Queensland businesses get back online with help

Hundreds of businesses in Brisbane’s CBD and other flood-affected areas are still at a standstill because they cannot access their computer networks, according to an IT company which is offering free and discounted services to help flood-affected businesses. The delays are caused by the challenge of building clean-up and in particular restoration of elevator services that require maintenance and safety work to be completed before they can be put back into operation.

Brisbane-based IT, communications and technology company IntraPower said that while its own Business On-Demand customers were unaffected, many other businesses were struggling and had been left limping along with no or very minimal IT services.

IntraPower Chief Operating Officer Darc Rasmussen said the company had received dozens of telephone calls from non-customers wanting emergency help to get back online.

"Many Queensland businesses are struggling to resume operations after floods destroyed their IT systems and data or shut down offices and sub-standard data centres," Rasmussen said.

"Organisations are losing productivity and their competitive advantage against local and interstate businesses that have continued to operate through this crisis."

Rasmussen said IntraPower had some capacity to provide immediate emergency support for as many non-customers as it could effectively assist. This would help businesses gain rapid access to their emails, get a fully operational virtual desktop and potentially restore data and IT systems without having to replace failed hardware.

IntraPower manages IT and communications systems for more than 2000 businesses. Customers using the IntraPower Business On-Demand systems have not been affected by flood-related IT outages. The company operates a high-availability network and delivers trusted cloud IT services that allow businesses to operate from anywhere they can access an internet connection - be it at home, from a 3G data connection, an alternative office or even an internet cafe.

IntraPower has teamed up with a number of IT businesses, including Telstra Wholesale, Data Outsource and BigAir Group, to provide free and discounted IT assistance. BMT WBM, consulting engineers and scientists, are also donating fully furnished office space with seating capacity for more than 90 people in the inner-city Brisbane suburb of Spring Hill.

"BMT WBM is privileged to be able to support Brisbane businesses affected by the recent flood event by providing temporary corporate premises to enable them to recommence their operations. We believe this assistance is of vital importance to the business community as a whole, minimising offline time, providing businesses access to relevant data and operational systems, and assisting the local community in moving forward after the recent devastating floods," said a representative of BMT WBM.

In collaboration with IntraPower, BigAir Group is donating a large wireless link to the IntraPower High Availability Network. IntraPower will provide a free business-grade high-speed broadband internet connectivity to businesses wishing to use the Spring Hill office facility. Telstra Wholesale is supporting this initiative by making a high-speed terrestrial link available to Intrapower on a concessional basis.

In addition, IntraPower is offering flood-affected businesses free email services, based on available capacity, as well as a 40% discount on virtual desktops (desktop on-demand) and virtual servers (infrastructure on-demand). Desktop on-demand includes the full Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook. It can be accessed from anywhere and can be up and running within hours. Infrastructure on-demand can be used to restore backups and get applications back up and running very quickly.

The offer is limited based on current spare capacity that the company is making available for this offer. Businesses will be free to migrate their data back to their own systems once they become available.

Rasmussen said those businesses facing serious disruption included many major service organisations. "They include lawyers, accountants, medical professionals and financial services providers, whose operations have come to a standstill or are limping along because of IT failures or the inability to access their systems or their office buildings. Some other businesses affected are in the recruitment, travel, logistics and property sectors."

Rasmussen said an example of a business which had been able to trade through the crisis with no disruption was Queensland's largest conveyancing law firm with its head office at 215 Adelaide Street in Brisbane and nine offices spread across the state.

"We have been cut off from our Brisbane CBD offices since Tuesday 11 January and do not expect to regain access before Monday next week," Lee Bailie, CEO of Conveyancing Works Solicitors said. "Once the disaster struck we simply sent our staff home or to other offices and continued working virtually using the IntraPower Trusted Cloud solution - our service provision was uninterrupted for our clients. With this system we aim to be paperless and have access anytime from anywhere to our business-critical systems. We have been able to continue servicing our customers and meeting our deadlines and mission-critical commitments," Bailie said. "Our IT systems have allowed us to focus our attention to working with our clients and ensuring our staff are able to access their files and systems, as well as support their family and friends who have been affected by the floods."

The emergency IT assistance can be obtained by contacting 1300 136 741.