Why cloud-based DR is a must for business continuity now and for the future

At a time when your entire IT staff cannot be present at a single location, a cloud-based DR can help you better respond to a disaster.

From floods to earthquakes to global pandemics, organizations have to be prepared for every crisis. A robust business continuity plan plays a critical part in a crisis, as the survival of business depends on it. This is even more crucial in the current crisis, as almost every business has a digital component. The cost of downtime can be hugely catastrophic as it can shut down the ability of businesses to deliver services to its users.

The Covid-19 crisis will certainly test the limits of the IT team of many organizations as they look into providing secure access to thousands of remote workers who log in from multiple corners of the world.

While the cloud has proven to be a great model for providing support, a significant proportion of organizations still rely on the traditional DR process to ensure business continuity. In times like these, the traditional DR can be a crippling process as it is not only expensive, but also complex to execute. This is the reason why a cloud-based DR plan must be considered today.

Thanks to the cloud, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) has emerged as a viable option. Some of the key advantages of opting in for DRaaS are given below:

Ability to access from anywhere: In the current situation where thousands of employees are logging in from different parts of the world, the cloud is a viable option. The ability to access information from any part of the world gives DRaaS a massive advantage. As the information is stored in the cloud, a DR process can be fired by using a smartphone or a laptop in a remote location. If one looks at the current situation where organizations have been ordered to work with minimum capacity with respect to physical presence, the shifting of operations to a DR site can be done with a single click.

Efficient recovery: As every process is automated in the case of DRaaS, replication can be far more efficient than manual processes, which have the probability of errors. Further, due to lower costs, organizations can test the reliability of their DR process more often, than they could have done using a traditional process. More testing also means that organizations can gauge how quickly critical workloads can be recovered in the event of a disaster. Once an application is configured for monitoring through the DR monitoring or automation tool, organizations can seamlessly switch over to the DR site from anywhere, wherever necessary. The DRaaS option also allows organizations to quickly extend access to cloud-based applications such as VPNs, conferencing tools, virtual desktops etc.

Quick recovery: Today, automation techniques simplify the task of managing backups and recovery. As a result, recovery can be within a few minutes, rather than hours or days.
Lower TCO: A pay-per-use model allows enterprises to pay only for the snapshots or the actual data synchronization when a transfer takes place between the primary and the secondary site. This means that enterprises have to pay only when a disaster happens and virtual machines go live. Further, as the costs of the infrastructure are shared between multiple customers, the cost per customer is relatively lower.

Robust security: In the current times, most organizations have been hit by DDoS or ransomware attacks. If organizations have the DR on the cloud option, then the MSP is well equipped to proactively tackle all potential vulnerabilities. If your infrastructure is hit by a ransomware attack, then the MSP can quickly switch your operations to another DR site. For remote workers, a single sign-on option can also be provided to ensure a consistent user experience.

In a highly competitive environment, DRaaS is a must have option today, as any unplanned downtime can translate into significant losses. With the ability to recover information quickly and more cost efficiently, organizations must seriously consider DRaaS if not already done.