Historically, data backup and disaster recovery (DR) plans have been costly and challenging to implement. The standard approach involved the deployment of a second site that would duplicate the business' primary data center, including both hardware and software to serve as a backup. In essence, business had to pay for and manage a complete second data center. Few outside of the largest companies and businesses and organizations-where data loss would be crippling-choose to invest the significant time and money necessary to do this.
Today, things are different. Events like Hurricane Sandy and other recent incidents have put disaster recovery top of mind for businesses and the general public, but just as businesses are willing to embrace the significant cost and time investment of DR, there is a better option. A cloud-based DR solution can significantly reduce the complexity and control the costs of maintaining a server, networking, and data center infrastructure. More businesses are examining cloud-based disaster recovery solutions as technology service providers are developing new offerings designed to fit the specifications and budgets of nearly any customer.
As with any other cloud-based solution, there are two main types of DR solutions: do-it-yourself (DIY) DR and DR-as-a-service (DRaaS). DIY DR is intended for organizations that are confident with their existing cloud and disaster recovery capabilities and staff expertise. The DIY approach requires an organization to obtain computational and storage resources on their own. The deployment, maintenance, and management of the DR service would also need to be done in-house, with little or no help from outsiders. The core benefit of this solution is cost savings; because of the work involved in designing, setting up, and managing the back-end system, the complexity factor still exists. Additionally, staff availability can be another issue. In a real crisis, access to personnel may be hindered-during Sandy much of New Jersey and New York were without power for several days and roads were impassable. A DR plan is only as effective as the people able to implement it.
Tom Mays leads Verizon Terremark's advanced data solutions and believes that DRaaS is "essential for enterprises to keep data safe and recoverable in a timely manner." With a DRaaS offering, the service provider designs, configures, and deploys the solution for the customer, as well as manages and monitors the data afterwards. This is a great benefit for many enterprises that don't have the experience or capital to invest in the talent necessary to implement a complete DR plan in-house. Additionally, many DRaaS providers, like Terremark, offer access to disaster recovery experts 24x7, which is critical during and after a disaster.
Unless a business is willing and able to devote significant money and time to build and operate a backup site, outsourcing a DR solution is a great alternative. For starters, the cost of implementation is usually low (including the recurring subscription prices) since the investment in hardware is small or non-existent. Secondly, the ability to increase and decrease computational and storage resources allows the business to effectively scale as needed, avoiding unnecessary expenditures. Lastly, businesses can completely eliminate the cost of leasing, owning, and maintaining real estate to house the data at an additional location with a cloud-based DR solution.
Today's cloud technology transforms what used to be complex and costly projects into something much more accessible and simple. The key to success when adopting a cloud-based DR solution is to partner with a provider with the right technology and expertise to guide their customers towards a reliable disaster recovery plan.
