Delivering accurate and reliable data on a daily basis is key to our continued success as a TAM data supplier.
The impact of data loss and the inability to continue the data production process for an extended period of time
could jeopardise our market credibility. The Global Disaster Recovery Site (GDRS) has been created to reduce any potential loss of critical data to a minimum.
The primary objective of the GDRS is to ensure business continuity for all Nielsen operating countries,
in the unlikely event of 'force majeure'. This is achieved by re-establishing critical operations remotely
within the shortest time possible and with minimal data loss.
The GDRS service provides each operating company with the security of knowing that there is a
complete back up of their systems outside their country, ensuring that data production including polling
can be carried out remotely should a local problem occur that prevents 'business as usual'.
The System
The core of the GDRS system is the daily transfer of the local operating country's most recent databases and
configuration files to the Nielsen Corporate Support Centre in Switzerland. This information together with all historical
data is backed up in a unique and secure place.
This data transfer is an automated, daily procedure. To ensure information confidentiality, the operating
countries are required to encrypt the overnight data files sent to the GDRS centre. All data transfers between the
operating country and the GDRS centre are made using secure Internet connections. Within the GDRS centre, only the Global
DRS manager can access any data stored on a specific country's DRS server.
How it Works
The main objective of the GDRS is to ensure that each company can continue all its daily and regular
tasks including polling, data production and delivery within the shortest possible time (max 24 hrs).
Should it not be possible for the local operating country to begin its daily polling procedure, this process
will be carried out from the GDRS centre. Based on the country’s most recently transferred and saved database
and configuration folders, the country's international DRS polling script is initiated.
If the problem relates only to an issue with the company's phone lines or modem system, once the panel
households have been polled, the data is transferred back to the local company office where the production process resumes as normal.
However should the problem be more complex, the staff of the local operating country can carry out their normal
overnight data production and panel management tasks using the data polled by the GDRS.
This is done by connecting to the local company's unique production server situated at the GDRS site.
All that is required is an Internet connection and a browser. The higher the Internet speed the better the connection
and more efficient the performance but even with an analogue modem it is possible to continue working. This set up ensures
that daily data production can continue as normal, but with staff working from home, out of dedicated rented offices
or any location with Internet access.
This continued TAM data process is possible because the GDRS site, the local company's production server,
is always online. By using the remote desktop application, a seamless connection can be made to
the respective country's remote DRS server.
Through the GDRS service, The Nielsen Company can ensure that even over an extended period(eg. the time required
to establish new offices in the event of a fire or flood), the daily production process can continue and each
country is able to guarantee their clients continued service.
