On January 18, BATS Global Markets, the Missouri-based operator of stock and options markets, announced that it would be adopting a backup data center as part of its disaster recovery planning, a move that it says could attract new brokers, trading firms and hedge funds to the site. BATS Global Markets chose to obtain a facility from Savvis', a provider of network infrastructure for IT technology, as the company says it was best equipped to act as the data center for its three U.S. markets.

"Savvis has a proven track record in hosting our infrastructure, as well as a number of other execution facilities, and we are pleased to expand our partnership with them in the [United States]," Chris Isaacson, chief operating officer for BATS, said in a release.

As a result of this move, the company says its new Weehawken, New Jersey data center, which is also hosted by Savvis, will continue to act as both its primary and secondary data center. The new backup data center is based in Chicago, offering the company a degree of flexibility in case one area is hit with operational difficulties due to a natural disaster.

The move may prompt business owners in other fields to think about securing secondary data centers or even primary hot sites in the coming months, as these resources can be invaluable at helping ensure the swift small business recovery employees and customers depend on.

By working with a consultant that can handle the contractual discussions for these supporting facilities, business owners may be gaining a valuable asset. For example, some experienced consulting industries are capable of securing huge discounts that could help a business save on this necessary expenditure.