The 5 Myths of Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery Addressed

   

Did you know that three out of four companies worldwide are failing

in terms of disaster readiness?

Source: Disaster Recovery Preparedness Benchmark

                   

According to the Aberdeen Group, the average hourly IT downtime loss in dollars is approximately $160,000.

As a result, the “cloud” is increasing in attraction, causing

businesses to rethink their recovery strategies.

   

But what is preventing companies from fully adopting cloud solutions for disaster recovery?

There are 5 myths that surround cloud-based recovery scenarios and

routine recovery operations.

Photo  by  gre.ceres  

   MYTH 1: Cloud Solutions are for

Disaster Scenarios

The terms “business continuity” and “disaster recovery” can make it confusing for business leaders.

Disaster recovery leads most IT professionals to the wrong path, since DR solutions are used for “disaster scenarios” and routine

recovery operations.

z  

When asked to rank the typical causes of business interruption, companies reported software and

hardware failures and human error as the most common

types of outages.

TAKEAWAY: Businesses have to stop thinking about disasters and start considering ways to prevent interruptions.

Photo  by  Pink  Sherbet  Photography  

Corrupted files, deleted emails and the occasional server crash are not disasters but can hinder business

operations.

   

Cloud-based solutions should not be discarded for those situations and

are often more appropriate.

   MYTH 2: Cloud Storage and Cloud Disaster

Recovery are Similar

It is natural to think of cloud backup, cloud storage and cloud recovery vendors as the same. But nothing

could be further from the truth.

Photo by Jeff Kubina

While storing data in the cloud is a commodity, cloud-based DR gives you more than the ability to access

your files.

   

It enables you to actually run your systems in the cloud.

   

Key application servers, SQL, Exchange servers, and Active Directory

services can be virtualized...

   

As if they were in a virtual data center from where you can continue

operating.

TAKEAWAY: Think of the cloud as having an on-demand data center that can ensure business continuity.

   

M Y T H 3 : Cloud Solutions Are Not Secure

   

Online hackers or lost and stolen personal data has given cloud

services a bad name.

   

Be aware: There is a distinction between cloud

provider and cloud solutions.

   

There is a public versus private cloud.

   

According to the “Data Protection-as-a-Service” survey

from ESG, the top 3 benefits that organizations realized as a result of

using cloud-based data protection are…

   

•                   

1. Improved security.

   

   

•                   

2. Reduced onsite data protection hardware and infrastructure costs.

Photo  by  Axel  Schwenke  

   

   

3. Reduced IT personnel costs.

   

TAKEAWAY: Cloud-based DR provides enterprise

grade security that is often better than what your internal IT

department has put in place.

   M Y T H 4 : You Can Do It Yourself

   

With low-cost providers and open source projects…

   

Experienced It professionals can cobble together systems that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

   

An in-house and DIY solution can turn out to be the reason why DR

practices are not mature.

   

Cost reduction, greater control and faster recovery are some of the key reasons that IT professionals decide to forgo service providers and cloud providers.

But…according to Forrester Research in “The Risks of Do It Yourself Disaster Recovery”

   

The results are typically the lack of focus on DR relative to other projects…

Photo  by  Waag  Society  

   The lack of funding to ensure the DR architecture is up-to-date…

   

And the lack of skills and lack of confidence to effectively respond in a disaster situation.

   

TAKEAWAY: Long run, do-it-yourself DR will cost more and take more time from the

internal IT team.

   

Cloud-based DR solutions, the Total Cost of Ownership and the

longevity of the service provided ends up being a promising

approach.

   M Y T H 5 : All Cloud Providers Are the Same

Once you decide on cloud, how do you determine which vendor will

best suit your needs?

Consider these key criteria.

Can the solution protect and recover physical and virtual servers? Laptops and

workstations?

Photo  by  Jenn  Varas

Is extensive training and a lengthy manual required or is the solution

intuitive, easy-to-use?

Do you have the ability to protect and recover files, databases, entire systems

directly from the system interface or does the vendor have to be contacted to assist?

TAKEAWAY: Not all cloud providers are created equal. Do your research and decide on what is important to you.

Find a provider that meets your needs.

The Axcient Solution

Axcient’s Recovery-as-a-Service cloud eliminates data loss, keeps applications up and running, and makes sure that IT infrastructures never go down. Axcient replaces legacy backup, business continuity, disaster recovery and archiving products, with a single integrated platform that mirrors an entire business in the cloud, making it simple to restore data, failover applications, and virtualize servers or an entire office with a click. Thousands of businesses trust Axcient to keep their applications running and employees productive. Learn more at axcient.com.

r