As a followup to our previous post on choosing DR solutions I wanted to focus on cloud-based DR. Backing up data in the cloud has become a common theme for businesses who are striving to keep up with the changing times. Cloud backup or storage, as a whole, has become technically simple and economically viable even for small businesses. In 2014, we saw cloud infrastructure becoming more of an option for data storage and disaster recovery.
Choosing a cloud vendor or a cloud platform to store your data has to be done carefully. Even though disaster recovery is a completely different process when compared with data backup procedures, business owners often use them interchangeably. But, from the point of view of a cloud vendor, both of these services offer the business different solutions — while data backup is essentially a back up for business data, disaster recovery is a process that goes much beyond that. It is the restoration of data that has been lost to the end-user — a problem that, if not dealt with immediately, might result in the business losing millions of dollars.
Key Focus for Disaster Recovery Planning
As a business owner, if you are intent on creating a disaster recovery plan, then you should keep these considerations in mind.
Plan wisely (and early)
Do not wait for disaster to strike before coming up with a disaster recovery plan. Choose your cloud service vendors early so that you can contact them immediately in case of drastic circumstances.
Choose the right disaster recovery partner
Zero in on the right disaster recovery partner for your business by conducting research and doing your homework. Connect with viable partners and find out which cloud service vendors have plans that are suitable for your business needs.
Justify the investment in your company
Disaster recovery plans are all about planning for the worst, and any substantial cost for this plan might not bode well with your business partners or investors. However, everyone needs to understand why it is important to make the investment and approve of it so that there are no roadblocks internally along the way.
STORServer’s disaster recovery team is the best in the country in providing business owners with a fast and safe recovery of critical data. STORServer provides our customers with three types of disaster recovery services: planning and support, on-site support and first response. We can help you make a decision as to what you need and what’s going to be the best for your business. Contact us today to find out which disaster recovery plan will suit your business needs, or download our “What is a STORServer Backup Appliance?” white paper.
