The definition of retail is the managed service provider (MSP) business. BDR (Backup Disaster Recovery) is a term MSPs like to use.
But, there is a lot of information MSPs need to know about storage solutions for retail. Any MSP providing storage or data center space to a customer should have a product option for data protection for their customers. The physical hand-off of servers and information to an MSP almost always includes a customer expectation that their data will be protected.
Q: What are retailers’ expectations of a storage solution provider?
Pearring: Any MSP (managed services provider) providing storage or data center space to a customer should have a product option for data protection for their customers. The physical hand-off of servers and information to an MSP almost always includes a customer expectation that their data will be protected.
Q: Does the retail vertical have specific backup and disaster recovery needs?
Pearring: First and foremost, the best practices for backup, archive, and disaster recovery move from the customer to the MSP. That means no matter what level of service level agreement (SLA) has been put in place, the MSP takes on the responsibility of recovery, including restores of backups and retrieves for any archives. Not only must the MSP assure the customer that all data and information housed with the MSP is safe, but they must also assure that it can be recovered in a timely manner. “Timely” must be defined and outlined to a customer.
Head over to Business Solutions to find out more about what today’s retailers demand from storage solutions, including:
- Expectations of storage solution providers
- The vertical’s specific backup and disaster recovery needs
- How MSPs should respond to a retailer’s need to keep data private and secure
- The No. 1 metric MSPs should be monitoring
