Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a hugely important tool for many businesses operating across a broad spectrum of industries. It allows firms of all sizes to prepare for disruption, whether it’s as a result of an earthquake or a cyberattack.
However, many companies are still not utilising DRaaS. Some organisations believe that they are immune to disruption – that it is something that only happens to other businesses. Others, however, are refusing to embrace DRaaS because of misinformation that surrounds the technology. Once businesses have been made aware of the facts, there’ll be wondering how they ever operated without it.
It’s expensive
Businesses often assume that DRaaS will create a huge hole in their IT budget, but this needn’t be the case. Cloud services like DRaaS operate on a subscription payment model, meaning there are no upfront fees to pay. Instead of having to spend large sums on new infrastructure or personnel, you simply pay a monthly fee to your cloud vendor and they take care of the rest.
They won’t be as good as in-house expertise
Cloud vendors, whether they specialise in disaster recovery or storage solutions, are able to dedicate their resources to a specific process, something that wouldn’t be possible for many businesses. Sungard AS, for example, possesses more than 30 years of experience in the disaster recovery business and can leverage their expertise to fully manage an organisation’s recovery program.
The reputation of a cloud vendor is built upon being able to deliver a service that is more efficient, reliable and affordable than would be possible for in-house teams. When it comes to DRaaS, the technical expertise and scale that can be offered by managed service providers is difficult to beat.
They’re all the same
Far from being an off-the-shelf solution, a good disaster recovery service should be specific to your company’s particular needs. Through ongoing communication with your cloud provider, businesses should find that their DRaaS solution is a bespoke offering that is aligned perfectly with their on-premise IT infrastructure.
What’s more, DRaaS should be flexible and able to cope with any business changes. Should your company grow and acquire more storage or additional applications that need to be protected, a simple conversation with your DRaaS supplier is all it takes to reconfigure your recovery environment.
It’s only about IT
Although disaster recovery does have a technical element, it concerns much more than just your IT resources. Effective disaster recovery is also about people and making sure they know exactly how to act when disaster hits.
Comprehensive Disaster Recovery as a Service will provide businesses with a clear project plan that outlines exactly what to do in the case of unexpected disruption. Far from being just a technical solution, it will guide critical members of staff in how to deal appropriately with a crisis.
When planning for disaster, it can be difficult for businesses to know where to start. Disruption comes in many forms and it’s not reasonable to expect firms to be able to deal with every eventuality. With Disaster Recovery as a Service, however, a little outside from your cloud vendor makes all the difference.