Business Continuity in Action During Cyclone Alfred

Find out how Deployus helped Fiteni recover critical systems within hours after Cyclone Alfred, ensuring business continuity during an extended power outage.

Hands-On Support in a Crisis: How Deployus Helped Fiteni Recover Within Hours of Cyclone Alfred

Background

Fiteni is a family-owned residential builder based in Southeast Queensland. With over 30 active sites and multiple display homes, their operations rely on consistent access to digital systems for scheduling, project coordination, and communication.

The business first engaged Deployus in 2012 to address aging infrastructure and improve reliability across their IT systems. Following a minor server failure in 2015, Deployus worked with Fiteni to implement a long-term disaster recovery plan. That foundation, built over years of proactive support, would prove critical when Cyclone Alfred struck a decade later.

Problem

In March 2025, Cyclone Alfred left large parts of Southeast Queensland without power or communication infrastructure. Fiteni’s head office was among the hardest hit, losing electricity for more than seven days. While their construction sites were operational again within 48 hours, their office-based staff were unable to access essential systems for planning, scheduling, documentation, and communication.

Key issues during the outage

Prolonged power loss at head office made onsite IT infrastructure unusable
Communication breakdowns limited phone and internet access for several days
Delayed decision-making due to limited access to emails and internal systems
Potential backlog in administrative work that supported 30+ active building sites

Fiteni had previously identified these kinds of risks and had worked with Deployus to put recovery systems in place. Cyclone Alfred was the first time those systems had to be activated under real-world conditions.

Solution

Eight years before the cyclone, a minor server failure prompted Fiteni to engage Deployus in designing a broader disaster recovery strategy. That solution had been maintained and tested regularly in the years since, with updates as their business grew and their systems changed.

Deployus had implemented a multi-layered approach that allowed for quick recovery, including:

On-premises replication of virtual machines to a backup server
Immutable cloud backups via Veeam Cloud Connect
Separate backup platform for Microsoft 365 data, including mail, SharePoint, and Teams
Bi-monthly testing of replication and backups, plus annual full disaster recovery tests
UPS systems in place to handle short-term outages

The systems were designed for technical resilience, as well as practical recovery under real conditions. Backup infrastructure was pre-configured and ready to deploy. Internal documentation and test results meant the team could act quickly.

Designed around Fiteni’s environment

The solution was built around Fiteni’s infrastructure, staff workflows, and operational requirements. It took into account:

Importantly, Deployus and Fiteni had jointly agreed on acceptable recovery timeframes. This made it easier to decide when to escalate the situation during the cyclone and when to activate the secondary systems.

Implementation

After Cyclone Alfred passed, Fiteni contacted Deployus to confirm that their head office would be without power for several days. The recovery plan was reviewed by Deployus’s teams within the hour.

Key actions taken overnight

Reviewed the latest DR test results and system documentation
Confirmed access to offsite backup infrastructure
Agreed on a plan to relocate Fiteni’s primary server hardware to a data centre
Allocated engineering resources to be onsite the following morning

Onsite the next day

The very next day, Deployus’ lead infrastructure engineer was at the Fiteni office. Tasks completed that morning included:

Final data sync and graceful shutdown of key systems
Physical relocation of the backup server to the data centre
Secure setup and configuration of systems for remote access by staff
Onsite setup at one of Fiteni’s display offices to accommodate admin staff
Remote access enabled for staff working from home

Throughout the process, Deployus maintained direct communication with Fiteni’s leadership and team leads. Engineers provided updates as systems came back online and made adjustments as needed to support changing conditions.

Consideration for people and priorities

Deployus’s staff were themselves affected by the cyclone, and yet they took their clients’ needs seriously. Engineers on the ground were familiar with Fiteni’s environment and worked efficiently under pressure, supported by senior staff behind the scenes. Their presence was a key factor in the speed of the recovery.

Result

From the time infrastructure was shut down and collected to the point of restored operations, Fiteni experienced approximately five business hours of downtime. This allowed the business to maintain continuity across:

Minimal disruption and no backlog

By redeploying quickly to an alternate location and providing remote access options, Deployus helped Fiteni avoid the administrative backlog that often follows extended outages. Site teams continued operations without interruption. Admin staff were up and running again the same day.

Future

Fiteni continues to operate with the same disaster recovery solution, maintained and tested by Deployus as part of their regular support program. The event confirmed the system’s reliability and the value of a partner that understands both the technical environment and the day-to-day demands of a construction business.

Deployus remains closely involved in Fiteni’s IT planning, from infrastructure improvements to cyber security and user support, providing consistent service through a long-standing relationship.

“Everyone from Deployus lives locally here in Southeast Queensland, so during Cyclone Alfred, they were also impacted with their families. What I found impressive was that the key contacts within Deployus stood up and made themselves available, even though they were dealing with the aftermath of the cyclone themselves at home or at their office.

Like all of us in SE Queensland, they had been battered down at home, yet they were still able to respond and help us out very quickly. That kind of commitment is hard to find. Without them, we would have fallen a week behind.”

~ Adam Pasfield, General Manager, Fiteni