Disaster Preparedness Panel Calls for Toronto-Wide Exercise

TORONTO, ON – March 14, 2007 – The Disaster Recovery Information Exchange, Toronto chapter (DRIE Toronto) today announced its plans to begin an in-depth exercise that seeks to increase Toronto’s disaster awareness while calling on major industry and public sector officials to work together with the intent of integrating various business continuity plans.

The group is calling for a wide-scale Toronto Incident Management Exercise (TIME) to be conducted in the Greater Toronto Area in 2008. TIME will first research large scale readiness exercises conducted in other jurisdictions – analyzing business, infrastructure, and government interdependencies. DRIE Toronto will then consider how well the city’s public sector, critical infrastructure providers, and private sector understand each others’ preparedness plans and how they might integrate organization and plans to work together during and emergency or when critically necessary.

“It is essential to calibrate our disaster preparedness strategies collectively in an open environment, not in silos behind closed doors,” said Michael Smith, President of ReadySmith. “There is no doubt that various governing bodies, emergency response teams, and private sector organizations each have effective plans in place. But the critical need is to see how these plans will mesh with one another, and to fill in any identifiable gaps, especially in the business community.”

More than 200 Toronto-area organizations are presently receiving a letter and detailed brochure further outlining DRIE Toronto’s goals and requesting their ongoing participation. A copy of the brochure is available for public review at www.drie.org.

“DRIE is an organization dedicated to the exchange of ideas within the business continuity and disaster recovery industry,” said Ann Wyganowski, President of DRIE Toronto. “Our goal is to integrate and mobilize multiple groups and constituencies, without the proverbial ‘red tape.’ Simply put, we are a group of well-connected volunteers that have made the safety and productivity of the city’s visitors, workers, and inhabitants our top priority.”

“Toronto is one of the business nerve centres of Canada and North America,” said George Kerns, president and CEO of Fusepoint Managed Services, and DRIE Toronto member. “The business community as a whole needs to pull together to work hand in hand with front line agencies and get involved.”

About DRIE Toronto
The Disaster Recovery Information Exchange is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Business Continuity Management, Computer Recovery Planning, Crisis Management and other related disciplines as integral components of an effective business strategy. Founded in Toronto in 1985, DRIE provides a forum for over 300 members in Toronto and 720 country-wide to exchange of information, and conduct educational activities and conferences covering a wide range of disciplines including crisis management; voice communications systems recovery; corporate-wide business continuity planning; emergency preparedness; and Data Centre recovery planning. For more information please visit www.drie.org.
About Fusepoint Managed Services
Fusepoint Managed Services is the leading provider of managed IT services and infrastructure for companies running mission-critical business applications. Fusepoint’s on-demand services include managed hosting, managed application services, business continuity, security and professional consulting services.

Built on a foundation of unrivaled technical expertise and proven operational processes,
Fusepoint’s managed IT solutions are SLA-guaranteed, scalable and designed to reduce IT cost structures while mitigating risk of service disruption. Picked as a “company to watch” by
IDC Canada, Fusepoint maintains a national network of state-of-the-art data centres and offices strategically located in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City. For more information please visit www.fusepoint.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Roger Hamshaw, Director Channel Marketing
Fusepoint Managed Services
905-363-3796
roger.hamshaw@fusepoint.com

Laura Mergelas or Laura Watton
Environics Communications for Fusepoint Managed Services
416-969-2711 or 416-969-2766
lmergelas@environicspr.com or lwatton@environicspr.com