Disaster Recovery as a Service has emerged as a significant service in recent times, and all smart and forward-looking IT heads have started to understand its importance for Business Continuity Planning. There could be many causes that can impact Business Continuity. And loss of application service and data are totally unacceptable to a company. So more than a service, it has become a necessity.
Now that companies are gradually moving onto DRaaS, comes the next step of understanding the challenges and requirements of the implementation.
At our in-house disaster recovery event, the 3rd Cloud Champions @ Progression, we invited CIOs and senior IT professionals from different industries for a discussion. One of the key areas that was discussed was regarding the business continuity planning were the challenges and solution requirements for DR. Here’s what the brainstorming and discussion threw up.
Challenges in implementing DR: Even after knowing the great need for Disaster Recovery, there are several roadblocks that comes in the way of its implementation in companies. Participants were quick to point out that the majority of the challenges arise from within the organization. Limited resources, technology limitations, lack of budgets and expertise were common issues that the IT heads pointed out. They also pointed out the lack of awareness within the company, also as a major obstacle.
Often the management team is completely ignorant or so overconfident about recoverability that they fail to assess future requirements. One of the CIOs discussed insights from his own company. A new management came in that had the view that DRaaS results in additional OPEX & CAPEX. Sometimes, not accepting technology and the latest trends is more of a mindset problem. Other IT heads agreed with the point and concluded that the mindset of team members indeed acts as a roadblock. They stick to existing IT infrastructure and fail to make new processes that can get the business back on its feet in case of a disaster.
Solution Requirements: It’s only when you know the challenges, you can work on them and plan for a dream DR solution. Participants were quick to point out that since it’s about moving a company’s critical business application, reliability is the most important factor they would consider. Transparency and seamless transfer are other vital requirements they would look for. A CIO from one of the leading e-commerce giants directed everyone’s attention to scalability. For any organization, scalability of system is extremely critical to handle the growing amount of work. Ensuring information availability and minimum data loss are the pillars on which DRaaS is built.
Having the right business continuity processes, and giving training to the key people were also highlighted. People within an organization should always be ready for disaster, so regular DR drills were also a key need.
What are the key things you need in your Disaster Recovery solution? Leave a note below.
