KHOU Channel 11 News- June 12, 2006
by Brad Woodard, Channel 11

Click to watch video

Hurricane season is front and center for many, including a company that is trying to protect other companies.

When it comes to potentially devastating weather events it is not a question of if Houston will be hit again, but when.

“The facility is designed so that we give our customers a 100 percent guarantee on power,” said Caroline Brelsford, CyrusOne.

In a nondescript building just off the Southwest Freeway, possibly lies the fate of some 150 companies should disaster strike.

“You’ll notice I’m using a card and a biometric print for entry,” Brelsford said as she entered a room.

“They are typically in a high transaction business or business where data is extremely important,” she said. “So oil and gas, financial service sector, health care and some government organizations will rely on a facility like this.”

CyrusOne, a facility built outside the flood plain and designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, houses duplicate computer systems and data storage for its clients.

They may not look like much, and they’re not that big, but inside cages you’ll find an entire company’s data. Quite literally a world of information that allows businesses to stay up and running no matter what.

Businesses like Dynegy and Net IQ who can relocate staff to CyrusOne without missing a beat, would potentially save millions should their existing buildings become inoperable.

“We’re talking our stock prices,” said Dohsung Yum, Net IQ. “When people lose confidence in our ability to close business, it’s certainly going to effect perception on the market. So the stakes are high.”

So high, in fact, there is backup for the backup. There are enough generators and fuel to keep the facility running on its own for up to 10 days. That is enough for companies to do business even in the face of disaster.