What convinces CEOs of disaster recovery

Most companies still do not have a comprehensive program for disaster recovery - that is, for restoring systems and data in the event of a disaster - even though they are exposed to various serious risks, such as natural disasters or cyber attacks. And they thus bear the risk of all impacts due to data loss or downtime, including Loss of revenue, cost of penalties and fines, and damage to the corporate brand.

Despite the obvious risk and the potentially devastating consequences for the entire business, system houses and managed service providers (MSPs) still have a hard time convincing CEOs that a disaster of any kind is virtually inevitable. Hoping that nothing will happen is not a good plan - especially when proven solutions exist.

There are three ways CEOs, managers or senior management can be convinced that they should not only back up their data, but invest in a professional disaster recovery solution:

1. the crucial difference between backup and disaster recovery

The chain of reasoning that can be used to convince executives to invest in an appropriate disaster recovery strategy often begins with education. It helps that company management knows the difference between data backup and disaster recovery. Data-only backups create copies of important data that are available in the event the original data is lost or compromised. Backups in the cloud or other secondary environment have proven effective. However, traditional backups are not enough to ensure a quick and complete recovery from a disaster. This is where disaster recovery comes into play. A disaster recovery plan ensures a quick and complete recovery from a disaster of almost any type. It includes a detailed plan that lays out all the steps required for a full recovery while ensuring those steps are carried out. It defines the recovery objectives and establishes measures that not only address IT concerns, but aim to safeguard the entire business and its process chains. In addition, regular tests of the backup copies ensure that the data, systems and process chains can actually be restored. It is important for company management to understand that data protection and backup are only part of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan and do not guarantee business continuity.

It's not about fear, it's about safety

Fear can be a strong motivator. But much better is the assurance that there is nothing to be afraid of. With this positive message, CEOs are much easier to convince that disaster recovery and a disaster recovery plan is essential to ensuring business. A disaster recovery plan is an investment that can secure revenue and protect the company's existence. It also provides an opportunity for executives to gain deep insights into every part of the organization to further assess its reliance on digital technology. After all, the ultimate goal is to ensure that the company is always available to its customers, produces efficiently, and ultimately succeeds.

In short, initiatives such as disaster recovery and a disaster recovery plan will be approved and supported by senior management when the pros and cons are communicated and understood at the C-level. When systems houses and MSPs provide a detailed overview of potential threats and the aftermath costs of disasters versus the benefits of a comprehensive disaster recovery program, a contract is highly likely to be awarded.

The availability and benefits of DRaaS

Many organizations have found that assigning internal IT staff to disaster recovery can be problematic. That's because these employees are distracted from their real job of providing essential support for day-to-day business activities. As a result, many CEOs are open to allocating budgets to MSPs rather than burdening internal resources to create, deploy and maintain a disaster recovery plan. A wide range of IT functions that were once handled internally are now provided as a service by external vendors. IT services of all types are labor- and cost-efficient because they do not require investment in new infrastructure, for example.

In the event of a disaster where a company's servers, hard drives or other IT components fail, a Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) partner can quickly step in and restore both the data and the infrastructure. A DRaaS partner ensures that all data is backed up regularly and that a solid plan is in place to get infrastructure back up and running quickly after a disaster. For CEOs, that means peace of mind for their business. With a DRaaS partner, they have peace of mind knowing that experienced professionals are handling all the challenges of disaster recovery and systematically managing all aspects of recovery. They can rest assured that a disaster won't put the business out of business.

In summary: Disaster recovery needs a strategy

No company CEO would drive a car without insurance coverage or buy a house without insurance. And yet, many companies operate their business without a disaster recovery and disaster recovery strategy. Those in charge hope that no disaster will occur, or they ignore the risk. That's not a good strategy, and it's completely unnecessary. That's because today there are plenty of experienced MSPs offering solid solutions and services.

Author:
Florian Malecki is Executive Vice President Marketing of Arcserve, a data protection and business continuity solution provider.