Recently celebrating their first anniversary, Fusion provides hardware, software and network support across the south of England. It specialises in backup and business continuity (BC). “Terrorist threats and the recent Civil Contingencies Bill (see www.datafort.co.uk/pr_civil_cont.asp) have literally trebled our customers’ requirements for backup and disaster recovery systems,” reports Fusion MD, Perry Ashby. “In the past we recommended tape drives but these rely on human intervention and we’ve found that the weakest link in anything IT-based is always the human!”

The move from selling tape to off-site backup, with it’s improved automation, efficiency and security, has increased Fusion’s BC revenue. “DataFort’s Remote Administrator provides us with an important second method of account management and revenue,” says Ashby. “As well as advising our clients on backup procedure and policy, DataFort’s RA actually allows us to provide these services ourselves no matter where our clients are based.”

As a ‘self-billing dealer’, Fusion have added a third revenue stream. They own their own dedicated DataFort server which allows them to act as a wholesaler, rebadging and selling space according to their own price structure, billing clients directly, or even giving away accounts or offering free trials to preferred customers.

Fusion has sold DataFort-enhanced BC systems to clients through the Longford business park chain and found specific success with insurance companies who need to adhere to new FSA guidelines (www.datafort.co.uk/pr_PAS-56_rel.asp). “Every insurance company in the UK has to submit detailed documents to the FSA, proving they have BC systems in place,” says Ashby. “Our insurance clients use DataFort so the bulk of these reports are generated for them automatically. Fusion has also partnered with a leading telemarketing company to jointly provide the UK’s first voice and data backup system to call centers.”

Fusion had initially started to write their own automated off-site backup software. But as Ashby says, “Why reinvent the wheel? DataFort’s system is built on years of R&D, something that no in-house system could ever hope to ape.”

“DataFort is committed to its UK channel partners,” comments Gavin Smith, Founder and CEO of DataFort. We have been thoroughly impressed by Fusion Technology’s commitment to both educating it’s customer on business continuity and in turning this into trusted revenue stream.”