ePLDT, the ICT arm of PLDT Enterprise, recently launched its first disaster recovery (DR) facility in Cebu.
Housed in ePLDT’s Vitro Data Center Cebu 2 — the biggest purpose-built data center facility outside Luzon — the disaster recovery facility is aimed at enabling Cebu-based enterprises in developing their own Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and becoming compliant with global standards.
The facility features physical resiliency and power redundancy — making it an ideal business continuity site for manpower relocation and a backup site for IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster.
A disaster recovery facility serves as a data backup site or alternative office space which companies can use to recover and restore its IT systems or operations in the event of a failure or natural disaster. The site is a crucial component of any company’s BCP and part of standards on operational risk management.
Highly regulated industries such as banking and financial institutions are required to abide by a clear and complete BCP to keep its services running no matter the circumstance.
Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT president and CEO, said that “the Cebu DR facility is part of ePLDT’s initiatives to fortify businesses’ BCPs as we continue to face disasters and disruptions. We believe that disaster recovery is key to strengthen the resiliency of businesses.”
The disaster recovery facility will have 100 DR seats available for enterprises. With an area of roughly 250 square meter and has a shared conference room, the Vitro Cebu 2 facility offers both dedicated or shared seats options.
Nico Alcoseba, VP and head of ICT Business for PLDT Enterprise, said that “with the mission of becoming the top-of-mind back-up facility for enterprises, Cebu’s DR facility is also assured of being seismic zone-4 compliant, which means it is able to withstand strong earthquakes, and with 12 layers of security, businesses are assured of its safety and security.”
The features ensure the operational continuity of businesses in the event of power failures, which is further backed by ePLDT’s 24/7 security and customer support. The facility is designed to minimize vibrations on the building where the servers are co-located, therefore ensuring protection of the customer’s equipment.
Vitro Cebu 2 is one of the first three data centers in the Philippines to receive the ANSI/TIA-942 Rated 3 Facilities Certification and is also recognized by NTT Communications as a Nexcenter-accredited facility, complying with the global design standards of the world’s most competitive data centers.
In 2019, ePLDT inaugurated the largest DR site in the North, the first stand-alone DR with the Vitro Clark DR Site, to service Philippine enterprises. Strategically located beside the Vitro Clark Data Center, the site is the country’s largest facility to date, boasting of an expansive 6,909-sqare meter floor area.
