Ongoing Operations LLC said it has partnered with the $5.6billion Digital Federal Credit Union of Marlborough, Mass., toexpand the CUSO's business continuity services into the New York City area.

A direct connection to Ongoing Operations' network of threeexisting centers will connect directly to a Westchester County,N.Y., facility operated by Xand, a provider of colocation and otherdata backup services, Ongoing Operations said in its announcementearlier this week.

Ongoing Operations is a Hagerstown, Md., CUSO that was foundedin 2005 and also operates business continuity centers in Hagerstown, Md., Longmont,Colo., and Phoenix. Those three centers already represent about80,000 square feet of workspace and data center and are configuredto accommodate more than 750 credit union representatives, the CUSOsaid on its website.

“We are thrilled to expand our geographic footprint through thispartnership,” Kirk Drake, CEO of Ongoing Operations, said of the expansioninto the Xand center. ”Even with the latest technologicaladvances, having alternate data center space within drivingdistance can be critical for credit unions during a crisissituation.”

The Xand center is safely outside major threat zones but closeto New York City.

“This will allow credit unions to leverage OngoingOperations' connectivity solutions to ensure that criticalthird-party applications such as debit card processing,online banking and ATMs remain online in the event of acrisis,” Ongoing Operations said in its announcement.

“We are a firm believer in collaboration and have used OngoingOperations for our own business continuity planning efforts forseveral years. This CUSO partnership further enhances disasterrecovery capabilities for the benefit of more credit unions withinour region,” said Dave DeWitt, vice president of risk management atDCU.