subject: Addressing The Critical Business Need For Disaster Recovery [print this page] A disaster recovery plan is more than simply an insurance policy. It is a realistic contingency plan for any event that may have a significant impact on an organisations ability to conduct normal business.
According to AM Best, only 6% of companies recover after a catastrophic data loss. 43% do not reopen, and 51% fail within 2 years.
Disasters are not simply limited to natural events, but can include hardware failure, accidental deletion or simply a burst pipe.
Many organisations confuse backup with disaster recovery. While periodic backup rotations might send tapes or disks offsite, enabling restoration of isolated files, databases and servers after corruption or failure, it falls far short of efficient full site recovery.
DR is not just about the data; it is about the systems, settings and infrastructure which businesses operate on.
Gone are the days when businesses have to invest in a second set of equipment, facility upkeep or staff to maintain a standby system.
DR as a Service via the Cloud continuously replicates data between the office and a geographically separate data centre. Operating on a pay as you go basis, businesses only pay for a small share of resources to replicate data. In the event of an outage, additional resources required to actually run your site are activated, and then downgraded once the business is back up and running.
The ongoing upkeep and maintenance is also taken care of by the managed cloud provider, and test restores should be performed every six months to ensure seamless recovery with no important data missed.
No organisation should be without a Plan B and these innovations in Cloud technology mean preparing for any scenario has never been more affordable. Ask yourself how your business would cope with an extended IT outage, or if you couldnt access your building for days, weeks or months? While these questions may be tough, they need honest answers to ensure your organisation is prepared.
