Sungard Availability Services' New Mobile App to Improve Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

WAYNE, Pa., Dec. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, introduces the Act with Assurance mobile app, building on its existing AssuranceCM Business Continuity Software to help businesses more efficiently manage and recover from an incident. The app coordinates with the Assurance Software platform to provide a more interactive, efficient way to manage business continuity. It delivers individualized playbooks to recovery team members for each test exercise or actual event, right to their mobile devices.

"The most important part of managing an incident is communication. It's also the biggest challenge recovery teams face," said Ted Marquardt, Senior Product Manager at Sungard AS. "Unfortunately, when disaster strikes, it is not uncommon for incident responders to find themselves frustrated by plans in static, outdated PDFs or binders, or to be interrupted by conference calls with requests for updates. These barriers to recovery lead to gaps in communication during critical times. The Act with Assurance app provides recovery teams the ability to interact live through a new communication channel, which is absolutely essential to effective incident recovery."

Act with Assurance real-time messaging capabilities are critical when time is of the essence. Incident coordinators can stage task assignments and monitor up-to-the minute task progress, streamlining communications during an event. Responders see their customized task lists at a glance, allowing them to stay focused and problem-solve, and they can provide updates with minimal interruptions by simply tapping their smart phone screen. Updates then feed back to the Command Center in Assurance, bringing teams together at just the right time by facilitating better communication while recovering.

"Apps for other business continuity software are merely portals to the existing sites with no additional functionality. Act with Assurance is a native app developed as a powerful extension of Assurance's incident management solution, building on the business continuity data our customers are gathering with Assurance," Marquardt continued. "Other business continuity software companies are focused on planning. We see a significant need in business continuity to evolve from plan building to plan execution. And we believe this app is a major step in getting there."

Armed with Act with Assurance, recovery teams return the business back to normal operations using the following:

• Mobile push notifications – Responders will know the second a task is assigned by way of push notifications. They can tap the notification to view the task, then update progress using the app.
• Focused task list – Responders can act on tasks specifically assigned to them. Individualized playbooks are created and delivered, providing responders the right information at the right time.
• Recovery workflow – Align recovery efforts at the task level across the entire event with standardized workflow statuses that provide consistent visibility into the recovery status.
• Integrated platform – Act with Assurance works seamlessly with the Assurance platform that provides an integrated suite of assessment, planning, testing and reporting features.

The Act with Assurance mobile app is now available for U.S. and UK-based customers using iOS devices with expansion to Android coming in early 2018.

About Sungard Availability Services:
Sungard Availability Services ("Sungard AS") is a leading provider of critical production and recovery services to global enterprise companies. Sungard AS partners with customers across the globe to understand their business needs and provide production and recovery services tailored to help them achieve their desired business outcomes. Leveraging more than 35 years of experience, Sungard AS designs, builds and runs critical IT services that help customers manage complex IT, adapt quickly and build resiliency and availability. Visit Sungard Availability Services at www.sungardas.com or call 1-800-468-7483. Connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Sungard Availability Services is a trademark or registered trademark of SunGard Data Systems or its affiliate, used under license. The Sungard Availability Services logo by itself is a trademark or registered trademark of Sungard Availability Services Capital, Inc. or its affiliate. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

For further information, please contact:
Alison Brooker
Sungard Availability Services
Tel: 610-745-2697
[email protected]

SOURCE Sungard Availability Services