The dependence of business on information technology has never been stronger. Planning and investment in one requires the same focus on the other. For some, that link between business and IT may feel a lot like handcuffs. Building a business demands the full focus of some organizations, and although IT may be recognized for providing competitive advantages, it can be a distraction that upper management prefers to turn over to someone else. IBM is happy to help.

Getting the full benefit of IT resources is sometimes better left to others. Business continuity, which includes such things as backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and high availability, is one of those areas where managed services deserves some consideration. IBM's Business Continuity and Resiliency Services (BCRS) came into existence because there were customers concerned about reducing downtime and the ability to quickly restore their systems after emergency situations. They wanted help. In most cases this means "get this burden off my neck by managing it for me."

This isn't a huge number of customers if you compare it to the entire System i installed base. BCRS may be working with 5 percent of System i customers. It could be as high as 10 percent, although that seems unlikely. IBM keeps specific details out of sight.

There are customers that want help getting this set up, but are willing to manage it themselves. And there are also System i users who turn to third-party vendors to address these problems with their own tools and services. Those vendors also estimate their combined market penetration is around 10 percent. Rather than add their 10 percent with the 10 percent that BCRS claims, I'd believe that both sources share approximately 10 percent of the System i customer base.

To get a peek at BCRS, I talked with Debbie Saugen, an IBM System i backup and recovery expert and the self-described technical owner of the backup recovery processes and procedures who provides IBM with customer feedback about what's technically right and wrong with its products and services. Many of you may have seen and heard Saugen at local user group meetings, on Webcasts, or at technical conference sessions. She's the face of BCRS. From day one of the AS/400, she's been involved in the technical side of backup and recovery testing. Her focus now is on the business recovery side.