorado. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Applicable Industries

Aerospace

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Discrete Manufacturing

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Challenge

Textron, a multi-industry company, needed to plan for disaster recovery and business continuity. The company needed to understand how much resiliency it needed for any business continuity or crisis scenario. This required engaging business leaders and asking tough questions about worst-case scenarios. The company needed to consider all aspects of recovery, beginning with a roadmap of critical assets and obscure dependencies. The company also needed to assess the hardware and software required to restore those applications and test recovery plans to validate that recovery goals could be met.

About Customer

Textron is a multi-industry company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company is known for brands such as Beechcraft, Bell Helicopter, Cessna, E-Z-GO, and Jacobsen. The company operates in various industries, including aerospace and automotive. Textron is a large enterprise with a significant number of employees and a wide range of operations. The company has a diversified manufacturing enterprise with autonomous operating divisions.

Solution

Textron partnered with IBM for resiliency planning to provide contingencies for a multitude of interruptions in business operations. The partnership with IBM gave Textron the flexibility to adjust resiliency strategies as business needs changed. Architectural alternatives included cloud, shared floor space, dedicated recovery techniques, and hybrid availability solutions. IBM provided replication on an enterprise-wide basis, offering geographic redundancy and resiliency to the local backups completed in each of Textron's business regions. If recovery were ever necessary, Textron could switch over to IBM hardware to run any part of its enterprise. Three times a year, the company did a practice run at IBM’s fully hardened recovery site in Boulder, Colorado.

Impact #1	Textron was able to maintain readiness without capital outlays for physical space and stand-by hardware.
Impact #2	IBM provided leased hardware or support for Textron-owned hardware, allowing Textron to optimize its options for disaster recovery.
Impact #3	By relying on IBM’s resiliency experts, Textron was able to focus talent on higher value-added activities.

Impact #1

Textron was able to maintain readiness without capital outlays for physical space and stand-by hardware.

Impact #2

IBM provided leased hardware or support for Textron-owned hardware, allowing Textron to optimize its options for disaster recovery.

Impact #3

By relying on IBM’s resiliency experts, Textron was able to focus talent on higher value-added activities.

Download PDF Version

Overview

Building Resiliency Into Disaster Recovery

Operational Impact