With the increasing digitalization of modern business models, it is critical for any enterprise to have robust security systems and backups in place. The digital world is just as vulnerable to disasters as traditional businesses. Unanticipated events could be artificial (cyber-attacks) or natural (fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes).
Even the slightest interruption could imply significant losses for a business – considering today’s reliance on the network for eCommerce. Well, the key is to employ a fail-safe option for your IT infrastructure to ensure effective recovery from disasters. And that’s where Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) comes in handy.
This article explains what DRaaS is and why your business needs it.
What Is DRaaS?
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a cloud-based service that allows a business to back up its data at an offsite location. It provides a replica of the organization’s IT infrastructure, ensuring real-time redundancy in the case of a disaster. Users can access business applications and data on the failover site without experiencing downtime.
Why Does Your Business Need DRaaS?
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) has many benefits for businesses. Below are the top reasons why you should have DRaaS for your business.
Resilience
DRaaS helps you build that resilience by giving you a reliable failover system and a way to recover faster when disaster strikes. The service provides state-of-the-art technology to ensure your critical systems and information are always accessible.
Instead of waiting for weeks for critical systems to be repaired or replaced, DRaaS allows you to restore systems quickly. Plus, your customers can continue using your service even during a disaster. This means uninterrupted customer service and increased satisfaction – suitable for everyone!
Your IT Team Can Focus on Core Operations
Your DRaaS service provider handles all failover and failback operations. That means the provider manages the failover and recovery processes during a disruptive event. Consequently, the internal IT teams get more time to handle core business operations rather than focusing on backup strategies.
Scalability
As your business grows, you need your disaster recovery plan to grow with it. But that can be challenging and costly with on-premise backup plans. You need to purchase more infrastructure and hire more IT staff.
Luckily, DRaaS allows you to scale quickly. You can review your needs at any given time and expand your system when necessary. Your DRaaS provider will have the infrastructure that lets you scale up or down as needed—so if you suddenly need more storage or bandwidth, they can handle it without any issues. And the best thing is that you only pay for what you use.
Flexibility
Another benefit of DRaaS for businesses is flexibility. You can choose between different levels of downtime protection and pay only for what you need, which helps you save money if you anticipate needing it infrequently.
Security
On-premise backup systems are vulnerable. They can be infected with malware, hacked, or damaged by natural disasters. But DRaaS is a cloud solution that ensures the security of your sensitive data. Having a DRaaS provider with data encryption options is the best way to safeguard your applications and critical information. You can focus on your business without worrying about security breaches in times of disaster.
Cost efficiency
The cost savings from DRaaS are significant compared to having your backup site or maintaining one yourself. Using a third-party provider eliminates the need for additional hardware, software, and labor costs associated with creating and maintaining your backup environment.
Plus, there is no lock-in to one provider or server. You have the freedom to choose what tools work for your needs. You can also decide on recovery options and destinations for your critical applications and information.
Specialized Support
Your IT department may be short-staffed when disaster strikes. That could mean losing access to essential systems for hours or days while you wait for someone to fix them. But every minute matters in business, and downtime can be costly.
Fortunately, DRaaS gives you access to experts who can help resolve issues quickly, so your organization stays up and running no matter what happens. Choosing the right DRaaS will ensure rapid recovery and continuity of your business.
Compliance
Businesses must comply with strict regulations to effectively manage customer data and avoid potential lawsuits. As such, DRaaS providers have state-of-the-art controls to ensure your systems meet all data compliance and regulatory requirements.
Also, DRaaS provides the ability to maintain access to essential files via the failover site if an outage occurs in your primary system. And with the additional security controls, your organization can prove to authorities how it complies with data laws.
Final Thoughts
Disasters can be costly for a business without a reliable recovery plan. The best thing you can do is build a disaster recovery plan to keep you operational if disaster strikes. And Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) offers just that – effective disaster recovery for your business via the cloud.
