Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 12 | Page 51

FEATURE: DISASTER RECOVERY DRAAS ON THE OTHER HAND GIVES ORGANISATIONS THE LUXURY OF CONDUCTING MORE FREQUENT (BE IT QUARTERLY OR HALFYEARLY) TESTING WHICH INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF EFFICIENT AND SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY IN CASE OF A DISASTER most organisations opt to test their DR systems annually if at all. DRaaS on the other hand gives organisations the luxury of conducting more frequent (be it quarterly or half-yearly) testing which increases the likelihood of efficient and successful recovery in case of a disaster. 4 Rapid recovery As stated earlier, in the era of the ‘Always-On’ business, any downtime, even if it is a result of a natural disaster, can be catastrophic for an organisation. If all the servers are still physical, or if organisations are using data protection tools designed for physical environments, the recovery process is still going to be long and complex (often taking days). With DRaaS on the other hand, organisations can recover data in a matter of hours if not minutes. As businesses begin to make the transition to ‘Always-On’, it is paramount that they modernise the data centre and have a robust disaster recovery plan and infrastructure in place. While this is a daunting task for many, the good news is that organisations now have access to comprehensive cloud-based DR solutions designed to empower the Always-On Business and keep critical apps up-and-running, all while ensuring that complete visibility and control remains at IT’s fingertips. www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 51