Ipswich-based IT services provider Corbel has opened a new 150-seat workplace recovery suite aimed at enabling businesses to continue to operate in the event they suffer a cyber-attack or disaster at their own premises.

The new facility on Farthing Road in Ipswich is the third such property developed by Corbel, which also has recovery suites at its head office on Knightsdale Road and in the nearby village of Claydon.

The company, says it has built these recovery suites in the light of the increased risk facing firms from cyber attacks and natural disasters.

Marketing manager Richard Styles said; “Businesses lean more and more on digital technology but threats like ransomware are growing in frequency and sophistication.

“A cyber-attack can affect all sizes of companies but we find it tends to be the smaller businesses who are less prepared for an attack and less able to deal with the consequences.”

The new facility, which was officially opened last week by Mayor of Ipswich, Sarah Barber, allows companies to temporarily relocate their staff, data and telephony to the recovery suite where they can take calls using their business number and access their data remotely so they can continue business as usual.

Mr Tyler said an unexpected disaster can happen to a business at any time, and the downtime it can cause can be incredibly damaging to the core business with many organisations struggling to survive such an events.

As well as cyber attacks, business disasters can come in many other forms, including fires, floods, fraud, power interruptions, system failures, human error, acts of terror and natural events such as flash flooding and wind damage.

As well as disaster recovery Corbel provides a range of IT services including infrastructure hosting, services, networking, connectivity and IT support.

Corbel’s managing director Paul Lough added: “Our clients need to know they can get on with business whatever happens.

“The NHS cyber-attack in May clearly highlighted the threat. With a secure backup and access to our work space recovery suites, businesses can be sure any unforeseen circumstances or attack won’t stop them serving their customers”.