Like a soldier training for battle or an athlete practicing for a big game, backup and disaster recovery (BDR) vendors like Datto spend a great deal of time preparing for those big events that allow them to show customers and the broader public just how good they are at what they do.

Today marks one of those big events.

In the hours before Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast today, Datto announced it has implemented its Disaster Recovery Protocol to help managed services providers (MSPs) ensure that client data is protected so that customers can continue or quickly resume business operations.

“More than 15 percent of SMBs currently operate with no data backup or business continuity solution in place, which could be disastrous if appropriate measures aren’t put in place beforehand,” Datto said in a statement. “Natural disasters can inflict serious damage to the livelihood of a business.”

As part of the response, Datto is offering free virtual or imaged versions of its SIRIS solutions, which provide backup and recovery for local, virtual or cloud environments.

SIRIS can be used for last-minute protection of additional servers before the Category 3 hurricane hits.

In addition, a Datto disaster response team has been sent to the area.

“This team has a physical supply of SIRIS 3 devices for backup and business continuity, Datto Networking Appliances to provide routing and Internet failover with 4G LTE, as well as Switches and Access Points to assist with general networking,” the statement said. “These devices will be provided free-of-charge to help partners support their SMB customers during this time of need.”

Datto has also beefed up staffing for its IT support teams and will prioritize support tickets from areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

For additional information about helping businesses weather the storm, download Datto’s free online Natural Disaster Recovery Guide.

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