Disaster Recovery (DR) is an integral part of business continuity planning, and yet it is something that continues to be a challenge for many organisations. One of the issues around DR currently is the need to protect data, which has become a core business asset and which continues to grow in both volume and importance on an almost daily basis. Data recovery is now critical in addition to traditional system recovery, and cloud-based DR offers a cost effective solution.
Building a DR site in the cloud enables organisations to extend their strategy to cover more applications, more systems and more data, which in turn ensures that recovery plans are more robust. This DR site should activate seamlessly and automatically when needed, and integrate with on-premise infrastructure in order to ensure business continuity.
When it comes to integration however, a carefully considered approach is necessary. Many available offerings require additional scripts and manual processes to integrate with on-premise infrastructure, which adds both cost and complexity. Stitching together multiple, siloed disaster recovery solutions often creates inherent challenges and can hinder the effectiveness of the entire DR solution. Rather than attempting this, organisations should look for a single software solution that works across different virtualisation and cloud platforms and helps to streamline and simplify disaster recovery in the cloud.
Leveraging the deeper integration, automation and flexibility this delivers in turn enables organisations to apply DR capabilities across workloads in a cost effective and efficient manner. In addition, fully integrated solutions provide greater levels of scalability and flexibility, providing the agility that is essential today and in the future.
The key to effective DR in the cloud is the ability to achieve seamless integration between on-premise and cloud infrastructure. Backup, replication and DR functionality need to be fully integrated across the entire IT infrastructure to ensure that all risks and contingencies can be adequately accounted for. This is critical to any organisation’s ability to continue operations in the wake of a natural or man-made disaster.
