Amid Katrina chaos, one company struggles to keep going

Computerworld - As floodwaters continued to flow into New Orleans today and officials in the Gulf states predicted a death toll from Hurricane Katrina that could reach into the thousands, companies that were forced to evacuate by the storm struggled to get their operations up and running elsewhere.
Among those scrambling to stay in business is Integrated Data Systems Inc., a New Orleans-based integrator and hosting services provider.
"I don't think anyone has ever coped with anything like this before. The magnitude is pretty enormous," said Robert Leithman, president of Integrated Data Systems.
Leithman -- who left the city along with most of its residents ahead of the storm -- said by cell phone that he and his staff are in the process of getting his customers back online. The 18-person company, which has backup facilities in several cities in the U.S., now has basic Web access, instant messaging and Hotmail e-mail capabilities and is looking to get the back-office systems of its customers live. Among those companies is New Orleans-based Tabasco sauce maker McIlhenny Co., for which Integrated Data Systems set up a temporary Web site for customers and e-mail access for employees.
"We've got them ripping along right now," Leithman said today. "Things are far from being back to normal, but at least were getting the semblance of it."
The main problem for companies in the region is that connectivity and telecommunications are down. "Even with a good plan, which we had, there were still some things we didn't expect, [such] as the lack of the ability to communicate." After Katrina hit the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts on Monday, communications virtually ceased. While some cell phone users were able to make outgoing calls, they couldn't receive calls. That forced company employees to buy prepaid cell phone cards for incoming messages.
Even before the storm approached, Integrated Data Systems had disaster recovery plans in place, with procedures based on lessons learned after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Among those lessons: Make sure company assets and hardware are distributed geographically. The 9/11 attacks taught the company, for instance, to have its backup tapes located in different places, Leithman said. "This was not as shocking [as 9/11], but it's a lot larger in scope and size," he said.
One of the company's hosting centers -- near the stricken New Orleans Superdome, where refugees took shelter from the hurricane -- is inaccessible. Another, located in a bunker in nearby Metairie, La., is live -- but still lacks connectivity, said Leithman. He plans