Update: New information about a help desk offer from Continuum was added to this story Thursday evening.
Datto Inc.,†AppRiver LLC†, and Continuum have all announced services designed to help businesses cope with Hurricane Florence, the giant storm currently bearing down on the Carolinas.
Datto, of Norwalk, Conn., has deployed its Disaster Response Team (DRT) to Raleigh, N.C. Equipped with 30 Datto Networking Appliances, 20 wireless access points, five network switches, and a variety of BDR appliances—plus ready-to-eat meals, water, and safety equipment—the SafeResponse- and FEMA-trained group will seek to help channel pros, their customers, and local communities maintain connectivity and protect data in the difficult days ahead.
In particular, the DRT plans to offer free 4G LTE Wi-Fi to shelters in affected areas.
For its part, AppRiver, a cloud-based cybersecurity and productivity service provider based in Gulf Breeze, Fla., has activated its free Digital Disaster Preparedness Service (DDPS).
Introduced in 2005 and offered at no charge to organizations facing imminent natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods, DDPS is designed to prevent businesses from losing email in the event of a server outage.
Registered participants in the program receive continuous remote email availability monitoring from AppRiver for free. If the vendor detects a loss in connectivity with the email server, it automatically begins queuing incoming messages in one of its hardened data centers until service is restored. Businesses also have access to a free setup configuration option that allows them to access and respond to email until their servers are up and running.
“When it comes to hurricanes, we’ve been there. The danger, the preparation, the stress…we get it because we’ve been through it many times,” said AppRiver CEO and President Michael Murdoch in prepared remarks. “It doesn’t get easier with experience, but you do learn how to better prepare. Our Digital Disaster Preparedness Service was created to keep your business email flowing during a disaster. That way, you can focus on taking care of the business that really matters in times like these—the safety of your family and employees.”
Information about the DDPS is available here.
Managed services software and services vendor Continuum, meanwhile, is extending 24/7 help desk coverage to all of its partners at no charge—even if they aren’t currently contracted for 24/7 support or don’t use the Continuum help desk at all. MSPs in the latter category can skip the normally extensive onboarding process and begin routing help desk calls to Continuum immediately. Partners are encouraged to contact their account manager for further details.
Currently rated a Category 1 storm, Florence is expected to make landfall early Friday. The National Weather Service has said it “will likely be the storm of a lifetime for portions of the Carolina coast” and inflict “unprecedented” flooding.
