Few indigenous IT companies can claim 20 years in the business, but this month sees Renaissance Contingency Services celebrating just such a landmark. And, despite the passing of what in the IT context would be considered a long time, Director Michael Conway told Irish Computer: “Things have not changed much; confidentiality, integrity and availability of data are still the key drivers to business continuity”.
Renaissance provided the first disaster recovery facility, “a mobile cold computer room” for the IBM 4300 series. Other notable firsts for the company include the supply and support for anti-virus software and the recognition of the importance of consulting and planning services for business continuity (BC) solutions.
Renaissance has gone through many changes in those 20 years. The firm started with three employees. They still work in the company, but now there are 11 on the payroll. Other changes include the disaster recovery facilities ending up becoming part of HP’s Business Continuity Services. In 1988 the company took on Sophos, which provided encryption and anti-virus software and made more money selling courses round the BC agenda.
Conway said “in the late eighties there were 20 to 30 anti-virus vendors but that has reduced to four to five on a global basis”. Since then Renaissance has shifted its emphasis from disaster recovery to business continuity, evolving into a consultancy providing much needed expertise. As part of this evolution Renaissance supplies many of the leading IT security products, including Mail and WebMarshal, Sophos Integrated threat Management, Safend, Ciphertrust and Safeboot encryption.
Conway explained: “IT has evolved from a situation where it supported one or two key applications, such as accounts or production reporting, to a situation where it has become core to the continued existence of most businesses”. Business continuity enabled by IT technology is the prescribed method for ensuring continued commercial viability.
In the business environment centralised management of applications and hardware is a key methodology for ensuring BC. The technology found on the average desktop such as USB devices, SD cards, wireless, Bluetooth, Infrared and PDAs are all potential threats that need to be controlled. Threats emanate from both internal and external sources, from employees and contractors, not to mention the possible exposure to wireless penetration. Many organisations are signing up to or being forced to sign up to the new BS25999 security standard that was implemented last December. Security and BC are now very much part of compliance requirements and are often demanded by business partners.
Renaissance’s technical and practical business background helps the firm to design and implement realistic BC solutions across a wide range of commercial activities, said Conway. It’s policy of remaining a niche player has ensured its continued success over the last 20 years, and looks like doing so for the foreseeable future.
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