Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd is fast becoming internationally recognised as one of the most innovative and forward thinking disaster recovery centres.
Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd is fast becoming internationally recognised as one of the most innovative and forward thinking disaster recovery centres.
Started in 1999 by four Bermudian information technology and telecommunication experts, the company has grown from a living room vision to a multimillion dollar US military facility that is setting new trends in its industry.
Chief operating officer Allison Thomas explained, “It was late 1988 when we all would get together and discuss our respective industries, the new trends and the vision of creating a company that would be Bermudian bred and born.
“We all had a huge dream.
“We’ve all scarified tremendously in the hope of achieving that dream.
“It’s been a very rewarding journey that I wouldn’t exchange for the world.”
With the help of the Bermuda Land Development Company team, the Fort Knox Bermuda team secured a 30,000 square foot blast resistant US military facility.
The building was in impeccable condition and only recently built.
The objective was to provide products in an environment that would survive as many conceivable disasters as possible.
Since the initial start of the business, a facilities management centre and a 45-seat business recovery centre has been built.
When we first started we received many letters of support from the public and we were very appreciative.
One letter that provided a special source for support was from the now late Georgina Bolden.
She wrote to us during our initial campaign and her words of encouragement are written in my mind.
She was so proud of what we were attempting to do, that I’d often work a few hours extra to ensure that I didn’t let her down.
In the most difficult of times, I’d write to her, as a way of releasing some of the stress.
In July of 2001 she was invited to participate in the dedication of the building.
She attended with her very good friend and Fort Knox Bermuda supporter Marlene Mills.
A moment that we are all very proud of
Ms Bolden passed away later that year, but her memory still provides inspiration and support.
In addition to providing services within Bermuda, Fort Knox is now assisting within a cross-jurisdicational disaster recovery product that is designed to protect Bermuda based banks and insurance companies even if they have to temporarily relocate to another country to recover their business.
Assisting with this venture is Jersey based business continuity Partner Foreshore.
The partnership plans to formally introduce the product on July 12 at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.
On hand for presentation will be:
1. Foreshore representatives Chris Evans, the chief executive officer, and Steve Bradshaw
2. Consultancy partners Marsh MC
3. Regulatory representatives of Bermuda and Jersey.
The conference shall deal with the regulative and legal aspects of a proposed regulatory exemption together with brief an overview of basic disaster recovery to mirrored hosting applications.
Basically, how companies can now provide effective disaster recovery and business continuity solutions without compromising their regulatory and tax status.
I advised that the Internet product would be formally released for public consumption yesterday.
We are all very excited, we’ve worked very hard.
We have engineered a very high quality Internet service that will revolutionise the local Internet industry.
FKBnet will support the products that we already provide.
To build a superior network that would gain customer confidence we knew that we needed broad and stable bandwidth.
Our competitors were currently using capacity from either Cable & Wireless or TeleBermuda International, and we needed to choose the company that would be able to grow dynamically with our needs.
Cable & Wireless is our provider of choice, and access to their international network of submarine systems provided a level of comfort.
We are of course a disaster recovery company and being prepared is a part of our skill set, so to improve upon this, we also have the ability to use our very small aperture transmitter (VSAT) technology to provide connectivity in the unlikely event that Cable & Wireless’ networks fail.
Eddie Saints, general manager of Cable & Wireless, said:0 “We are pleased to have been chosen by Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd as their provider of Internet bandwidth and related services.
“Through our diverse international telecommunications infrastructure comprising multiple undersea fibre optic cable systems and earth station facilities, we are able to provide Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd with a level of network protection unmatched by our competitors.
“Our ability to provide scalable bandwidth on demand provides Fort Know Bermuda Ltd with a flexible approach to increasing Internet bandwidth to meet their customers demand for Internet protocol services.
This capability, coupled with Fort Knox’s ability to dynamically monitor the performance of their service will ensure a high level of service performance is provided to their customers.”
This basically means that if “This basically means that if FKBnet customers begin to experience drop outs or slow performance we can increase bandwidth to raise the quality of the product,”<\p>said Mr. Saints.
When Ricardo Swan of Fort Knox Bermuda was asked if he though enough had been done to satisfy the need for a stable network he said: “Fort Knox Bermuda has chosen to monitor the performance dynamically so that improvements can be made prior to customers noticing any failures.
“This is a very impressive network, and once customers try if, I doubt if they will ever switch back.
“Technology changes rapidly.
“The ability to build a network based on current technology will provide a major benefit to our clients.
“Naturally our competitors have older equipment that would have been built to deliver cutting edge at the time of its deployment.”
To assist in the construction of the platform CCS was requested to design the most up to date system available.
FKBnet didn’t want to discuss it in detail, but boasted that it is very high performance kit.
Gavin explained “Information Techonology platforms are what we do, and although this is a leading edge from both a hardware and software perspective, our experience and pedigree qualifies us specifically for these types of tasks.”
The marketing of FKBnet and its associated products will be key to having the marketplace embrace the product.
Kingdom First Ministries, who has specialised in providing a fresh creative and very local flavour, was chosen to package the product.
Dwight Jones of Kingdom First Ministries explained: “A new Internet company must be seen to be cutting edge.
“FKBnet had already made investment into the leading edge equipment and services, and it was our job to relay that this all boils down to convenience and less cost.”
It is another natural fit.
Easypay enables users to pay up to 700 locations online, as well as their US-based credit cards.
The Internet is a tool that can assist with making life simpler.
The ability to go online and avoid queues, and attitudes is a feature that I believe most people will embrace.
Those that sign up with FKBnet during the first month’s promotion will receive connectivity to Easypay free of charge.
Dell Tucker of Easypay said: “We are delighted to partner with Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd.
“We have always believed that this system provides immeasurable convenience and for it to be bundled makes it even easier for customers.”
On July 8, 2002, emergency calls will be easier.
The Mobile.bm. service enables our customers to send short emails to anyone on their mobile device, whether that is a cell phone or pager.
By simply e-mailing to firstname.lastname[AT]mobile.bm your e-mail will find that person on their device.
Customers may choose to deactivate the service, and can do so by consulting their mobile phone manuals or contacting their service providers.
Gateway Systems located on Queen Street allows our customers to sign up, check out new ways to get onto the net as well as cool devices for your PC.
John Kyle of Gateway Systems explained:<\p>“We are pleased to be a representative of the FKBnet Internet service.
“With the technical ability of our team, FKBnet customers can get a one-stop shop type service that will service their Internet and support services requirements.”
We understand that switching an Internet service is a hassle, and to take some of the pain away, we’ve provided some real bonuses for signing up on the first day.
Anyone that signs up on July 8, 2002, will receive.
1. One month free Internet service;
2. The chance to win 12 months free Internet service;
3. Free sign up to Easypay;
4. Free pager activated to mobile.bm; and
5. Great Internet pricing.
Internationally recognised as a top-notch disaster recovery centre
Fort Knox setting new trends
